Browse Exhibits (48 total)
Only a small number of people have been murdered on the Appalachian Trail making the Appalachian Trail seem relatively safe. Most consider the outdoors to be an escape from soicety, and an escape from the dangers that came with civilization. However, somewhere between May 24, 1996, and June 1, 1996, Julianne Williams and Laura Winans were brutally murdered in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, a crime that shocked the Appalachian Trail community due in part to its proximity to the Trail. This murder was not only signifcant because it took place in a relatively popular location, but because the victims were also lesbian lovers.
Among the thousands who take to the Appalachian trail each year, many of them come without nature or exercise on their mind. Many come with the mindset of drinking, doing drugs, and activities, of that likeness. While these individuals don’t have in mind one of Benton MacKaye’s visions for the Appalachian trail: using the trail for the improvement of one’s health, some are. Through using the trail directly to overcome substance addiction or using it to provide awareness many embody this aspect of MacKaye’s vision fully.
Thirty-five years ago hikers and backpackers on the Appalachian Trail hiked in jeans and tee-shirts. Today if a backpacker wears jeans they are gently pulled aside by friends who tell them that cotton kills. Cotton increases the chance of getting hypothermia because it absorbs moisture and retains it, cotton socks give people blisters, cotton underwear chaffs, anyone who wears cotton while backpacking is ignorant becuase everyone knows that wool and sythetics are best. What forces drove outdoor enthusiasts to throw off cotton with a rant on its evils? And what other fashion trends hit the Appalachian Trail since its creation.
After World War I, cities were becoming more urbanized and there was a fast-growing demand for outdoor recreation. Benton MacKaye, former US Forest Service employee, decided to fill this gap between urbanization and recreation by combining regional planning and sustainability/conservation, While MacKaye did not want the Appalachian Trail project to be a real estate endeavor in the conservation process, the project indirectly evolved over time as construction expanded across private properties because of the federal land acquisition program that occurred after the National Trails Act of 1968.[1] In 1978, the Act was amended to give National Park Service more funds and authority to acquire more land.
The Appalachian Trail as we know it today is the result of both private and initiative and governemental action. While the original version of the Trail was created largely by volunteers, they made extensive use of federal and state land creating the Trail, especially in the region south of the Susquehanna River. As early as 1945, members of Congress took an interest in the Appalachian Trail as a national cultural and recreational resource, but it was not until 1968 that the Appalachian Trail entered the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. This exhibit charts the history of the migration of the Appalachian Trail from a volunteer project based largely on private land to a National Scenic Trail under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.
An overview of the history of the Appalachian Trail from its earliest beginnings as an idea hatched by Benton MacKaye to the present trail that stretches from Georgia to Maine, passing through 14 states and over approximately 2,190 miles. The Trail, which began its life in 1922 with the first sections blazed in New York state, was originally a project of volunteer trail clubs. In 1968 the AT was designated as a National Scenic Trail and thus became part of the National Park system. Today, more than 3 million people each year set foot on the Trail for a few hours, a few days, or to hike from one end to the other--a trip of around 5 million steps. This exhibit provides a brief summary of how a crazy idea first proposed in 1921, turned into America's most iconic hiking trail.
Scenic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia lies at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. For Appalachian Trail Hikers, Harpers Ferry is significant as the approximate mid-point of the 2,178-mile trail. Harpers Ferry is home to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), the headquarters for the AT.
Harpers Ferry is perhaps best known for abolitionist John Brown’s October 16, 1859 raid on the federal armory there. Brown hoped the attack on the armory would spark a slave rebellion. The raid failed, but it did help to focus the nation’s attention on the growing tension between pro and anti-slavery factions. Just 18 months later, on April 12 - 14, 1861, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina launching the Civil War.
For those interested in Civil War history, Harpers Ferry is close to several battlefield sites. Antietam Battlefield is 17 miles away. Gettysburg Battlefield, in Pennsylvania, is approximately 60 miles northeast of Harpers Ferry. Manassas Battlefield is approximately 60 miles southeast in Virginia.
The town of Harpers Ferry itself is a popular tourist destination offering restaurants, museums, and incredible views. Outdoor activities include rafting on the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers and hiking the many trails. Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive lie just to the south with an entrance to the park in Front Royal, Virginia.
Since the beginnings of the Appalachian Trail in the 1920s, tens of millions of hikers have set foot on the Trail for a few hours, a few days, a few months, or to hike it from one end to the other. In doing so, they pursue Benton MacKaye's goal of developing a new form of outdoor community life to, as he said, help solve "the problem of living" in modern industrial society. Of the millions of hikers who have spent time on the Trail over the decades, we know only a little about a very few--those who chose to sit down and write about their experiences. Many of those who wrote about their hikes were long distance hikers and so the story of the day hiker is much more difficult to tell. This exhibit offers glimpses into the experiences of some of the best known hikers, but also into those less well known hikers who also shape the history of the Appalachian Trail.
Hot Springs, North Carolina was officially designated a trail community on April 24, 2010. However, decades before the designation, Hot Springs was aiding thru hikers on their journey to traverse the over 2000 miles of trail from Georgia to Maine, as well as hikers who just want to get into the wilderness for the weekend. The town has responded to the surplus of hikers with multiple hotels and other lodging, as well as unique amenities and stores to that cater to the hikers and ultimately make their hike easier and more enjoyable. This exhibit is intended to showcase how a community came together to change their small town on a river into an oasis for hikers that are on the trail for the weekend or the entire 2000 plus mile journey.
The town of Monson, Maine, is the last town that northbound Appalachian Trail hikers enter before heading into the One-Hundred Mile Wilderness – or the first town that southbound hikers encounter after completing that remote stretch between the town and Mount Katahdin, the northeast terminus of the famed trail.
Monson’s 686 residents, as of the 2010 Census, enjoy a harmonious and interdependent relationship with the weary hikers who trek the Appalachian Trail each year.
It’s estimated that 3 million people hike the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail every year, with an estimated 3,000 attempted thru-hikes of the entire trail in 2016.
As a result, hundreds of AT hikers rely on Monson to stock up on supplies, shower, eat a home-cooked meal, run a load of laundry or pick up their mail. And numerous local businesses cater to these hikers, offering them a place to eat, refresh and spend the night.
Located in the southwest portion of Maine’s Piscataquis County, Monson is a small but beautiful town surrounded by mountains and forest.
Originally established in 1822, Monson was a quiet, sleepy town that saw its population double with the discovery of high-quality slate deposits in the late 19th century. When the slate mining operations became less profitable, the remote town appeared headed for extinction. But the town’s strategic location on the Appalachian Trail saved it from disappearing as hikers, initially few in number but eventually growing to hundreds each year, brought with them much needed revenue.
The months from June to November is a time span that has the potential to bring well-known destruction along the Gulf Coast, where memories of Katrina still linger. Hurricanes are destructive forces of nature that will damage or destroy everything that comes in their way with their monstrous winds and torrential rainfall. Inland United States is not free from their effects. Although the Gulf Coast is the most hurricane-prone region, the Mid-Atlantic and New England have certainly seen their fair share of storms. While the Applachian Trail may be rather inland, it too is not spared from many of the effects of Hurricanes.
Benton MacKaye dreamed that people would venture out to the Appalachian Trail as a way to connect with nature and rejuvinate their health. He did not take into account the existance of microscopic parasites, microbes, and diseases that called the wilderness home.
This exhibit will explore those illnesses, how people avoided contracting them, and how they handle being sick while on the trail.
