Hungry Mother State Park
In 1933 local residents assisted in the creation
and donated 2,000 acres of land to Virginia
for the establishment of a state park in Smyth
County along Hungry Mother Creek. The
unusual name comes from the legend of a
nearby Indian settler conflict that resulted
in Molly Marley and her child being captured.
They later escaped but Marley died. When a
search party found the toddler who could
only utter the words “Hungry Mother.” The
National Park Service and the Civilian
Conservation Corps, in conjunction with the
Virginia Conservation Commission, developed
the park as a New Deal project. It opened
on 15 June 1936 and was one of the first six
state parks established in Virginia.
Marker is at the intersection of B. F. Buchanan Highway (Virginia Route 16) and East Hungry Mother Drive (Virginia Route 348), on the right when traveling north on B. F. Buchanan Highway.
Courtesy hmdb.org
