Welcome to Falling Spring Falls in the Heart of the Alleghany Highlands.
According to the book, "Historical Sketches of the Alleghany
Highlands" by Gay Arritt, 82 acres of land including, the
Falling Spring Falls was granted by King George III of Great
Britain to Gabriel Jones in August 1771. In 1780 Thomas
Jefferson, as Governor of Virginia, granted the property to
Major Thomas Massie.
The site was once visited by Jefferson to
survey the falls and he mentions it in his
manuscripts "Notes on the State of
Virginia" written in 1781. "The only
remarkable cascade in this country is that
of the Falling Spring in Augusta," wrote
Jefferson, "...it falls over a rock 200 feet
into the valley below."
From 1914 to 1926 a producer of travertine
material, Ohio C. Barber Fertilizer Company,
mined fertilizer in Barber, Virginia, now
called Falling Spring. In 1927 Falling
Spring Lime Company
assumed operations until
1941. Mining operations
necessitated the relocation
of the falls where it now
plunges only 80 feet.
Electricity generated from
the falls was used to run
the lime crushing plant
and to operate an electric
railway hauling travertine
from the mine.
On November 28, 2004,
Mead Westvaco donated the
Falling Spring Falls and approximately 19 surrounding acres to
the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
For more information contact Douthat State Park.
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