The state of Virginia is one of the original states of what would become the United States of America. The state has produced more U.S. Presidents that any other state to include George Washington, the first president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third president and the one who drafted the Declaration of Independence. The state has many famous historic sites like the Manassas National Battlefield, Mount Vernon, and Monticello. The state has many cities and small towns. In the central region of the state between the famous college cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg is a small town known as Schuyler. What is famous about Schuyler? The town’s claim to fame is that it is the home of Earl Hamner. Who is Earl Hamner? He is famed for being the writer of the true stories that inspired the television show The Waltons, a television series that took place in that small town. In this town, you will find the Waltons Museum where you can learn about Earl Hamner and the television show. A few miles from the museum is where you will find another great place.
Welcome to Piedmont Discovery Center’s Quarry Gardens. What is the Piedmont Discovery Center’s Quarry Gardens?
Some of you are saying, “Well, duh, it is a garden that is in a quarry.”
Well, you are exactly right. It is a garden that was formed in an old quarry. Well, there are two quarries. In its heyday, Schuyler was the soapstone capital of the world. The soapstone was cut out of the quarries, and it was shipped around the world. Soapstone was quarried on the land now owned by the Piedmont Discovery Center mainly between the 1950’s and the 1970’s, and then it became a dumping site. A couple named Bernice and Armand Thieblot came up with the idea of making the two quarries into a garden and opening it to the public. With help from the Piedmont Discovery Center, the idea became a reality. Today, you can hike the trails around the old quarries. As you walk around this peaceful place, you will never know that this was once a very active and messy place.
Some of you are saying, “Wow! I loved the Waltons, and I love gardens. It is amazing that they were able to make a garden out of this place. There is a big problem. This is an old quarry. This is not a railroad site. Therefore, you will not see me visiting here.”
Why visit the Quarry Gardens? It is not a railroad site. Why visit here?
You arrive at the Quarry Gardens. You park your car, and you enter the Visitor Center to check in. The Visitor Center contains a small museum telling the history of the quarry and the soapstone industry. You can also learn about the different plants that have grown in the quarries. You then see a model train. I know. Some places have model trains, but this once is very special. How special? It is a model train display of the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad. What does the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad have to do with the quarry?
As soapstone was mined out of the quarries, it was shipped around the world. How was it shipped? You can use big trucks, but the mode of shipping the soapstone from the quarries was the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad.
The Nelson and Albemarle Railroad was a short line railroad that was only 17 miles of total track connecting the quarry to the nearby Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the Southern Railway, which then took the soapstone to the rest of the world. The model train display tells the story of how the soapstone was taken from the quarries to the other railroads. When the quarries were decommissioned, the Nelson and Albemarle Railroad was no more.
Many of the old railroad beds are on private property, but you can see one of the old railroad beds in the nearby town of Esmont. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line is now owned by Chessie Seaboard Transportation, and the Southern Railway line is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.
What about the gardens? There is great scenery everywhere you walk. You get great views of the quarries that are now filled with water. (The water is not safe to drink.) Please note that the pathways are dirt and gravel and not accessible to wheelchairs, and there are stairs to climb.
The Quarry Gardens are located at 1643 Salem Road in Schuyler, Virginia. Please note that you must make an appointment to visit the gardens and that you cannot simply enter on your own. You can go to https://quarrygardensatschuyler.org/ to purchase admission, get directions, and to learn more about the history of the garden.
Schuyler, Virginia was once the biggest supplier of soapstone in the world. It was the railroad that made it possible.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 