Shenandoah National ParkRappahannock County

Nathan Dodson farm, Tract 197, Rappahannock County

Did you know?Bank claims $4,000 for timber interest

The 1920s survey

A 4-room frame and log house, 20 by 20 feet, with a metal roof; a barn, 18 by 22 feet; 11 acres of orchard; timber (yellow and white pine). 204 acres, valued at $1,342. The state paid $1,500.

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

Badly grown up to brush and cattle have eaten twees so it is in very poor condition.
— Dodson, Nathan, Rappahannock County court land file, opens in a new tab, page 7. 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.

Families of the park

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

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