“Today the Great Wagon Road, or Valley Turnpike, is known as Highway 11, a two lane that runs between soft and misty mountains, with pretty byways. Long stretches of U.S. 11 look much like the Valley Turnpike did in the 1830s–rolling fields, horses and cattle on hills.” (“Retracing Slavery’s Trail of Tears”)
This is how I remember Abingdon. I often walked out following the Virginia Creeper Trail which winds along it’s course south-eastward past Mary’s Meadows on through Damascus on its way to White Top Mountain, 34 miles distant.
We’ll leave it to historians, social scientists, ethicists, apologists, theologians, and politicians to examine the deeply-rooted, pernicious ties between those who fought with passion and bravery for the right to live as free citizens in a land they had claimed as their own, even making it the cornerstone of their democratic principles that “all men are created equal,” and those who worked with equal fervor to deny it to others.
Or, perhaps it is something to ponder as you follow the trail of the Overmountain Men from the Muster Grounds near Stonemill Park for a short distance as it makes its way out of town.
Before moving to Abingdon in 2003 most of my experiences—as an adult, anyway, involved living in big towns and cities, places like San Antonio and Charlotte. Decidedly urban experiences, in other words. I could—and often did, walk around in those places, but could never imagine literally walking through them, from one end to the other. During my time in Abingdon you could cover the distance from the Higher Ed Center, or roughly speaking the southwestern extent of Abingdon proper, to the Coomes Recreation Center on the opposite side of town in half a day if you knew your way around, but it involved a crazy-quilt patchwork of back roads, streets, alleys, and the occasional path to make the transit.
I relished being able to walk everywhere while living in Abingdon, because it allowed me to have a daily “Walk Through History” as I made my way to work along Valley Street or simply walking around the various neighborhoods where I lived and did business for over fifteen years. Abingdon was, and still remains, a walking enthusiast’s gift; the Urban Pathway is the bow on the package.
Note: Both the Overmountain Victory Trail and the Urban Pathway can be accessed in the vicinity of Wolf Creek. The Pathway begins on Hagy St. (Hurt St.) near the Village Ct. apartments, and makes it’s way eastward through town past the Depot to Tanner St. (approximately 3 miles). The Overmountain Victory Trail follows Wolf Creek before branching off toward Stone Mill Rd.
- Wolf Creek and the Muster Grounds; Abingdon Conventions and Visitors Bureau
- Overmountain Victory Trail, Abingdon Muster Grounds https://visitabingdonvirginia.com/directory/abingdon-muster-grounds
- Urban Trail (Contact Abingdon Conventions and Visitors Bureau)
Next: The Road From Ulster