2022 Alleghany Living Guide - 34

HERITAGE
C&O Railway Heritage Center
site that dates back to the Great Depression, The
New Deal and segregation.
Green Pastures was built in the 1930s by
the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of
President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. The
area, which included a lake, beach, restrooms,
hiking trails and other recreational activities,
was intended to open up along with Douthat
State Park and the other state parks in Virginia.
However, the state parks were for whites only
at the time. Green Pastures was intended as a
park for African Americans and was likely the
only African American USDA Forest Service
recreation site in Virginia.
Budget constraints prompted the U.S. Forest
Service to consider decommissioning the
area, but a group of citizens stepped in. As a
result of the late Dr. Calvin McClinton of the
McClinton Foundation and with the support
of the Alleghany Highlands Historical Society
and community volunteers, Green Pastures is
scheduled to fully reopen in 2022 under the
auspices of Douthat State Park.
The McClinton Foundation's work to preserve
the heritage of the area hasn't been limited to
Green Pastures. Led by Dr. McClinton until his
death in 2021, the foundation has been working
to preserve and restore the small community of
Wrightsville, an historically black community
located just outside the Covington city limits.
Work began with the founding of the
Wrightsville Heritage Museum and the
restoration of the Golden Arrow Plaza, a
performance venue and restaurant dating back
to the 1930s. While these were important steps
to preserving the community's heritage, there
was still work to be done.
In October of 2020, a Department of Housing
and Community Development grant was
34 Alleghany Living
earmarked for the Wrightsville Community
Revitalization Project. The grant, totaling $1.4
million dollars, will fund the restoration of roads
and drainage repairs to the community, much
of which was disrupted by the construction of
Interstate 64 in the 1960s.
" It's really important for us to listen, to come
up with a plan, and then put it into action, not
just to gripe, gripe, gripe, " said Dr. McClinton in
an interview with WSLS10 when the grant was
announced. " Stop and say, 'Alright, so there are
these inequalities. How can I change that? What
do I need to do to make that change actionable?' "
The idea of actionable change is, ironically,
what drives the preservation of history in the
Alleghany Highlands. The town of Clifton
Forge was once known as a railroad town. Why
shouldn't that be the case today?
The C&O Historical Society certainly believes
that should be the case, and they've worked to
bring the town's railroad heritage to the fore once
again with the C&O Railway Heritage Center.
The Clifton Forge railyard was once an
important hub on the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railways. Not only did it serve as division
headquarters, but trains would be serviced at
the Smith Creek Yard before traveling across the
Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountains and along
the James River.
Today, visitors to the restored Smith Creek
Yard can enjoy visiting restored trains and depots
along the tracks before walking downtown to the
society's headquarters and museum on Ridgeway
Street. The goal of the display is to educate
citizens on the history of the C&O Railroad and
Clifton Forge's historic contributions as part of
the Virginia Rail Heritage Region.
Actionable change in the Highlands hasn't
been limited to preserving the past. While
2022 Alleghany Living Guide

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