Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Whitney State Forest
Thanks to the volunteers from the Fauquier Trails Coalition and Trail Blazers, the Whitney State Forest now has marked trails! One trail is still in need of marking, then our trail system will be complete. We are working on providing a map to show these new blaze markings and the trails. Three markings will be seen on the trails to indicate the direction of the trails: Straight, Left Turn, and Right Turn.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
In tandem with the trail marking at Whitney, about 600 feet of good, sustainable trail was closed, and a lame re-route put in it's place. I wondering why this was done, was there some endangered species present? There are many sections of trail out there in much worse shape.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, there are worse sections of trail that are yet to be addressed. Some will receive waterbars and some will be rerouted. The section of trail that was closed was one to be addressed and was selected to do that day because it worked well to reroute trail at the same time as marking it, and we had sufficient manpower to complete that project in the amount of time available.
ReplyDeleteThanx for marking the trails. This place is a hiden gem for hiking, MTB, and just plain walking the dogs! What is the history of this place and the stone house with the green barn like shelters nearby?
ReplyDeleteI apologize for how long it has taken me to respond to this comment and question but I finally was able to dig it up for you. Joe Rosetti, Faquier County Forester, was able to find the Department of Historic Resources report on the property and had the following to say.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the trails are marked too! Please thank the Fauquier Trails Coalition too for their help with it! The Department of Historic Resources did an assessment of the house and barn in 2005 and gave us a pretty complete history of the house and property, summarized as follows:
"Part of William Allason's North Wales when constructed in circa 1770, this house appears to be closely contemporaty in age to his mansion... The 1565 acre North Wales Plantation descended to Allason's dayghter Mary, then to her daughter, Ann Allason Rose who wed Alexandria merchant Henry Ashton. The Ashtons deeded the 147.5 acres "including the dwelling and out-houses on the said 'Ashley'" to their dayghter Ellen through a trust... Elen married Robert Horner, and Ashley stayed in the family through the ownership of their daughter, Ellen Horner Wyeth who lived in Missouri. By 1929 when she sold Ashley to Emily Whitney Briggs, the name change to Hooewood recalled the early North Wales patent. Retaining the property only a few months, Emily conveyed the property to Helen Whitney Gibson who sold the former Ashley to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1972."
The green barns were built as a small stable or loafing shed around 1870. The DHR assessment makes reference to the cut nails found fastening the building together and the hewn and log joists. The building was probably painted green by the Department of Forestry after acquiring the property. It's the same shade of green found on our signposts and structures on other state forests.
The Department of Forestry got involved on the property around 1950 when contacted by Mrs. Helen Whitney Gibson for an assessment of her forest. She lived in New York at the time. After conversing with the area forester at the time, a timber sale was marked in 1950 and again in 1955 by the DOF. She donated the property to the Commonwealth in 1972, at which time the DOF planted the pines that were recently clearcut and thinned.