Shenandoah National ParkRappahannock County

Frank Cox farm, Tract 173, Rappahannock County

Tenant: Herbert Atkins

Did you know?House described as log and weatherboarded with shed room

The 1920s survey

A 4-room log and weatherboard house, 24 by 30 feet, with a shingle roof; a barn, 18 by 18 feet; an orchard (75 apple trees); no merchantable timber. 112 acres, valued at $1,038. The state paid $2,107.

Map of the tract

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).

County court land file

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

From the case file

That the said special investigators and members of the board of appraisal commission in fixing the said valuation of $2,107.34 were affected or influenced by partiality, by error and misapprehension of the facts, and by improper argument of counsel to the effect that it was necessary for them to fix the values low for otherwise the petitioner would not have sufficient money to acquire the same;
— Frank H. Cox, Cox, Frank, Rappahannock County court land file, opens in a new tab, page 4. 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.
The steep gable end of a clapboard house with a small upper window, set against a bare hillside in winter. This is a very faint photocopy of the original.
The steep gable end of a clapboard house with a small upper window, set against a bare hillside in winter. This is a very faint photocopy of the original. Photo: National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park, case file CoxFrank_Rapp173.pdf, opens in a new tab, page 8.

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