The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Courtesy Photo:
The National Geographic map includes rustic scenes of old barns and crooked rural roads in Southwest Virginia. |
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
Nearly 20 sites along Virginia's Crooked Road and Wilderness Road, including the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum College, are part of the new National Geographic Society's Appalachian Driving Tours Map.
The highlighted sites range from bluegrass music venues to state parks.
The map is a partnership of the National Geographic Society and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The map features 28 driving trails in the nation's Appalachian Region from New York to Georgia.
It includes color photos, including one of Ralph Stanley, a bluegrass music legend for more than 50 years.
The Crooked Road Heritage Music Trail begins inﾠRocky Mount and ends at Clintwood in Dickenson County, the site of the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center.
The Virginia General Assembly designated the route of the music trail, which begins at the intersection of Route 220 and Route 40 in Rocky Mount. It goes west on Route 40 to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum College, and then follows Route 40 to Shooting Creek Road to Route 221.
The trail winds through nine Southwest Virginia counties, ten towns and three cities.
The trail connects major heritage music venues in the Appalachian region, such as the Blue Ridge Music Center, Birthplace of Country Music and the Carter
Family Fold.
The traditional gospel, bluegrass and mountain music heard today was passed down from generation to generation and lives on through a wealth of musicians and instrument makers along the trail.
Music has been made for hundreds of years in the southern Appalachian mountain region of Southwest Virginia. The songs and tunes of the region told the stories of the early pioneer life and the day-to-day trials and tribulations.
Annual festivals, weekly concerts, live radio shows and jam sessions abound along the Crooked Road Music Heritage route. |
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