Virginia

Virginia

President: George Washington

Start Point: Alexandria - 10km Walk (YR061) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0151, Northern Virginia Volksmarchers

History Lesson: Trail is along city and residential streets and through paths or sidewalks of local parks alongside the Potomac River. Old Town Alexandria is full of 18th and 19th century history of our 1st President, George Washington and Civil War Families like the Lees. The start point has free tours to the top tower and great views of DC and Alexandria.

President: Ulysses S. Grant

Start Point: Appomattox - 10km Walk (YR1847) May 29-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-VA, Virginia Volkssport Association

History Lesson: Walk the old country lanes where Robert E. Lee, Commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered his men to Ulysses Grant, General-in-Chief of all United States forces, on April 9, 1865.

President: Franklin Roosevelt

Start Point: Chantilly - 10km Walk (YR1836) Jan 8 - Dec 23

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0906, All American Walking Club

History Lesson: Located in the wooded acres of Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, Cabell's Mill has long been a unique setting for social occasions. Built circa 1785 and operated as a mill until 1916, Cabell's Mill was purchased in 1935 by David and Ellanor Lawrence. The Lawrences transformed the old mill into a reception hall and hosted many Washington notables, including Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

President: Thomas Jefferson

Start Point: Charlottesville - 10km Walk (YR742) Jan 5-Dec 24

Sponsoring Club: AVA-VA, Virginia Volkssport Association

History Lesson: Trail begins in the historic district and goes through the University of Virginia campus. In 1819, Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. He designed everything, from the buildings to the courses for the students. He also hired the teachers. The first 40 students began classes in 1825. Jefferson wanted to be remembers for three things, which are engraved on his tombstone: "Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia."

President: James Monroe

Start Point: Fredericksburg - 10km Walk (YR0115) Jan 2 - Dec 31 24

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0610, Germanna Volkssport Association

History Lesson: Historic walk goes by President Monroe's house that he lived in while practicing law in Fredericksburg, (1787-89). The walk also passes President Monroe Museum.

President: James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower

Start Point: Hampton (Fort Monroe) - 10km Walk (YR874) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0142, Peninsula Pathfinders of Virginia

History Lesson: Named after James Monroe. Abraham Lincoln stayed at Quarters #1 and it is reported that his ghost still visits there. Ulysses Grant's ghost is also reported to visit Fort Monroe. Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower attended religious services at the Chapel of the Centurion, located inside the moat.

President: John Tyler, Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon

Start Point: Jamestown - 11/15km Walk (YR286) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0142, Peninsula Pathfinders of Virginia

History Lesson: In 1857, John Tyler gave a speech at 250th celebration of the founding of Jamestown. In 1907, Theodore Roosevelt opended the 300th anniversary event. In 1957, Richard Nixon (then VicePresident) attended the 350th anniversary event.

President: George Washington

Start Point: Lexington - 10km Walk (YR0589) Jan 8-Dec 21

Sponsoring Club: AVA-VA, Virginia Volkssport Association

History Lesson: Washington and Lee University was founded in 1749. It is a four-year liberal arts college with a well-respected law school. George Washington endowed the school with 100 shares of James River Company stock in 1796. This gift saved the school from closing. Robert E. Lee became president of the college after the Civil War in 1865.

President: William H. Taft

Start Point: Manassas - 10km Walk (YR0340) Jan 2 - Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0306, Wood and Dale Wanderers

History Lesson: President Willam Howard Taft addresses the crowd at the Prince William county courthouse on July 21, 1911. In Commemoration of the Manassas National Jubliee of Peace: The first instance in history where survivors of a great battle met fifty years after and exchanged friendly greetings at te place of actual combat. Here on July 21, 1911, the closing scene was enacted. THE TABLEAU OF THE RE-UNITED STATES. The President, the Governor of Virginia and forty-eight maidens in white took part with 1000 veterans of the blue and gray, and 10,000 citizens of the New America.

President: Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Benjamin Harrison, John Tyler and Abraham Lincoln

Start Point: Richmond - 10km Walk (YR1536) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0027, Lee Lepus Volksverband

History Lesson: This trail is on city streets of Richmond, walks along top of floodwall and takes in two high pedestrian bridges over the James River. Walk along the newly completed Canal Walk and pass by the State Capitol, the Governor's Mansion, Tredegar Iron Works and Museum of the Confederacy. Among the most distinguished visitors who have been entertained at the Governor's Mansion-not to speak of the Virginia soldiers and statesmen and men and women of learning who have fore-gathered there—may be mentioned the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII; Presidents Hayes, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft; Arthur Balfour, now Lord Balfour; Ferdinand Foch, and very recently the Honorable Winston Churchill. Nor should we omit our own Colonel Lindbergh, and—to make at least one exception in favor of a Virginian—Rear-Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd. On April 4 and 5, 1865, President Lincoln made a remarkable visit to Richmond [Tredegar Iron Works] as he pressed to conclude the war that had cost over 620,000 lives “with malice toward none, with charity for all…” His assassination days later portended a less charitable course for the aftermath.

President: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush

Start Point: Roanoke - 10km Walk (YR-0911) Jan 8-Dec 21

Sponsoring Club: AVA-VA, Virginia Volkssport Association

History Lesson: The Hotel Roanoke was built in 1882 by the Norfolk and Western Railway (now part of the Norfolk Southern Railway), which had recently constructed its administrative offices in Roanoke, bringing in over a thousand railroad workers. It officially opened on Christmas Day, 1882. In July, 1898, a fire started in the kitchen which shut down the hotel for several months. The hotel was reopened in January, 1899, restored with a few additions. In addition to hosting many conventions, the Hotel Roanoke has also had a number of famous guests, including: Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Douglas MacArthur, Aerosmith, Dick Cheney, Hilary Duff, and Jerry Seinfeld. The hotel is well known for its signature dish, peanut soup, invented by Chef Fred Brown in 1940 and still served today. The Hotel Roanoke was the first hotel in the United States to have air conditioning. Since 1954, Hotel Roanoke has been the host of the Miss Virginia Pageant. In the 1960's, a cattle auction was staged in the Ballroom, which was then cleaned up and deodorized for use in a Roanoke Symphony Ball a few hours later.

President: George Washington

Start Point: Sterling - 10km Walk (YR0820) Jan 1-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0892, Loudoun Walking and Volkssport Club

History Lesson: Natural surface trails through mixed forests and past ponds and wetlands. Walk where British Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers, George Washington and Mosby's Rangers trod.

President: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Tyler

Start Point: Williamsburg - 10km Walk (YR287) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0142, Peninsula Pathfinders

History Lesson: Trail is through the historical area of Colonial Williamsburg and the William and Mary Campus. Founded by Royal Charter in 1693, the College of William and Mary is second in age only to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Known as “the alma mater of a nation,” William and Mary has educated four U.S. Presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Tyler – and claims several firsts, including the 1776 creation of Phi Beta Kappa, the country’s first academic honor society, and the first collegiate law school, established in 1779.

President: George Washington

Start Point: Yorktown - 10km Walk (YR285); 15km Walk (YR284); 25km Bike (YR485) Jan 2-Dec 31

Sponsoring Club: AVA-0142, Peninsula Pathfinders

History Lesson: The American Revolution was won by a decisive battle by George Washington.

Updated December 29, 2007