Big Stoner Gap – Jake & Eddie’s Excellent Adventure 😎🐶

My focus changes now. Picking up where I left off last year, I rescheduled my trip to research my Horton ancestors in the southwesternmost part of Virginia. I met up with brothers Rick and Dave to tour the Hortons’ cemeteries. Our home base was Big Stoner Gap. I mean Big Stone Gap! Sorry 🤣

The two-day journey to Big Stone Gap took across the mountains just south of Shenandoah National Park. From there, it was a scenic drive southwest to Wytheville.

The campground here was spacious and offered a plethora of activities for children and families. I thoroughly enjoyed taking a dip in the pool.

It was a short drive from there to Big Stone Gap. It was like riding a roller coaster, crossing the hilly terrain. At one point, we passed a huge Hitachi power generation facility next to a coal mine. A billboard proclaimed that the locals did not want any data centers to power our robot overlords (this is a big deal in northeastern Virginia). That was the first of several surprises on this part of the trip. But I digress.

Big Stone Gap has played host to the longest running outdoor theater in the United States: Trail of the Lonesome Pine. I saw it as a child on one of our visits to nearby Gate City where my father’s parents retired. It tells the tail of two feuding families in the area. Of course, one member from both families fall in love. An Appilacian Romeo and Juliet.

Big Stone Gap shares a similar legacy with Mystic, as both have been the setting for a rom-com movie. There are several museums here too. A a Flower Shop with the name Horton on it! More on that in a bit.

We pulled into a beautiful campground on the banks of the Powell River in Big Stone Gap. We parked next to the river and a beautiful grass pasture.

We met Jesse, the daughter of the guy that built this place and current owner. She was born and raised here and takes obvious pride in her beautiful campground. The office features wood carvings her father had done.

Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park

Rufus Ayers’ grave in Gate City with G-1 Lucien Horton

I checked out the museum before my brothers arrived. I was hoping to find some references to the Hortons and learn more about the area. The museum was originally the home of Rufus Ayers, who served as the Attorney General of Virginia in the late 1800s. We came across his grave in one of the cemeteries in Gate City we visited the next day.

The home is in beautiful shape and the woodwork inside is beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the exhibits on coal mining. I learned, among other things, how important the role of the surveyor was. This was a skill my Grandfather Edward Bernard Tubridy had when he lived in this area in the late 1920s when my father was born.

Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park: Beautiful woodwork throughout the home.

John Horton was named on one of the displays in the museum.

I did come across a reference to John Horton. My G-4 grandfather was John M. Horton III. Could these be the same? There are references to the Gilley family, which does not show up anywhere in our genealogy so far. Another display showed the routes the settlers took.