Vintage Views of Natural Bridge

Backcountry Notes ^ | April 10, 2010 | Jay Henderson

[jay1949]

As isolated as the Virginia Backcountry was from the coastal colonies, travelers were eager to tour and enjoy the wild country. Among the early tourists was Thomas Jefferson, who trekked across Rockfish Gap in August of 1767 and found himself entranced by the Natural Bridge. [Eight 19th-century paintings and engravings of Natural Bridge]

[MsLady]

I’ve been there many years ago. It’s beautiful.

[behzinlea]

Very nice.

[steelyourfaith]

Fascinating.

[raybbr]

At one point it had to have been a natural dam. Pretty amazing. Is it still there? I have never heard about it.

[Beowulf9]

Is it surrounded by roads and houses now or is it still the beautiful pristine landscape like these pictures?

[FoxPro]

I am still trying to figure out who owns it.

I know Thomas Jefferson once did.

[ETL]

Here’s a link to a high-resolution photo of Natural Bridge:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/de/Natural_Bridge_VA_size.JPG

[ETL]

Natural Bridge by Frederic Edwin Church, 1852

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridge_%28Virginia%29

[Roccus]

Visited it in 1961. The two things that stick in my mind were the evening recorded concert with light show and the segregated restrooms and water fountains in the visitor’s center.

[Larry Lucido]

Awesome! I wanna go now!

[Roccus]

Oh yeah...and the “G W” carved into the wall opposite the walkway.

[jay1949]

Still there, still privately owned, except for the right-of-way across the top of the Bridge — U.S. 11 runs across it.

http://www.naturalbridgeva.com/

[uglybiker]

ping?

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[Nateman]

[ThomasSawyer]

What a beautiful painting!

[Ditter]

I have heard of it but for some reason I thought it was in the west, maybe Colorado.

[Harold Shea]

We`ve been there ,but its been several years ago,beautiful
place,

I was thinking it was TJ`s initials from where Jefferson surveyed the area

[Joe 6-pack]

"What a beautiful painting!"

As a huge fan of 19th Century American art, I'd invite you to explore more of Church's work...some of his paintings have a virtually photographic quality...