Blue Ridge Parkway history

Dozens of community members, project donors, and representatives from National Park Foundation and National Park Service joined our staff on October 3 to celebrate the replacement of the old flume at Mabry Mill and installation of new shake roofs on additional historic buildings at the site. 

Each year, the Foundation works closely with the National Park Service to identify initiatives on the Blue Ridge Parkway that need your support. You can give to the projects that mean the most to you or the overall protection of the park. No matter how you choose to give, you’re investing in the future of one of the most treasured landscapes in our country.  

The Blue Ridge Parkway leaves each of us with special memories and a deep connection to the mountains. For Doris Luening, that bond was made when she and her family lived near Mount Mitchell as her father and uncle helped build the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1930s. Here is her story: Doris Luening was only five years old when she spent a year on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but even today she can direct you straight to the site of the camp that she and her family called home while her father and uncle helped construct the new roadway.