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Natural Bridge is a geological formation in Rockbridge County,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, comprising a
natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, Cliffed coast, coastal cliffs, Fin (geology), fins or Stack ...
with a span of . It is situated within a gorge carved from the surrounding mountainous limestone terrain by Cedar Creek, a small tributary of the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
. Consisting of horizontal limestone strata, Natural Bridge is the remains of the roof of a cave or tunnel through which the Cedar Creek once flowed. Natural Bridge has been designated a Virginia Historic Landmark and a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
. Since 2016, the bridge and its surroundings have been managed by the
Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
as Natural Bridge State Park.


Geology

Rocks in the area are limestones and
dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...
from the
Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...
Period, which implies deposition about 470 million years ago. The carbonates of the Natural Bridge occur within the Chepultepec Formation, making the
buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...
of the bridge, and the Beekmantown Formation, deposited
conformably Lithostratigraphy is a sub-discipline of stratigraphy, the geological science associated with the study of strata or rock layers. Major focuses include geochronology, comparative geology, and petrology. In general, strata are primarily igneous ...
over the Chepultepec and comprising the span and the upper part of the bridge.
Strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...
at Natural Bridge are close to horizontal, in contrast with dipping and folded beds as close as away along Highway 11, which points to the fact that structurally the rocks making the Natural Bridge are the bottom part of a
syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed ...
. The process of formation of the bridge is less certain, but the ideas proposed by different individuals have in common the importance of three elements: The southeast dipping of the strata, the capability of water to slowly dissolve carbonates, and the existence of numerous fractures. Edgar W. Spencer has provided a summary of the most respected interpretations and produced the presently most widely accepted hypothesis. According to Spencer, the Natural Bridge was the remnant of an underground river tunnel that diverted water to the south. Initially, the underground river started capturing water from the Poague Run about to the north, contributing to enlarge the incipient Cedar Creek
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
. Over time, through
weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...
and
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
, the underground river collapsed and disappeared almost completely, the Natural Bridge being the only surviving relic of the roof of the ancient underground river. The creek's larger flow contributed to form the present-day
gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
, significantly increasing the distance from the bottom of the water flow to the roof of the underground channel. Today, the "Lost River", about upstream from the Natural Bridge, is an example supporting the hypothesis of the underground river. Water from the side of the gorge flows into the Cedar Creek, similarly as the ancestral Cedar Creek underground river allegedly flowed into the Cascade Creek, presently entering the Cedar Creek approximately below the Natural Bridge. Historic Rockbridge indicates that “Natural Bridge is part of the Beekmantown Formation from the Ordovician period, estimated to be 500 million years old.”


History

The Natural Bridge was a sacred site of the Native American Monacan tribe, who believed it to be the site of a major victory over pursuing
Powhatan Powhatan people () are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who belong to member tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, or Tsenacommacah. They are Algonquian peoples whose historic territories were in eastern Virginia. Their Powh ...
s centuries before the arrival of Europeans in Virginia. In March 1742, a frontiersman named John Howard — along with his son and others — was commissioned by Governor William Gooch to explore the southwest of Virginia as far as the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. The party followed Cedar Creek through the Natural Bridge, then floated in buffalo-skin boats down the New,
Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
, Kanawha, and
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
rivers to the Mississippi. It is alleged that
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
also came to the site in 1750 as a young surveyor. To support claims that Washington surveyed the area, tour guides claim the initials "G.W." on the wall of the bridge, up, were carved by the future president. Legend also has it that George Washington threw a rock from the bottom of Cedar Creek over the bridge. In 1927, a large stone was found, also engraved "G.W." and bearing a surveyor's cross, which historians accepted as proof that he indeed surveyed the bridge.
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
purchased of land including the Natural Bridge from
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
of Great Britain for 20
shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...
in 1774. He called it "the most Sublime of nature's works". Jefferson built a two-room log cabin, with one room reserved for guests, beginning its use as a retreat. While President, in 1802, he personally surveyed the area. Many famous guests stayed here, including
John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...
,
James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...
,
Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
,
Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...
, and
Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...
. One of the earliest paintings of the Natural Bridge was done by Jacob Caleb Ward (1809–1891) in 1835. It is on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Natural Bridge was one of the tourist attractions of the new world that Europeans visited during the 18th and 19th centuries. Vacationing guests from all over the world took day trips from Natural Bridge on horseback or horse-drawn carriages to explore the countryside. In 1833, a new owner erected the Forest Inn to accommodate the increasing number of people. The bridge had considerable notoriety during the 19th century.
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
alluded to the bridge in describing ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'': "But soon the fore part of him slowly rose from the water; for an instant his whole marbleized body formed a high arch, like Virginia's Natural Bridge..."
William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the '' New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poe ...
, another American literary figure, said that Natural Bridge and
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
were the two most remarkable features of
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. During the 1880s Natural Bridge was a resort owned by Colonel Henry Parsons, who also owned the nearby Rockbridge Inn. In 1927 a nocturnal lighting display of the arch and gorge was designed by Samuel Hibben and Phinehas V. Stephens, illuminating engineers with the Westinghouse Company.Hibben, Samuel G. and Stephens, Phinehas V. The illumination of the Natural Bridge of Virginia, ''Transactions of the Illuminating Engineering Society'', vol. 22, 1927, 1158-1164. The display was formally switched on by President
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...
in a 1927 inaugural ceremony. The original display has since been replaced with a sound and light show depicting the biblical seven days of the Creation as described in Genesis. In 2013, nearly , including the bridge, were slated to be sold at auction. To prevent piecemeal development of the landmark, the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF) purchased the bridge, hotel, and surrounding land for $9.1 million, made possible by a loan from the Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund. When the VCLF soon found itself unable to make payments on that loan, the
Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
offered to manage the property as a Virginia State Park.


Natural Bridge State Park

Natural Bridge State Park officially opened on September 24, 2016. As a state park, the property is owned and managed by the
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is a Ministry (government department), department of the government of Virginia, United States; it oversees all List of Virginia state parks, Virginia state parks and Virginia Natural Area Pre ...
. Visitors must purchase tickets to view the bridge from below, although the park's fees under state management are about half what had been charged under prior ownership. U.S. Route 11 (Lee Highway) runs on top of the bridge, but protective fences make it difficult to see anything besides the roadway. The state park includes several long-standing attractions, including the trail under the bridge along Cedar Creek and the Lace Falls. One change under state ownership was the removal of '' Foamhenge'', a full-size replica of
Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...
made entirely out of
styrofoam Styrofoam is a brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), manufactured to provide continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and as a water barrier. This material is light blue in ...
that was formerly located on the property. The attraction was moved to Fairfax County after it was determined that the art installation did not fit with the state park's mission. The new state park was designated an "Affiliated Area" by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
in 2016. The designation does not imply ownership or management by the federal government, though it does allow for their technical and financial assistance.


See also

* List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia *
List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia This is a list of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia. There are currently 126 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs), and 2 former NHLs. Current landmarks The National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are widely distributed across Virginia's 95 cou ...
* List of Virginia state parks *
National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockbridge County, Virginia __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockbridge County, Virginia. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rockbridge Cou ...


References


External links


Natural Bridge State Park official website

Natural Bridge Hotel website

Video showing various places at the site
from 2016
Natural Bridge Bed and Breakfast Lodging
{{Authority control James River (Virginia) National Historic Landmarks in Virginia Natural arches of Virginia Landforms of Rockbridge County, Virginia Religious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America Tourist attractions in Rockbridge County, Virginia Protected areas of Rockbridge County, Virginia U.S. Route 11 National Register of Historic Places in Rockbridge County, Virginia Caves of Virginia Virginia Historic Landmarks Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System State parks of Virginia