Staunton River State Park

The Staunton River State Park is a state park in Halifax County, Virginia. It is located at the western end of the John H. Kerr reservoirs and about 20 km east of the town of South Boston. Accessible he is of Scottsburg on the purpose built State Route 344

History

1926 decided to establish a system of state parks, Parliament Virginia. Among the first six state parks that should be built in the various regions of Virginia, the Staunton River State Park was located in the eastern Piedmont Südvirginias. 1933 acquired the Virginia State Commission on Conservation and Development 4.84 km ² of farmland at the confluence of Dan River and Roanoke River. The area from the Civilian Conservation Corps was opened as a job creation measure as part of the New Deal. The CCC built various tourist facilities, including hiking trails, a swimming pool, camping and picnic areas as well as holiday cottages. These are still partially preserved today and stand together with other buildings since 2007 as Staunton River State Park Historic District listed building on the National Register of Historic Places.

The park was opened in 1936 and further expanded up to the Second World War. Its area was 7.19 km ² eventually. The construction of Kerr Dam on the Roanoke River in 1952 led to some changes. A part of the State Parks was flooded, but the newly formed lake also brought new tourism opportunities. A boat ramp allows access to nearly 200 km ² - in Virginia also called Buggs Iceland Lake - John H. Kerr Reservoir. The park today, after several acquisitions since the 1950s, an area of ​​9.7 square kilometers.

The name derives from the State Park was a local name for the Roanoke River. In southern Virginia, the river was named in memory of the officer Captain Henry Staunton, who was patrolling with his company before the American Revolution on the middle reaches of the Roanoke.