Friday, January 4, 2008
Milepost 176.1
Story and photos by Janet Lockerby McCoig
This experience began with the simple suggestion that it would be nice to have a delicious piece of chocolate cake. When a craving such as that presents itself, there can only be one destination, the source of that most spectacular chocolate cake is the restaurant at Mabry Mill.
The Blue Ridge Parkway holds cherished memories for all who travel it. I am no exception, but the epicenter of my fondest memories of parkway travel has always been at Milepost 176.1. Perhaps the single most photographed site on the more than 450 mile route, Mabry Mill tells a story rich in Appalachian heritage and ingenuity.
The isolated mountain communities were filled with independent minded Scots-Irish people who came here knowing that they would succeed or fail based on their own ability to make or grow nearly everything they needed. Blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and millkeepers possessed a skill set that made them indispensable assets to the community.
Building a mill is a feat of engineering, and Mabry Mill stands out in particular because of its dual purpose. In addition to the corn grinding operation common to grist mills of this era, this mill also cut lumber with the blades powered by its water-driven wheel. The millrace that redirects the water towards the wheel snakes throughout the property and is a truly remarkable thing to see.
When Ed Mabry began his business enterprise in the early 1900s, he established a hub of activity, which served as a network of news in addition to industry. Over the years, the complex he developed was a center for converting raw materials into functional necessities of pioneer life. Timber was transformed into lumber, wagon wheels were shaped, grains were refined into cornmeal and liquor, and metal objects were created in the blacksmith’s shop for countless applications.
This center of activity provided the isolated mountain population with another valuable resource as well, the access to news from distant places. Without the information infrastructure that we enjoy today, passing word around about political happenings, crop failures and successes, weather conditions and, of course, gossip, was only possible in areas where people congregated. Relaying this information was a critical service provided by Mabry’s complex as well.
In addition to taking a pretty picture in front of the mill, a visitor to the site today has the opportunity to catch a glimpse into our shared past. Millkeepers demonstrate how corn is ground by huge millstones and discuss the operations of the lumbermill. A blacksmith creates a knife using the hammer and anvil technique once employed across Appalachia. Weavers spin yarn and operate giant looms in a lantern lit room, and make baskets and cane chairs in the shade of a tree outdoors.
To enjoy a piece of cake in Ed Mabry’s time took a great deal of planning and patience. One would have to grow the crops and then grind the flour, raise the animals that produce the milk, butter, and eggs, and create the cake pans in the blacksmith’s shop, all before baking it in an open hearth.
To enjoy a piece of that most glorious chocolate cake at Mabry Mill today also takes some patience: the restaurant is closed until mid-April for the season. But it is worth the wait, and the memory of it will only grow sweeter in my mind. The pork chop sandwich isn’t bad, either.
To get there: North on Hwy. 52 through Mt. Airy, cross into Virginia and enter the Blue Ridge Parkway at Fancy Gap. Mabry Mill is 23 miles north of the Fancy Gap parkway entrance.
