BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Sky Meadows State Park

VA -- Sky Meadows State Park:

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[1] SKYMEA_140314_02_STITCH.JPG

[2] SKYMEA_140314_03_STITCH.JPG

[3] SKYMEA_140314_04_STITCH.JPG

[4] SKYMEA_140314_05_STITCH.JPG

[5] SKYMEA_140314_06.JPG	[6] SKYMEA_140314_14.JPG	[7] SKYMEA_140314_17.JPG
[8] SKYMEA_140314_20.JPG	[9] SKYMEA_140314_24.JPG	[10] SKYMEA_140314_27.JPG
[11] SKYMEA_140314_30.JPG	[12] SKYMEA_140314_34.JPG	[13] SKYMEA_140314_37.JPG
[14] SKYMEA_140314_41.JPG	[15] SKYMEA_140314_44.JPG	[16] SKYMEA_140314_46.JPG
[17] SKYMEA_140314_54.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SKYMEA_140314_06.JPG: Mount Bleak Farm The Settles Anticipate War Mosby's Confederacy and First Manassas Campaign In the early morning hours of July 19, 1861, thousands of campfire lights burned in the camp of Col. Thomas J. Jackson's brigade which occupied the fields surrounding nearby Paris. Many thoughts must have raced through the minds of Abner and Mary Kyle Settle, who resided here at Mount Bleak. Those fires may have been a reminder that war was now imminent and perhaps it would leave them mourning the loss of one of their sons. The First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) was two days away. Abner's oldest son, Dr. Thomas Settle, whose mother Isabella had died when he was very young, was now a member of Turner Ashby's militia troop and would certainly be off to war very soon. In December 1859, Thomas was present at the execution of abolitionist John Brown, who was captured during his ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry. As a physician, he was called to feel for Brown's pulse and declare him legally dead before Brown was cut from the gallows. Thomas heard Brown's grim prediction that, "the sins of this guilty land can only be purged with blood." As the regimental surgeon for Ashby's 7th Virginia Cavalry as well as the 11th, 12th, and 13th Cavalries during his four years of service, Thomas would see more than his fair share of the blood which Brown foretold. Thomas' brothers, especially Isaac and Abner, no doubt had dreams of adventure in the Confederate army. They both would serve under the command of Col. John S. Mosby. To the rest of the Settle children, war would perhaps remain a mystery; but in the coming four years they would witness and experience the deprivations and losses of their family and neighbors and learn that war was less than glorious.
2. SKYMEA_140314_37.JPG: The Open Hearth: In the days of fireplace and hearth cooking, a kitchen separate from the main house had at least three advantages: * It kept extra heat out of the house in the hot summer months. * It kept the cooking smells out of the house. * If the kitchen caught on fire (a common occurrence,) the family would lose only one small building, not the main house. The Mount Bleak Log Cabin: This structure, built sometime in the 1700s, is not original to this site. It was moved here and placed on the foundation of the original kitchen some time before the park opened. Today, the cabin is used for cooking and other programs that offer insight into daily life on the 18th and 19th Centuries.
Wikipedia Description: Sky Meadows State Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,862-acre (754 ha) park in the Virginia state park system. It is located in extreme northwest Fauquier County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Paris, Virginia. It is about an hour outside of the Washington, D.C. metro region.

The park was formed when Paul Mellon donated 1,132 acres (458 ha) of land in 1975. It has expanded its borders twice since then—248 acres (100 ha) were added in 1987, containing the Appalachian Trail, and in 1991 Mellon donated an additional 462 acres (187 ha), bringing the park to its present size.

It is located near Paris, Va off US 17, one mile (2 km) south of US 50 and seven miles (11 km) north of Interstate 66.

It starts in a valley between the foothills and the Blue Ridge Mountains, then has meadows and forests stretching up to the ridge of the mountain and the Appalachian Trail.

There is a basic walk-in campground, over 12 miles (19 km) of hiking trails and 6 miles (10 km) of bridle paths. The horse trails are east of US 17 and the hiking trails (and most of the park) is west of US 17.

With a combination of meadows, grazed fields, forest, scrub, and streams, it has a wide variety of ecological zones.
Red Headed Woodpecker at Sky Meadows State Park

Most of the year, there are monthly "astronomy nights" where amateur astronomers bring their telescopes and use them to show attendees various celestial objects. Typically, an astronomer from the Smithsonian Institution is among the leaders.

Sky Meadows is a year-round bird watching site. It is known for a colony of Red-headed Woodpeckers that live in an oak grove just past the contact station. Depending on the time of the year, it is almost certain that this and the other six species of woodpeckers—Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated, and Northern Flicker—commonly found in this part of Virginia will be present.

Except for "astronomy nights", the park closes at dusk, and campers must be in the park and others out of the park at that time.

Mt. Bleak-Skye Farm:

Mt. Bleak-Skye Farm is a national historic district located in Sky Meadows State Park. The district encompasses 23 contributing buildings including barns, 1 contributing site, and 3 contributing structures dating between 1780 and 1954. The oldest is the 1 1/2-story, Wayside Cottage dated to about 1780. It also includes the Timberlake farmstead (c. 1860), Federal-style Mount Bleak mansion (c. 1843), and the frame Meeting House (c. 1845).

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
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