Tom Clarke has made education a priority at Natural Bridge since his Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund bought the 1,500-acre property in February. It’s too soon to say how the educational programs for kids will be affected when Natural Bridge becomes a state park in less than two years. But the hands-on, interactive learning opportunities have Continue Reading →
Former Natural Bridge owner Angelo Puglisi handed a framed deed of his old property to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, signifying the upcoming transfer of the land to the state park system. Elected officials, business owners and advocates helped celebrate the agreement that will put the bridge and much of 1,500 surrounding acres under public control for Continue Reading →
By Evelyn Rupert The 1,500 acres surrounding Natural Bridge won’t become a Virginia state park for a few more years. But a state official tied closely to the project is already seeing a success story. “I will predict that the Natural Bridge … will become one of the most visited state parks,” said Joe Elton, Continue Reading →
By Janey Fugate For more than two centuries, Natural Bridge has permeated the nation’s collective memory and remained a symbol of its natural and cultural heritage. And long before the birth of the nation, the bridge was part of a local Monacan Indian legend. They tell of the Creator forming the bridge before a band Continue Reading →
By Janey Fugate Natural Bridge has been a national historic landmark ever since 1997. But the federal government has been much slower to accept the local Monacan Indian tribe’s cultural claim to the bridge. Tom Clarke, the new owner of the 1500-acre Natural Bridge property, has already reached out to the tribe, asking it to Continue Reading →
By Janey Fugate About 500 million years ago, shallow seas teeming with marine life covered what today are Rockbridge and Botetourt counties. Since then, the Allegheny and Blue Ridge Mountains have risen and a temperate forest environment has evolved where once an ocean existed. After the seas receded, subterranean streams eroded caves, eventually leaving behind Continue Reading →
By Janey Fugate For many people, climate change is more a political debate than a threat to survival, confined to remote international conferences, agency reports, White House pronouncements and posturing by Congress. But the issue is becoming more real to Rockbridge County residents. The area’s ecosystem, and even Natural Bridge, are at risk as the Continue Reading →
[doptg id=”2″] The human history of Natural Bridge is long and varied. For centuries it has been the heart of a Monacan Indian legend, it was owned by Thomas Jefferson, and it was the epitome of the sublime for American Romantic painters. But its ecological heritage is at least as significant. With the bridge and Continue Reading →
Tom Clarke and his company, Roanoke-based Kissito Healthcare, bought Natural Bridge and its surrounding 1,500 acres in February. The new owners have already begun a $2.8 million renovation that spans the entire property. Clarke and his company are focused on taking a site that was a collection of attractions and creating a destination for the Continue Reading →
By Micah Fleet Marty Muterspaugh, a 43-year-old mother of two, had been out of work for two years when she landed a job at Natural Bridge Hotel. “I can finally sleep,” she said. “I used to lie awake at night, thinking, ‘Where else could I go to find a job?’” Muterspaugh, a Rockbridge County native, Continue Reading →