Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History

Super-Scenic Motorway

All Blue Ridge Parkway, all the time.

Site for information about the book Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History.
Published in 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press.

And introducing

When the Parkway Came

First-ever Parkway book for children!

By Anne Mitchell Whisnant and David E. Whisnant

Available now!

Hardcover $19.95

January 1, 1937

My Dear Mr. Roosevelt:

I am writing you in regard to my farm on the Blue Ridge Mountain where the Park to Park highway goes . . .

A letter written by a mountain farmer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Depression years of the 1930s inspired this story. When the Parkway Came tells how the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway affected one family—including eight-year-old Jess and his sister Maggie—whose farm lay in its path.

Driving on the Parkway many years later, Jess shows his granddaughter Ginny where the road passes through what used to be his parents' land. He remembers how losing part of their farm made his whole family sad, but he is proud of the beautiful Parkway that belongs to everyone.

This book helps young readers understand why and how the most visited site in our national park system came to be built, the differing views of people affected by it, and the tradeoffs that were necessary along the way. The beautiful color photographs capture the enduring beauty of the parkway, while the historical illustrations help readers appreciate the vision and hard work that brought it into being.

Retail trade: Order from John F. Blair, Publisher, Winston-Salem, NC

Individuals may order signed copies directly from authors. Please visit our When the Parkway Came website for more information.