This makes for a beautiful drive; on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Shenandoah Valley below and the Allegheny Mountains beyond. There is lots of history here too. One stark bit of history is the path of destruction in 1864 left by General Sheridan and his Union Army as they went through the Shenandoah. The campaign consisted of burning barns and destroying crops to deny the Confederate Army the wherewithal to feed itself. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the valley, among whom where many Mennonites and Dunkards, were caught in the middle, and they with many others faced incredible loss. An estimated 2000 barns and 70 gristmills were burned over a six-week period.
In more recent history, part of Civilian Public Service duties during World War II were park service, and many of the stone walls along the Sky Line Drive were built by conscientious objectors.
