July 20 24 views

 

Falling Springs Falls, Covington, VA

on a sign at this location (just park your vehicle and walk a wee bit to enjoy this view, we were right around sunset and that would have been so gorgeous, you can not get any closer to the falls, but this is a gorgeous sight to see!!!) is this information and due to it's amazing history ... I love history. I really love Virginia history, so for that reason I am sharing it with you. Please enjoy...  

"Welcome to Falling Spring Falls in the Heart of Alleghany Highlands 

According to the book, "Historical Sketches of the Allegany Highlands" by Gay Arritt, 82 acres of land including the Falling Spring Falls was granted by King George III of Great Britain to Gabriel Jones in August 1771. In 1780, Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia, granted the property to Major Thomas Massie.

Jefferson visited the site once to survey the falls which he mentions in his manuscripts "Notes on the State of Virginia" written in 1781. "The only remarkable cascade in this country is that of the Falling Spring in Augusta", wrote Thomas Jefferson, "... it falls over a rock 200 feet into the valley below."

From 1914 to 1926 the Ohio C. Barber Fertilizer Company, a producer of travertine material, mined fertilizer in Barber, Virginia, now known as Falling Spring.

In 1927, Falling Spring Lime Company assumed control until 1941. In that time frame, mining operations required the falls to be relocated to its current location, and now only plunges 80 feet. Electricity that was generated from the falls was used to run the lime crushing plant as well as operating an electric railway to haul the travertine from the mine. 

On November 28, 2004, Mead Westvaco donated the Falling Spring Falls and approximately 19 surrounding acres to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. 

For further information contact Douthat State Park at (540) 862-8100"

We were shocked to see it was close or within the "Douthat State Park" what I find so interesting about Virginia is how you recall lots of the county names but finding how they land and have huge they truly are is amazing. 

(bike 1)

(bike 2)

(bike 3)

Evergreen Inn, 1914 Dressler Drive, Covington, VA 24426 (540) 968-1724 

(will try to find the history of this inn to share with you, I don't recall word for word, what Jon told us of the family who had owned this, I believe they are the 3 owners, very cool history there as well??! that is wild, I was researching and found another Evergreen Inn, in Virginia as well, shocking how things work. LOL!!)

We stayed Monday through Friday AM, middle of July 2024. So it was a nice trip, lovely stay and chance to get some work done on our new property and we loved the inn owners Jon & Laurie ...such sweet kind folks. It is not everyday that you meet folks who are so welcoming and wishing to help in any way. We really enjoyed our daily chats, about what we had seen throughout our travels that day, where we should go, or about our past travels. They had a big group of visitors coming in on over this upcoming weekend and were getting all excited about what was to come. We had plans for meeting our friends for a day kayaking trip and that day the Army Corp of Engineers were purging the Jackson River ...so we did a change of plans and did part of the James River instead ...thankful Jon went out of his way to find us in the AM before he went off to work to make sure we knew what was going on in the local area.

(bike 4)

No clue why it spilt up the BIKE ride trip pics????!!?!? So strange is how google does those pictures, any one know why??! I am scratching my brain going what??! (pictures named "bike 1 through 4") weird times as usual here on blogger platform ...but it was such a great ride. "Jackson River Scenic Trail", if you are a biker or wish to walk (maybe you wish to ride your horse?) and / or enjoy the Virginian views please get on this and check out this ride. So gorgeous. They are chatting and trying to work it up that it will go even (28 miles round trip, we broke it up into 2 different days, just for the fun of it and parked at different spots, the Evergreen Inn was our beginning spot for the first biking day, 2nd trip was 2 days later and we did go to a different put out spot and I think we did go a bit of the route we had already bikes but found the one drop spot was not finished, so that part was a bit of repeat but still fun all the same. They do have restrooms throughout the path. Lots of picnic tables to able to enjoy a break, stop and recoup and just enjoy the views. This would be awesome no matter the season. Well done!! SO FUN!!) farther but it sounds like they are trying to work with the locals who live near the trail and businesses and such ... hoping that will happen. It was supposedly gonna be finished in 2023 ..well it is now 2024 so I'm praying that will happen very soon??! Fingers and toes crossed.

Such a gorgeous getaway, no far from our home but it is just nice to switch it up and see a different part of Virginia. Relax. Rest. & Breathe. Hope you did enjoy our pictures. Thank you kindly for stopping by. Take Care. Beth ( ;