The Virginia Creeper Trail emerged from the abandonment of a railroad line and a bitter struggle over its future after the last train ran on March 31, 1977. One group wanted to keep the railroad operating for passengers and freight, adjacent landowners wanted to acquire the right-of-way through their properties, and a third group led by Drs. French Moore and David Brillhart pushed for a recreational trail. The line had begun as the Abingdon Coal and Iron Railroad, became the Virginia-Carolina Railroad in 1898 through the work of Wilton Mingea for hauling timber, expanded with the arrival of the Hassinger Brothers from Pennsylvania in 1906, and was bought by Norfolk and Western Railroad in 1919 as its Abingdon Branch. As the timber industry declined in the mid-1920s, the railroad shifted mainly to passengers and light freight. The last passenger train ran in 1962, and in 1974 Norfolk and Western received permission to abandon the line effective April 1, 1977. Efforts to stop conversion to recreation included hostile actions between Abingdon and Damascus such as burning a trestle, blocking the route with logs and other large objects, and chaining gates across the track shut. Norfolk and Western refused to sell to individual landowners, although in North Carolina the railbed reverted to adjacent property owners, making extension there highly improbable. Support for the trail slowly grew, including strong backing in Damascus from Joe Bert Rhea and Albert K. Mock, Jr. The U.S. Forest Service purchased 18 miles of abandoned right-of-way from east of Damascus to Whitetop, leaving the contested Abingdon-Damascus section to be acquired. Chicago Salvage had already begun removing rails and was prepared to take down trestles, but local attorney Jim Elliott and historian Gibson Vance were doing deed research for the town, and Elliott's client, who owned the salvage company, did not demand immediate removal. That delay allowed Dr. Moore to assemble an investment group and pay for the trestles. Congressman Rick Boucher became a major force in securing funds for development and maintenance, including TVA support for initial trestle decking and guard rails and $2 million in federal grants for redecking trestles and building Alvarado Station and Whitetop Station. In 1982 Abingdon and Damascus purchased the entire right-of-way from N&W with grant money and partial forgiveness of the cost by N&W, after which work on decking trestles and grading the route was carried out largely by Jacobs Creek Job Corps and Flatwoods Job Corps. Much of the work was finished in 1984, some sections opened then, and the trail fully opened in 1989, twelve years after the rail line was abandoned. Named for both the slow uphill train and a vine growing along the tracks, the Virginia Creeper National Trail now draws over 200,000 visitors a year and serves as a leading economic engine for Damascus, Abingdon, and the surrounding region.