The 2023 History Day event will be a 2‐day caravan trip for interested relatives to follow the travels of our ancestors in the 1770s. The trip is scheduled for Friday, July 14th thru Saturday July 15th. President Barry Stalnaker will be leading this caravan.
Day 1 - We will meet at 9 AM at Virginia Tech parking lot 14 located at 705 W Campus Dr, Blacksburg, VA 24061. This was the scene of the Draper’s Meadow massacre.
Stop 2 - 2575 Shadow Lake Rd, Blacksburg, VA. - Memorial for Barger’s Indian Fort marks what is believed to have been the fort that Capt. Samuel built at Draper’s Meadow.
Stop 3 - Center of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge located at the New River crossing of VA-117 between Blacksburg and Radford. The bridge overlooks the property that Capt. Samuel owned “opposite the Buffalo Pound.”
Stop 4 - Hungry Mother State Park, 2854 Park Blvd, Marion, VA.
Stop 5 - Town House and “Farthest West” marker - 300 W Lee Hwy, Chilhowie, VA.
Stop 6 - 36285 Lee Hwy, Glade Spring, VA - From here we will explore the location of the 1755 Shawnee raid and follow what was once known as Stalnaker’s Creek to Fort Kilmachronan.
Stop 7 - Museum of the Middle Appalachians, 123 Palmer Ave, Saltville, VA.
Day 1 will end in Middlesboro, KY. Most attendees are staying at the Holiday Inn Express, 1252 N 12th St, Middlesboro, KY.
Day Two - We will meet at the Cumberland Gap National Park visitors center located on U.S. Highway 25E just south of Middlesboro, KY. After viewing the exhibits, we will drive to an overlook of the gap, and then we will walk through the gap.
Stop 2 - Wilderness Road State Park, 8051 Wilderness Rd Trail, Ewing, VA.
Stop 3 - New River Gorge Bridge. We will meet at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center located at 162 Visitor Center Road, Lansing, WV. After escaping from the Shawnee, Capt. Samuel very likely followed the New River back to Virginia. The New River Gorge recently became the nation’s newest national park. The New River Gorge Bridge is the longest steel span in the western hemisphere and the third highest in the United States.
Day 2 will end in Elkins, WV.
Please sign up for this two‐day trip by emailing CaptainStalnaker@gmail.com ASAP