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The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway

Driving Through Time Project Resources

The resources described below supply more information about a variety of aspects of the Parkway, including technical details of its physical construction.

Super-Scenic Motorway cover

Cover of Super-Scenic Motorway

University of North Carolina Press

Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History

Dr. Anne Mitchell Whisnant's book, Super-Scenic Motorway provided the stimulus for this digital history project. Dr. Whisnant is also the scholarly advisor for "Driving Through Time."

Documents from the National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway

The official Blue Ridge Parkway "strip map" is available online. Handed out to tourists driving the Parkway, this map provides a general overview of the Parkway, its major landmarks and significant sites along the way.

The Blue Ridge Parkway "Linear Log," created by Parkway landscape architect Dave Anderson and other National Park Service staff, offers a detailed overview of the Parkway, down to a tenth of a mile. It includes information about utilities, overlooks, roads, trails, tunnels, bridges and maintenance. Please note the Linear Log is updated periodically by the Park Service. The version on this page is from November 8, 2010.

The "Chronology of Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway" provides the Parkway section numbers, construction beginning dates, open-to-traffic dates, and landmarks that demarcate each section.

Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress, HAER Survey #NC-42, Blue Ridge Parkway. Survey records online at the Library of Congress’s American Memory site, Built in America series. This is a comprehensive survey of the Blue Ridge Parkway, conducted in 1997, which provides good background for specific details of the Parkway's construction and development.