Shenandoah National Park Rappahannock County

H.E. Boyer farm (part a), Tract 9, Rappahannock County

Did you know?Abandoned log and frame house

The 1920s survey

A log and frame house, 20 by 45 feet, with a shingle roof; a barn, 20 by 42 feet; timber (white oak, chestnut oak, basswood). 464 acres, valued at $1,732. The state paid $4,703.

Today

Landmarks on this map (3)

Places

Indian Run Shelter · USGS place names

Summits

Carson Mountain · USGS place names

Gaps

Compton Gap · USGS place names

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

Landmarks in this tract: Carson Mountain · USGS place names, Compton Gap · USGS place names, Indian Run Shelter · USGS place names

Case files

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

BoyerH.E._Rapp9.pdf (4.2 MB, PDF, opens in a new tab)

County court land file

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

Boyer, HE
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

I have saw - mill there and lumber stacked for years which I would have used ere this, but for the agitation of proposed Park and for same reason I could not assure a good man a permanent job or partnership in stock and running of lumber business.

— H. E. Boyer, Boyer, HE, Rappahannock County court land file, page 6. Courtesy of the Rappahannock County Circuit Court Clerk and JMU Libraries, Histories along the Blue Ridge. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Therefore I much prefer not to sell this property and will give a road bed through it free of charge: but if that will not be acceptable I will price it for Park use at Twenty Dollars per acre, minimum.

I would not price it to a private individual at Thirty Dollars per acre for I know what it is worth now and what can be done with it - that is all above the surface - as to mineral I cannot be so certain.

Families of the park

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

H.E. Boyer farm, Tract 124, Warren County

Did you know?

Abandoned log and frame house
The tract included a house abandoned for several years, partly log and partly frame construction with a leaky shingle and composition roof, valued at $200.
From the records How we know
Downed fences and thin grass
The cleared land had a thin stand of grass with scattered sassafras, locust, and blackberry, and all fences were down.
From the records How we know
Claimant's valuation of $18,000
H. E. Boyer claimed the total value of his right, title and interest in the tract, with improvements, was $18,000.
Sources differ: the park land records at JMU gives “H. E. Boyer claimed the total value of his right, title and interest in the tract, with improvements, was $18,000”; the county court land file says “$18,000.00”.
From the records How we know

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