The Big Meadows Site, one of the most intensively investigated sites in the Shenandoah National Park and the entire Blue Ridge region, has revealed Indian habitation in the Big Meadows area occurring between ca. 2500 B.C. and A.D. 800. Yielding the park’s oldest example of prehistoric art and evidence of a possible dwelling in the Blue Ridge, the site also has produced large quantities of locally and regionally imported raw materials, indicating the extent to which its prehistoric occupants exploited a large and varied territory on a seasonal basis. The population peak of the Big Meadows Site was reached in Late Archaic to Early Woodland times, and contrasts with subsequent sparse use of the region by Late Woodland peoples (ca. A.D. 800-1600).
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia