This week, we continue Daniel Webster (D. W.) Scott’s history of Meadows of Dan with our fifth installment. Scott turns his attention to the land itself—its topography and climate—and mentions only a few people along the way. Their names offer an opportunity to revisit stories that have appeared in Patrick Pioneers.
On August 23, 2023, I shared the story of Andrew and Martha Jane Boyd Clifton in The Enterprise. Later, in “Seasons of Lover’s Leap (Part I),” published January 22, 2025, I wrote about the tragedies associated with that overlook. As Lover’s Leap became more accessible, it also became the scene of heartbreaking losses. On January 19, 1930, Harvey Bryant Williams fell from the overlook and did not survive. He was 29 years old and the father of five children. Thirty years later, in March 1960, the body of his son, Harvey Dickerson Williams, was found near the base of Lover’s Leap. News reports said he was found only feet from where his father’s body had been found.
Scott also refers to the old Tinsley home. It belonged to Dr. Spotswood Tinsley, who had a cabin at the top of Rock Castle Gorge and was known for healing with herbal remedies. His name lives on in Tinsley Knob, which appears on some old maps of Patrick County.
Now, let us return to Scott’s own words. Writing in 1949, the octogenarian recalled the Meadows of Dan landscape he had known since his childhood in Patrick County.
“Land was the object which enticed many of the first settlers to this section. At the time when the first settlers came, land could be had by building a cabin and raising a crop of any kind of grain, entitling the occupant to four hundred acres of land and a preemption right on one thousand acres more adjoining, to be secured by a land office warrant. This right was to take effect if there happened to be so much vacant land, or any part thereof, adjoining the tract secured by the settlement right.
At an early period, the government of Virginia appointed three Commissioners to give certificates of settlement rights. These certificates, with the surveyor’s plats, were sent to the land office of the state, where they laid six months to await caveat, which means let the buyer beware, or were sold without guarantee if no objection was offered. The patent was then issued.
There were but a few roads at that time. The West Spur Road which started down the mountain near Andrew Clifton’s (now Bob Clifton), thence down the mountain and Poor House Creek to Stuart; the Branch Spur Road starting down the mountain near the old Tinsley home and intersecting the Rock Castle Road; the Mayberry Road starting near Meadows of Dan Church, leading by Mayberry and Bell’s Spur Church, thence followed the mountain to Mt. Airy, N. C.;
The Floyd Road starting at Meadows of Dan Church and leading to Floyd Courthouse; and another old road leading from Stuart to Hillsville, Virginia.
These were the principal roads in this section after the first settlers came. They were not graded, almost straight up and down hills, and too narrow for wagons to pass each other.
Most of the early settlers considered land of little value. They thought after a few years’ cultivation it would lose its fertility for a long time to come. They would look at a strip of land and say “This Land Will Bear So Many Crops.”
TOPOGRAPHY
The surface is generally rolling, and in sections hilly. Along the river and creek banks there is a considerable amount of nearly level land. The elevation of this section is from 3,000 to 3,500 feet above the level of the sea.
The scenery of this section is grand and beautiful. Beginning at the Rock Wall there is a series of mountain views unsurpassed in grandeur by any part of the Mississippi River. As you climb to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountain from the east on Highway 58 you first come to the Rock Wall or Rock Cuts. Here Highway 58 was built, for quite a distance, on the side of the mountain, near the top, through almost solid rock. On the south is the rock cliff through which Highway 58 was built, and on the north is the rock wall built to protect the road and tourist.
Standing on the rock wall you look down a precipice almost perpendicular for a distance of two hundred yards or more, with a mountain on each side. It is said that a man by the name of Mr. Harvey Williams fell from the top of the Rock Wall and said when his body was reached, he had scarcely a bone in his body that was not broken. Far beyond the precipice you can see a beautiful farming country; and at an infinite distance beyond you can see the smooth, blue horizons.
About 1/4 mile farther west, 200 yards north of Highway 58, is the celebrated Lovers Leap. Here, according to tradition, two young Indians, a boy and a girl, who were madly in love with each other and for some reason could not marry, committed suicide by jumping down this precipice—hence its name. Thousands of people visit this place every year. The scenery here is similar to that of the Rock Wall, only not quite so steep and farther to the foot of the mountain. But, beyond the foot of the mountain, to the northeast, there is a very different picture; it is as placid and delightful as the scenes on the mountain sides are wild and rugged. Here too, as at the Rock Wall, standing on top of Lovers Leap looking northeast, you see a beautiful farming country, and at an infinite distance beyond you see the smooth, blue horizon.
About 1/2 mile northeast of Lovers Leap is the Smith River Waterfalls. Here, unlike either the Rock Wall or Lovers Leap, you see only a small stream of water rushing east and pouring over a solid rock for quite a distance, with the rugged mountains on either side and in front.
Thence, continuing in a northeasterly direction to the Floyd County line, there is a series of mountain views grand and beautiful. At the Floyd County line there is a motor shed running in a southerly direction, which is the dividing line between Patrick County on the east and Floyd and Carroll Counties on the west. This dividing line is about twelve miles in length and terminates on the brink of the Blue Ridge Mountain.
About four or five miles east of the Carroll County line is the celebrated Pinnacles of Dan. Here, standing on top of the Blue Ridge Mountain, you can see the Dan River, and other smaller streams, pouring over and down the mountain by leaps and bounds, uniting about 1/2 mile above the Pinnacles, where it continues rushing and roaring down the mountain until it reaches and almost surrounds the Pinnacles near the foot of the mountain. Here is a mountain peak rising abruptly to the top of the mountain. Its only approach is from the west side where it is very difficult to climb, and when you reach the top there is only room enough for 6 or 8 people to stand. The city of Danville has built a power plant here, which supplies it with electricity, at a cost of $5,000,000.
Here, standing on top of the Pinnacles looking north, is a view which, once seen, is never forgotten—two big power dams up the river only a short distance, Dan River coming down the mountain by leaps and bounds, and two smaller streams, one on each side, uniting with the river about one mile above the Pinnacles. These together with the rugged mountains and cliffs on each side, make this scene grand…and awe inspiring.
CLIMATE
The climate is invigorating and delightful. The summers are cool and pleasant, yet hot enough for the crops, and the winters are not severe nor unpleasant. In healthfulness Meadows of Dan will compare favorable with any part of the United States.
In summer as soon as you reach the top of the Blue Ridge Mountain you will meet a gentle, cool, pure, invigorating breeze which seems to put new life in you. This, together with its many cool springs with their clear, pure, cool, sparkling water, and the many different kinds of wild flowers and shrubbery, such as the Mountain Laurel, Ivy, Rhododendron, Azalea, and many other shrubs which grow wild here, add to the advantages of this area. Also, Highway 58 runs East and West through the center of this section, and the Scenic Highway runs North and South, crossing Highway 58 in one-mile West of Meadows of Dan Post Office over an overhead bridge. There are also good hard-surfaced roads convenient to almost every home. Here in spring and summer with the birds singing, flowers blooming, pastures green, the many acres of woodland, the hospitable people, educational and other advantages this part of Patrick County is a most desirable place to live; and for those seeking a pleasant, quiet place to spend their vacation there is none better.
The headspring of Dan River and also of Smith River is in this area, about four miles Northeast of Meadows of Dan Post Office. Dan River starts flowing West, then South and Southeast, and Smith River flows East uniting with the Dan River at Leaksville, N. C. There are also several smaller streams all well stocked with trout, bass and other fish. Hundreds of residents licensed and non-resident anglers’ fish here every year. Also, the world-famous Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, passes through this section. This carefully marked trail enters this section on the Blue Ridge Mountain near the Floyd County line, thence in a southerly direction on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountain, by Lovers Leap and the Pinnacles of Dan, and then veers slightly Westward to the North Carolina line.”
As I read Mr. Scott’s words from 1949, I cannot help wondering what he would think if he could see Lover’s Leap and Meadows of Dan today. The Appalachian Trail has since been rerouted farther west, taking it out of Patrick County. Meadows of Dan Church burned, but the congregation quickly rebuilt it. And Concord Church remains alive and well, thanks to the devoted people who continue to care for it.
The landscape has changed since Scott’s day, but the places he remembered—and the people who cherish them—remain part of the story of Meadows of Dan.
For questions, comments, or story ideas, Woody may be reached at [email protected] or 276-692-9626.
