This past year in 2012, the attendance numbers doubled at High Bridge Trail State Park from 86,110 to 188,467, as reported in an online article pub- lished on Jan. 14, 2013 by the WFLO radio station.
The limestone-covered trail stretches 31 miles long through Cumberland, Nottoway and Prince Edward counties and the towns of Burkeville, Farmville, Pamplin City, Prospect and Rice. The trail allows for hiking, bicycling and horse riding.
The trail originally opened on Aug. 22, 2008 with only four miles of trail, and on April 6, 2012, the final section of High Bridge was completed and opened to the public.
While the park is still a recent presence in the community, it may mean a lot economically in upcoming years, as more and more visitors are attracted to hike the trail.
Furthermore, while the park may still be an up-and-coming presence, the land the park is built on holds a lot of history, tracing back over 150 years when a railroad was placed on it.
The flat land of the High Bridge Trail State Park was originally a rail line built by the Norfolk Southern Railway Company in the 1850s.
Cumberland resident and Longwood alumus Woodfin Ligon lives only two miles north of High Bridge in a house built in 1858. Ligon stat- ed that his family heritage began in Farmville and traces back to before the town even existed.
Recalling the image of the train’s smoke trailing the length of the bridge, Ligon said, “When there’s a train, there’s a town and it made an enormous impact.”
Originally a river town for trade, Farmville struggled in the 1850s for profit. As a railroad was being constructed nearby, Farmville used $150,000 worth of railroad bonds to influence the railway company to lead the train closer to the town.
Craig Guthrie, park ranger for High Bridge Trail State Park, said, “The reason they did that was because they knew the railroad was going to make the town grow, and as soon as that happened a lot of the other river towns, which were larger than Farmville, just shriveled and died.”
“Farmville became the big wheel,” stated Guthrie, who further commented that soon industries in Farmville relied on the rail line.
In 2006, when railroad service was not profitable any more, the Norfolk Southern Railway Company donated the land to the state of Virginia to make the land into a park. Commenting on the park, Guthrie said, “It puts the town on the map.”
High Bridge itself is a Virginia Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. Orginally built in 1853, the current steel-tower bridge is more than 2,440 feet long and stands 125 feet above the Appomattox River.
According to the Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation (DRC), “High Bridge is the longest recreational bridge in Virginia and one of the longest in the United States.”
Guthrie described the bridge as “the centerpiece of High Bridge Trail State Park” and, for the 1850s, “a monument of human engineering.”
During the American Civil War, High Bridge held a huge influence on history at the Battle of High Bridge.
As Robert E. Lee and his troops retreated from Petersburg, he had had to cross the Appomattox River, and the best way to do so was by using High Bridge.
Additionally, according to a news- paper souvenir edition published by The Farmville Herald in July 2012, “Confederate authorities realized the destruction of this bridge would greatly hinder the South Side Rail Road by severing this strategic supply link between Lynchburg and Petersburg.”
“That bridge became a huge strate- gic factor,” said Guthrie.
On April 6 and 7, 1862, the Union sent a cavalry troop to destroy the bridge so the Confederates couldn’t cross it. They succeeded in setting fire to it, but Lee’s troops were able to es- cape by crossing a wagon bridge below it. The wagon bridge was damp and made of a green material that didn’t burn well.
Confederate engineers attempted to set fire to the wagon bridge to prevent the Union soldiers from crossing, but were unsuccessful and had to escape to the other side as the Union soldiers sent artillery at them.
Guthrie said, “I think the failure to destroy that little wagon bridge on that valley underneath High Bridge was really the last nail in the Confed- eracy’s coffin.”
When High Bridge was recon- structed in 1914 with steel, Motley’s, a construction company in Farmville, salvaged brick from abandoned High Bridge pilings and utilized them to build many of the buildings in the town of Farmville. The use of the brick was especially beneficial, as building materials were in short supply during World War II.
For the future of the High Bridge Trail State Park, one may expect even more distance to be added to the park. Guthrie commented that High Bridge Trail State Park is only one mile short from connecting to Hampden-Sydney and to Burkeville. He stated that it is in the works to make this happen.
“We hope that it will be a good thing for those towns. Just like the railroad has been an economic engine for the various settlements and towns that it goes through, we’re hoping that the trail will also be an economic engine that will bring business and traffic to these places,” said Guthrie.
An economic engine, High Bridge Trail State Park represents the back- bone of the Town of Farmville as a historical landmark and as a public recreational resource to the community.
To see online real-time photographs of High Bridge, Ligon set up a weather webcam, which takes a picture of the bridge every 10 minutes. To access the images, go online to http://bit. ly/10N6zJm.
If interested in volunteering for the park, join the Friends of High Bridge Trail State Park, a group of commu- nity members who contribute to the park’s preservation and public educa- tion opportunities. For more informa- tion, call (434) 315-0457 or email fof- hbt@gmail.com.
For further information on the park, the High Bridge Trail State Park office is located on 6888 Green Bay Road, Green Bay, VA. 23942. If in need of di- rections, call (434) 315-0457 or email highbridgetrail@dcr.virginia.gov.
