First Mountain Parkway

The idea of a scenic mountain highway long predated the Blue Ridge Parkway. In 1906, Joseph Hyde Pratt, North Carolina's State Geologist, proposed a toll road along the crest of the Ridge mountains from Marion, Virginia, to Tallulah, Georgia. Expecting rapid growth in the automobile industry, Pratt believed this new mobility would bring vacationers to the North Carolina mountains. In 1912, his Appalachian Highway Company began building the "Crest of the Blue Ridge Highway," and about eight miles of unpaved roadway were completed before World War I stopped construction. Years later, the concept of a scenic mountain parkway returned, gained national attention, and became reality in 1935 when the National Park Service began work on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

North Carolina · United States