Skyline Drive Historic District

Great Room at Big Meadow Lodge

The Skyline Drive Historic District was constructed in the 1930's. Several hundred of Shenandoah National Park structures are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They include buildings such as Big Meadows Lodge, bridges, stone-lined ditches, culverts, log comfort stations, and retaining walls.

History

The Skyline Drive, with its overlooks, waysides, picnic areas, campgrounds, and development areas, played a significant role in the history of the national park system and development of park road design, federal policies on conservation and recreation, and the employment relief measures of the New Deal, which included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was responsible for grading the slopes on either side of the road, building guardrails and retaining walls, planting hundreds of thousands of trees and shrubs, making signs to guide visitors, and the construction of overlooks, trails, picnic areas and campgrounds, comfort stations, visitor and maintenance buildings.