Blue Ridge Mountain Railroad (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only John M Hyche.

From 1850 to 1860, the Blue Ridge Mountains were home to roughly 1,900 Irish laborers as they worked on the construction of the Virginia Central Railroad. Upon its completion, the railroad  stretched from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Ohio River. Along the Blue Ridge Mountains, several cuts and tunnels were constructed by the Irish immigrants including the 4,263ft Blue Ridge Tunnel. In 2011, a local non-profit organization, focused on pinpointing the remains of Irish shantytown homes, contacted the...