Swift Run Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. At an elevation of 2,365 feet, it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 33 between the Piedmont region on the eastern side and the Shenandoah Valley (or Great Valley of Virginia) to the west. A wind gap is a mountain pass (or lower point in elevation between ridges) which was apparently formed through the erosive action of wind. ... Blue Ridge Mountains, Shining Rock Wilderness Area Appalachian Mountain system The Blue Ridge is a mountain chain in the eastern United States, part of the Appalachian Mountains, forming their eastern front from Georgia to Pennsylvania. ... United States Highway 33 is a north-south United States highway that runs northwest-southeast for 709 miles (1,141 km) from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia. ...

Generally following the mountain ridge tops, the bucolic Skyline Drive, which is part of Shenandoah National Park, has an entry point at Swift Run Gap and the Appalachian Trail also passes through at nearby. The mountain ridge forms the border between Greene County and Rockingham County. Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Piedmont region of Virginia. ... Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Piedmont region of Virginia. ... The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply The A.T., is a 2,174 mile (3500 km) marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. ... Greene County is a county in central Virginia in the eastern United States. ... Location in the state of Virginia Formed 1778 Seat Harrisonburg Area  - Total  - Water 2,210 km² (853 mi²) 6 km² (2 mi²) 0. ...

History

Swift Run Gap is a long-used and historic crossing in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1716, Royal Governor Alexander Spotswood of the Virginia Colony, with 62 other men and 74 horses, led a real estate speculation expedition up the Rapidan River valley during westward exploration of the interior of Virginia. The party reached the top of the Blue Ridge at Swift Run Gap on September 5, 1716, and drank the special toasts to the king and to Governor Spotswood, and named a peak for each. [1] Upon descending into a portion of the Shenandoah Valley on the east side of Massanutten Mountain, they reached a point near the current town of Elkton, where they celebrated their arrival on the banks of the Shenandoah River with more multiple toasts of wine, brandy, and claret. [2] // Events August 5 - In the Battle of Peterwardein 40. ... Alexander Spotswood c. ... The 1609 charter for the Virginia colony from sea to sea The Virginia Colony refers to the English colony in North America that existed during the 17th and 18th centuries before the American Revolution. ... The Rapidan River is the largest tributary of the Rappahannock River in North-central Virginia. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... Canoeing on the Shenandoah River near Winchester, VA. The Shenandoah Valley region of western Virginia, from Winchester to Staunton, is bounded by the Blue Ridge mountains to the East and the Allegheny mountains to the West. ... Massanutten Mountain is a mountain range that runs down the center of the Shenandoah Valley from approximately Frederick County, Virginia in the North, to its highest peak in Rockingham County, Virginia in the South. ... Elkton is a town located in Rockingham County, Virginia. ... Shenandoah River Watershed Canoeing on the Shenandoah River, near Winchester, Virginia This article is about the river in Virginia in the United States. ...

After the journey, Spotswood was believed to have given each member of the expedition a pin made of gold and shaped like a horseshoe on which he had inscribed the words in Latin "Sic jurat transcendere montes", which translates in English to "Thus he swears to cross the mountains." The members of Governor Spotswood's expedition soon became popularly known as the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." A historical plaque and pyramid-shaped stone mark their historic crossing of 1716. [3] General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Modern horseshoes are most commonly made of iron and nailed onto the hoof. ... Latin is an ancient [[Indo-European languages|Indo-well as the Roman CEuropean language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition took place in 1716 in the British Colony of Virginia. ...

The Swift Run Gap Turnpike, a privately owned toll road, was first completed through Swift Run Gap in the early 19th century. In the 1840s, plans for the Louisa Railroad (renamed the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850) originally anticipated a crossing the Blue Ridge at Swift Run Gap to reach Harrisonburg, but projected construction costs after surveying were prohibitive. [4] This was primarily due to the steepness of the terrain on the eastern slope. Addressing the dilemma, Claudius Crozet, the legendary Chief Engineer of the Virginia Board of Public Works, determined that a system of tunnels at Rockfish Gap to the south about 30 miles would be more feasible. Despite later technological advances, no railroad crossing was ever attempted at Swift Run Gap. A toll road, tollway, turnpike, pike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a fee for use. ... The Louisa Railroad chartered in Virginia in 1836 became the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. ... Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Map Political Statistics Founded 1737 County Independent city Mayor Larry M. Rogers Geographic Statistics Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 45. ... Benoit Claudius Crozet (December 31, 1789-January 29, 1864) was an educator and civil engineer. ... The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginias internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. ... A disused railway tunnel now converted to pedestrian and bicycle use, near Houyet, Belgium A tunnel is an underground passage. ... Rockfish Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains near a peak known as Afton Mountain in Virginia. ...

Even in modern times, two lane highway (U.S. 33), at the lower elevations follows a small creek named "Swift Run" west from Stanardsville, but then about one-half way, requires multiple horseshoe curves on the steep grades of the eastern slope as it ascends an increasingly winding pathway to reach Swift Run Gap. Stanardsville is a town located in Greene County, Virginia. ...

Crozet was also first commandant of the new Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where one of the young instructors during his tenure was Thomas Jonathan Jackson, who later was to become well-known by his nickname of Stonewall Jackson. Their relationship may have facilitated some of the tactics used by Jackson during the first several years of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Stonewall Jackson and his famous "foot cavalry" used Swift Run Gap (and several others) to rapidly shift his troops from the Shenandoah Valley to the Piedmont battle areas. Jackson's use of intimate knowledge of this and other crossings of the Blue Ridge Mountains allowed him to often appear before Union forces unexpectedly on numerous occasions, intimidating leaders such as General George B. McClellan, causing them to be less aggressive with their own plans of advancement. [5] The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), located in Lexington, Virginia, is the second oldest state military college in the United States[2] (after The Citadel). ... Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson (January 20 or January 21[1], 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert Edward Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Stonewall Jackson Foot cavalry was an oxymoron coined to describe the rapid movements of infantry troops serving under Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson during the American Civil War (1861–1865). ... In this map:  Union states prohibiting slavery  Union territories  Border states on the Union side which allowed slavery  Kansas, which entered and fought with the Union as a free state after the Bleeding Kansas crisis  The Confederacy  Confederate claimed and sometimes held territories During the American Civil War, the Union... George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was a major general during the American Civil War. ...

External links

• Geographical coordinates: 38°18′39″N, 78°36′07″W (click for maps and satellite photos of Swift Run Gap)
• Virginia Places web site a large site with lots of educational information about the Geography of Virginia