Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District

The Scots-Irish settled the Greenwood-Afton area in the 1730s, linking the agriculturally rich Shenandoah Valley with eastern Virginia. Settlement routes expanded into prominent roads and turnpikes. In the 1850s the railroad arrived, with Claudius Crozet's Blue Ridge Tunnel becoming the longest tunnel in the United States when it opened in 1858. The depot villages of Greenwood and Afton followed, drawing wealthy residents who built elaborate estates. Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, constructed in the 1930s, furthered the bucolic appeal of the region as a tourist destination. The area was officially designated as the Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District in 2011.