Cascades Recreation Area, Jefferson National Forest, Pembroke
For more information call:
540-552-4641
About 150,000 visitors a year visit the Cascades. Without question, Cascade Falls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Virginia and possibly on the entire East Coast. Little Stony Creek falls over a vertical cliff in several different streams. Several streams cascade a couple times on the way down while others fall the whole distance of the falls.
The 69 ft. falls crash into a large pool surrounded by two hundred foot cliff walls from which large ice formations hang in the winter. The scene is both breathtaking and peaceful as the falls combine both power and beauty. The falls are also fairly easy to view, with wooden stairs and platforms on one side of the pool allowing a visitor to get very close to the falls as well as allowing a photographer many different angles for photographs.
Pearisburg is the county seat of Giles and has existed as a town since 1808. It was named for Captain George Pearis of France whose family fled France in 1710 and settled in South Carolina. Pearis had purchased a 204-acre tract from Captain William Ingles for 70 pounds of sterling. He decided to donate a 53-acre tract of land to the county court to use for the construction of the county seat and its first buildings. He built the first temporary courthouse beside his home on the riverbank and supplied the lumber and stones needed to build the county’s official courthouse and other buildings in Pearisburg. He later opened a small retail store and a ferry after being severely wounded in the Revolutionary War. Pearis died in 1810 before he could see much growth in his town.
Daniel Shumate and Milly Callison with their three sons settled Rich Creek and built their first log home in 1780. Later in 1787 Daniel received a land grant for 387 acres and built his second log home near a large spring knoll overlooking the river.
The people of Rich Creek came to know this home as “Riverside, home of the Hardin Shumates” until 1981 when it was sold to Emory and Louise Eaton. However, white settlers came across Rich Creek back in 1671 when the Batt and Fallam expedition came to a halt when Indian guides refused to go any further. They burned their initials in a tree and claimed the territory for King Charles II of England.
As far back as researchers can determine the first white settler to make a permanent home close to what is now Pembroke was Philip Lybrook who came with his family from Pennsylvania some time between 1748 and 1755. His family originated in Holland and the name there was Leibroch. The Lybrook family settled at a point along the New River at about the place where Sinking Creek flows into the New River.
Recreation Area, Jefferson National Forest
From the 1930s through the 1980s, Glen Alton was the farm and vacation retreat of a banker from nearby Pearisburg. The farm was acquired by the U.S. Forest Service in 1999. The Forest Service plans to restore the farm and create a public recreation area that will include interpretive displays, picnic areas, trails and overnight lodging.
Information...
Mountain Lake Hotel and Resort
Mountain Lake is one of two natural lakes in the state surrounded by private land and a hotel and has been called “The Silver Gem of the Alleghenies.” When at full pond the lake is about 50 acres in surface area. However, recent droughts have reduced the lake to 51’ below full pond as of July 2008. The private property covers 2,600 acres and adjoins an 8,253 acre wilderness area.
The Virginia Geological Survey says the head of the lake is shallow and gradually increases to a depth of 100 feet. The lake is estimated to be about 10,000 years old and geologists believe it must have been formed along an active fault line by rockslides and damming during several earthquakes. Cold underground springs that rarely allow the temperature to rise about 70 degrees on the surface and 46 degrees on the surface feed the lake. Due to narrow channels and openings in the lake bottom, the level has a history of changing dramatically depending on the water flow through these channels.
New River's Edge
Splash for Life 2010 July 4th - Proceeds go to cancer research
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Glen Lyn, located at the West Virginia state line on Route 460 along the New River and at the mouth of the East River, was one of the first settlements of Giles County. John Toney uncovered the site of the Mary Porter home and her grave, which simply states “Mary Porter Killed By Indians November 28, 1742.”
Earlier in 1755, Mary Draper Ingles made her trek back home from captivity through here where her Dutch companion attacked her. She escaped and found a canoe, and used it to cross the river to her rescue by Adam Harmon. John Toney built the first brick house in Giles County in 1780 on the site of a decayed cabin he found upon his arrival. Toney owned the land around his settlement for a long period of time and named the area Montreal. Toney lived in the house until he sold it to Mr. Raleigh Parris. Lilly Davis last occupied the house before the Highway Department bought it from her. The Highway Department then demolished the house for the expansion of Route 460.
