You have a brand new reason to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway (as if you needed one!). The Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, a well-loved tourist destination on the Parkway, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
"This is a milestone that makes official the significance of the estate and manor house," said Carolyn Ward, CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. "We feel a great deal of satisfaction that after working with Parkway staff and leadership for more than 14 years toward this goal, the important historic and cultural significance of the estate has now been officially recognized.
"Of course, this is also a beginning. The Foundation will continue to work with the Parkway to protect and preserve this lovely estate," continued Ms. Ward. "Because of the generosity of members of our Community of Stewards and the revenue from the NC Blue Ridge Parkway specialty license plate, the Foundation has already been able to invest more than $1 million toward preserving the estate."
The historic district of Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, located near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, (Milepost 295) is significant as an example of a Country Place era estate and because of its historic association with Moses Cone, who in partnership with his brother Ceasar Cone, revolutionized textile manufacturing and introduced denim production in the South. The landscape architecture, and in particular the extensive network of carriage roads and plantings, are among very few such systems that remain intact in private estates of this period in the entire country.
"Moses H. Cone Memorial Park is a significant recreational and cultural asset on the Blue Ridge Parkway and this important designation will help us fulfill our responsibility and desire to protect and interpret this beautiful estate as it deserves - as one of America's important landmarks, said Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Mark Woods.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation encourages anyone who has an interest in the future of the estate to become a member of the Foundation's Community of Stewards. For more information visit brpfoundation.org or call 866-308-2773.
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