Shenandoah National Park Rappahannock County

Taylor, Cheatham, and Priest Williams farm, Tract 151, Rappahannock County

The 1920s survey

50 acres, valued at $6,380. The state paid $16,800.

Today

House sites and family graves are never marked. Pins show only public places, from USGS place names and other public sources.

Case files

Scanned deeds, surveys and claims, kept by the National Park Service (PDF).

Williams_Taylor_Cheatham_Rapp151.pdf (5.6 MB, PDF, opens in a new tab)

County court land files

Papers from the Rappahannock County circuit court’s proceedings to take the land for the park, scanned by JMU Libraries.

Panorama
The file at JMU Libraries, opens in a new tab PDF, opens in a new tab
Courtesy of the Rappahannock County Circuit Court Clerk and JMU Libraries, Histories along the Blue Ridge. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, opens in a new tab.
Willams Taylor Cheatham and Priest
The file at JMU Libraries, opens in a new tab PDF, opens in a new tab
Courtesy of the Rappahannock County Circuit Court Clerk and JMU Libraries, Histories along the Blue Ridge. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, opens in a new tab.

From the case file

When claimants acquired the above tracts of land, there were no improvements thereon, the lands were cut over badly burned mountain lands with a dense growth of underbrush and much loose rock thereon.

— J. Allen Williams, Panorama, Rappahannock County court land file, page 3. Courtesy of the Rappahannock County Circuit Court Clerk and JMU Libraries, Histories along the Blue Ridge. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

The Panorama location, however, is not desired to be perpetuated by the National Park Service since it does not fit into our plans.

— Arno D. Cammerer, Williams_Taylor_Cheatham_Rapp151.pdf, page 25

A heavily degraded copy of a photograph showing a one-story cottage with a stone chimney, gabled porch and overgrown yard. Photo: National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park, case file Williams_Taylor_Cheatham_Rapp151.pdf, opens in a new tab, page 10.

A one-story house with a gable roof, a chimney, a long front porch with lattice skirting and wooden steps, set against bare trees; the image survives as a faded photocopy. Photo: National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park, case file Williams_Taylor_Cheatham_Rapp151.pdf, opens in a new tab, page 11.

Families of the park

Other tracts whose owners shared the name. A shared name doesn’t always mean a shared family.

Did you know?

Tourist Resort Valuation
An additional value of $1,000 was placed on the tract for its special adaptability for carrying on the business of a tourist resort and hotel then being conducted there.
From the records How we know
Summer resort valuation dispute
In a sworn affidavit, an affiant said the Board of Appraisal Commissioners allowed the claimants only $1,000 as the special value of the properties for summer resort purposes, an amount he called grossly inadequate.
From the records How we know
Purchase price of unimproved land
An affiant said he was advised that the claimants had paid a total of $14,900 for the lands under the Panorama Resort, with no improvements on them.
From the records How we know
Condition of land at original purchase
When the lands were originally purchased in 1923, 1925, and 1926, they were unimproved, cut over mountain lands with a large amount of underbrush and rocks.
From the records How we know
Condition of the land upon purchase
When the claimants acquired the tracts, there were no improvements, and the land was described as badly burned mountain land with dense underbrush and loose rock.
From the records How we know
Caretaker's cottage and servant quarters
The claimants built a three-room caretaker's cottage with boarded sides and a paper roof, plus two frame structures for servants and waitresses.
From the records How we know

Source: National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park, Historic Land Tracts.

The 1920s survey

Map of the tract

Case files

County court land files

From the case file

Families of the park