Dismal Swamp
The Great Dismal Swamp is a geological wonder. For millions of years before the Swamp was formed, it was under the sea. It is viewed by naturalists and other scientists as one of the best outdoor laboratories in the world! This natural treasure emerged as a landform when the Continental Shelf made its last significant shift.
Dismal Swamp
The Great Dismal Swamp is a geological wonder. For millions of years before the Swamp was formed, it was under the sea. It is viewed by naturalists and other scientists as one of the best outdoor laboratories in the world! This natural treasure emerged as a landform when the Continental Shelf made its last significant shift.
Colonel William Byrd II surveyed the North Carolina/Virginia state line through the Swamp in 1728 and provided the first extensive description of it. In May 1763, George Washington made his first visit to the Swamp and suggested draining it and digging a north-south canal through it to connect the waters of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
Two syndicates, Dismal Swamp Land Company and the Adventurers for Draining the Great Dismal Swamp, were formed in hopes of draining the Swamp, harvesting the trees, and using the land for farming. In 1973, Union Camp donated its Virginia swamp holdings to the Nature Conservancy which, in turn, deeded it to the Department of the Interior for creation of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge consists of 107,000 acres of forested wetlands surrounding Lake Drummond, a 3,100 acre natural lake located in the heart of the swamp. The amber-colored water is preserved by tannic acids from the bark of the juniper, gum and cypress trees, prohibiting growth of bacteria.
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Dismal Swamp Canal
The Dismal Swamp Canal, hand dug by hired enslaved labor, opened to navigation in 1805 after twelve years of backbreaking work under highly unfavorable conditions. This 22 miled long canal allowed trade between the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. The Canal is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, designated as a National Civil Engineering Landmark, a part of the North Carolina and Virginia Civil War Trail and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW). It is also recognized as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
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