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Coordinates: 38°45′54″N 79°23′24″W / 38.765, -79.39
Germany Valley
National Natural Landmark
none Germany Valley
Germany Valley
Country Flag of the United States United States
State Flag of West Virginia West Virginia
County Pendleton
Elevation 2,100 ft (640. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. The National Natural Landmark (NNL program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the United States ' natural history The United States of America —commonly referred to as the West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Pendleton County is a County located in the US state of West Virginia. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit 1 m)
Coordinates 38°45′54″N 79°23′24″W / 38.765, -79.39
Established May 1973 [1]
Owner USDA Forest Service and private owners
Nearest city Riverton, West Virginia
Location of Germany Valley in West Virginia
Location of Germany Valley in West Virginia
Website: Germany Valley Karst Area

Germany Valley is a scenic upland valley high in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia originally settled by German (including Pennsylvania Dutch) farmers in the mid-18th Century. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Riverton is an Unincorporated town on the North Fork South Branch Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA. West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by The Allegheny Mountain Range (also spelled Alleghany and Allegany) &mdash informally the Alleghenies &mdash is part of the vast Appalachian West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch, Pennsylvania Germans or Pennsylvania Deutsch) are the descendants of German It is today a part of the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest, although much ownership of the Valley remains in private hands. Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area is a US National Recreation Area (NRA located within the Monongahela National Forest of eastern West The Monongahela National Forest (MNF was established by the U

The Valley is noted for its extensive karst and cave development, with dozens of caves and cave systems having been formally documented by enthusiasts. Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter The area was made a National Natural Landmark, the Germany Valley Karst Area[1], in 1973 by the National Park Service. The National Natural Landmark (NNL program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the United States ' natural history The National Park Service ( NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation The NPS cited it as “one of the largest cove or intermountain karst areas in the country, unique because all the ground water recharge and solution activities are linked with precipitation within the cove. ”

Contents

Geography

Germany Valley is situated in the upper reaches of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River in northeastern Pendleton County, West Virginia. The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid- Atlantic coast of the United States. Pendleton County is a County located in the US state of West Virginia. The Valley floor is at an elevation of approximately 2100 feet (640 m) with the surrounding mountaintops about 500 to 1200 feet (150 -370 meters) higher. The Valley is about 10 miles long and 2. 5 miles wide with a general northeast to southwest orientation. The Valley is defined on the east by North Fork Mountain and on the west by the River Knobs. North Fork Mountain (NFM is a mountain Ridge in the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range located in Pendleton and For other "River Knobs" see River Knobs.

Motorized traffic may gain access to the Valley from the west by either Riverton Gap (via the town of Riverton) or Hinkle Gap, through which Root Run and Mill Creek, respectively, drain it. Riverton is an Unincorporated town on the North Fork South Branch Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA. Mill Creek is a major Tributary Stream of the North Fork South Branch Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia. The southernmost Valley is also slightly entered, via Judy Gap, where a popular overlook is located along U.S. Route 33 just west of Franklin, West Virginia. United States Highway 33 is a United States highway that runs northwest-southeast for 709 miles (1141 km from northern Indiana to Richmond Virginia Franklin is a town in Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States. Seneca Rocks rise near the northern end of the Valley. Seneca Rocks, formerly the "Cliffs of Seneca", is a large Crag and local landmark in Pendleton County in the Eastern Panhandle

Many of the named features in or near the Valley reflect old family names of the original settlers: Judy Gap, Bennett Gap, Teter Gap, and Harper Gap; also Bland Hills, Dolly Ridge, Harman Knob, Harper Knob, Mallow Knob, and Ketterman Knob.

History

Germany Valley is named for the German families that were its earliest settlers. The first to arrive was the Hinkle (originally Henckel) family, which migrated from North Carolina in 1761. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States John Justus Hinkle, Sr (1705/6 - 1778) and his wife Maria Magdelena Eschman (1710 - 1798), with their twelve children and their own families, came for the inexpensive farm land and relative freedom from Indian attacks. They were also attracted by the fertile limestone soils and gently rolling bottomland. They were soon joined by the Teters and by Pennsylvania Dutch families, some having migrated southwest following the ridges and through the “Valley of Virginia” from Pennsylvania's Lebanon and Lancaster counties. The Great Valley, also called the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Lebanon County is a County located in the US state of Pennsylvania and is one of four counties comprising the greater Harrisburg metropolitan Lancaster County Pennsylvania, known as the Garden Spot of America since the 18th century is located in the southeastern part of the state of Pennsylvania A few German families also moved west from Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Spotsylvania County is a county in the US state &mdash officially " Commonwealth " &mdash of Virginia. These settlers brought the familiar custom of placing hex signs on their barns (perhaps the only section of West Virginia where these signs were once found. Hex signs are a form of Pennsylvania Dutch Folk art, related to Fraktur, found in the Fancy Dutch tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch Country )

Indians were by no means absent from the region, however, as the famous Seneca Trail (or Great Indian Warpath) passed near the Valley and the nearby British positions at Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract had been destroyed (1758) in Indian uprisings led by Killbuck, a Delaware chieftain. The Great Indian Warpath (GIW — also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail — was that part of the network of trails in eastern Bemino, known as John Killbuck Sr, was a renowned medicine man and war leader of the Delaware Indians during the French and Indian War (1754-63 The shannon (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans were in the 17th century organized bands of Native American peoples with shared cultural and linguistic Four years later, a stockade (Hinkle's Fort) was built by the men of the Hinkle family to protect these border settlements from additional Indian raids. At the time of the Revolution, the fort became headquarters and training ground for the North Fork Military Company which was organized by the sons and sons-in-law of John Justus Hinkle, Sr. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The fort is long since gone, but a large arrowhead-shaped stone monument enclosed by an iron fence marks its former site. (This is along the valley road leading east from Riverton).

These traditional farming families long retained their language and “old country” customs and so the Valley became known as “German Settlement” or “Germany Valley”. At about the same time, many Scotch-Irish families also migrated from the north and bought land in Pendleton County, including Germany Valley. Although the community prospered, it long remained isolated and its agricultural economy continued to be based predominantly on forage crops, cattle, horses, milk cows, and sheep. In Agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any Foodstuff that is used specifically to feed Domesticated Livestock, such as Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an Animal husbandry enterprise for long-term production of Milk, which may be either processed on-site or The farms remained largely self-sufficient because the poor roads and absence of turnpikes made it difficult to reach larger markets in adjacent areas.

In June 1781, after a difficult passage over North Fork Mountain, the Valley was evangelized by Bishop Francis Asbury. North Fork Mountain (NFM is a mountain Ridge in the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range located in Pendleton and Francis Asbury ( August 20 1745 &ndash March 31 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Asbury was one of the two original Methodist missionaries in the United States. In his Journal [2] Asbury records preaching to about ninty "Dutch folk" who, in his words, "appeared to feel the word". The Bishop records a June 21 visit to what for over 150 years was known as "Asbury Cave" — now Stratosphere Balloon Cave. He also describes the large spring (Judy Spring) found in the Valley.

At the time of the American Civil War, the communities of the upper North Fork, including Germany Valley, and Franklin, were strongly Confederate in their sympathies, although nearby Seneca Rocks and the lower South Branch Valley were generally northern in persuasion. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Pendleton County was a border area like many unprotected by either Federal troops or the Confederates. Such divided counties, then the rule in central West Virginia, were torn by internal strife and uncertainty and border county wars among various partisan groups were continuous. County governments often ceased to operate altogether. Many of the Valley’s men joined local partisan units such as the Pendleton Scouts, Pendleton Rifles, and Dixie Boys and fought for the Confederacy. In northern Pendleton County, the Swamp Dragons, or “Swamps”, were equally strong defenders of the Union. Clashes between these units were frequent and bitter, with members of the same families often contending against one another. Raids by Union army units and Union partisans such as the Swamps occurred several times in the Valley during the war years.

Originally, the coves and moist slopes of the Valley were covered with fine timber stands, notably including black walnut. Juglans nigra, commonly known as black walnut or American walnut, is a tree Species native to eastern North America. Much of the virgin forest was cut to supply local needs, and often good, commercial-grade logs were simply burned in land-clearing operations. Later, in the 19th Century, professional lumbermen became interested and the remaining forests were harvested, sawn, and taken by horse and wagon to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Keyser, some 30 miles away. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ( B&O) was one of the Oldest railroads in the United States and the first Common carrier railroad Keyser is a city in and the County seat of Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. In the northwestern part of the county, much of the timber was hauled by logging railroad to the Parsons Pulp and Lumber Company mill at Horton in Randolph County. Randolph County is a County located in the US state of West Virginia. Due to the prevailing isolation and poor transportation system, large saw mills were not found in the area during the last part of the 19th Century. A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters Small sash and circular saw mills, however, were present. The circular saw is a Metal disc or Blade with Saw Teeth on the edge as well as the Machine that causes the disk to

Geology

Germany Valley is characterized by Ordovician limestones at the culmination of the Wills Mountain anticline. The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time between 488 Wills Mountain is a ridge of the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range, in Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA In Structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core The Valley is formed within the eastern and western limbs of this eroded anticline (fold), which are represented by North Fork Mountain and the River Knobs, respectively. North Fork Mountain (NFM is a mountain Ridge in the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range located in Pendleton and For other "River Knobs" see River Knobs. Both North Fork Mountain and the River Knobs are classed as homoclinal ridges and Germany Valley itself as a homoclinal valley. In Structural geology, a uniclinal structure, homoclinal structure, unicline or homocline (from old homo  = same cline [3]

Cave and karst features

Germany Valley is famously underlain by New Market limestone bedrock, a pale grey limestone of the St. Paul Group of Ordovician limestone which, where exposed at the surface, has a tendency to erode with deep vertical fissures. The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time between 488 Cave development is in places spectacular often producing large passages and capacious rooms. The numerous sink holes, sinking streams, surface stone, and irregular ridges apparent throughout the Valley have made it a frequently visited and celebrated venue for the caving community. A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or Cenote, is a natural depression Caving or spelunking is the recreational Sport of exploring Caves In contrast Speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave

New Market limestone is rich in calcium carbonate, but also has significant amounts of potassium and phosphorus which, along with its low silicon content, makes it very popular with quarrymen. Calcium carbonate is a Chemical compound with the Chemical formula Ca[[Carbon C]] O 3 Potassium (pəˈtæsiəm is a Chemical element. It has the symbol K (kalium from qalīy Atomic number 19 and Atomic mass 39 Phosphorus, (ˈfɒsfərəs is the Chemical element that has the symbol P and Atomic number 15 A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or Minerals are extracted These ingredients make the resulting lime commercially valuable for fertilizing farm pasture land and lawns and for steel and coal production. In the Valley, the limestone attracted the Greer Limestone Plant, a part of Greer Industries, Inc. , which has done a thriving business since 19??, although not without controversy with regard to its environmental impact (see below).

Notable caves

Greer Limestone/Hellhole bat controversy

From the 1940s, when exploration of Hellhole began, to the 1980s, cavers had mapped approximately 8. 5 miles of passage in the popular Hellhole system. The cave is developed in New Market Limestone, the same rock unit that is mined in the nearby open pit quarry.

The entrance to Hellhole is owned by a private landowner who has never wished to sell the land around it. The quarry, immediately to the west of the cave entrance, is operated by Greer Limestone Company (owned by West Virginia businessman and politician John Raese). John R Raese (born April 10, 1950, in Baltimore Maryland) is a West Virginia businessman and has been the Republican candidate for Greer leased the entrance to Hellhole from the landowner in 1986, and as the leasee, soon began to deny most access to the cave. Greer did allow the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WV DNR) to conduct bi-annual trips into the cave for the purpose of counting the populations of endangered bat species. West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is an agency of the government of the U In the 1990’s, at urging of the WV DNR, Greer also began to allow limited exploration and mapping of the cave (one or two trips per year).

In 1995 an extension to the cave (“Krause Hall”) was discovered in the extreme northwest portion of the cave. In 1996 one of the deepest sections of the cave was explored at over 400 feet below the entrance elevation. In 1997, a break-through discovery off this area extended the known extent of Hellhole well to the south of its originally known range. This showed that the historically known portions of Hellhole were a mere side passage to a much larger cave system.

By this time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had recognized Hellhole as a critical habitat for two species of endangered (and federally protected) bat, the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and the Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus). The Indiana bat ( Myotis sodalis) is a medium-sized gray black or chestnut bat listed as an Endangered species by the U It was known that about 45% of the world’s estimated 20,000 remaining Virginia big-eared bats hibernate in Hellhole. Greer had responded by establishing a no-work buffer zone of 250 feet and a no-blast buffer zone of 500 feet from the nearest known passage in Hellhole. That word “known” proved to be the bone of contention.

The reason Hellhole is such an important cave for these bats is its unusually low ambient air temperature. Most caves in West Virginia average around 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Hellhole averages around 47 degrees. This cold temperature is critical for these species survival. The cave remains cool because it functions as a natural cold air trap. Located in the middle of an enclosed valley, and having only one entrance, all cold air flowing off North Fork Mountain in winter collects in the cave. Cold air goes down, and having no place to escape, stays down, filling the cave's massive passages. This cold air collecting phenomenon is what makes the cave so vulnerable to accidental damage from quarrying activities. If this natural cold air trap were to be breached at an elevation lower than the entrance, the cold air would quickly flow out, and the cave would likely no longer function as a bat hibernaculum, at least for these particular species.

With the advent of the 1997 discoveries, Greer was threatened with the potential loss of a valuable section of limestone to the endangered species habitat. From that point forward Greer permitted no further exploration of Hellhole. Cavers perceived that because the quarry did not wish to lose any further areas of limestone to bat habitat, it effectively began to impede further exploration and, therefore, "knowledge" of the cave's extent.

In 2000, Greer announced its intention to seek a renewal permit to continue its quarrying operations in Germany Valley and to extend them to the north and south of the existing open pit. This request was filed publicly, as required by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) requirements, and it ignited a furor among Virginia and West Virginia cavers who began petitioning officials and started a letter campaign. In their view, it was highly likely that quarry operations, conducted with a lack of knowledge regarding the cave's complete extent, would in time penetrate some portion of the cave. Such an event, it was argued, would have disastrous effects upon the suitability of the cave as an endangered bat species hibernaculum. In 2002 -- after prolonged negotiations with Greer -- the USFWS, West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WV DNR), WV DEP, caving organizations and local landowners, the Germany Valley Karst Survey (GVKS) was formally contracted to survey the extent of the Hellhole cave system. West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is an agency of the government of the U In accordance with USFWS requirements regarding endangered bats, all annual survey activities must be completed within a 16-week window during the summer months. Since that time, the known extent of the cave has expanded to 24. 9 mapped miles (40. 1 kilometers) and 519 feet (158. 2 m) of depth.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Germany Valley Karst Area. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-04-16. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom
  2. ^ Asbury, Francis, Journal, New York: N. Bangs & T. Mason, 1821.
  3. ^ Carter, Burt. Folds -- Folded Sedimentary Rocks. GEOL3411 -- Geomorphology (lecture notes). Georgia Southwestern State University. Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus Georgia, is a school in the University System of Georgia. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king  “Thus, both the River Knobs and North Fork Mountain must be homoclinal ridges and Germany Valley must be a homoclinal valley. ”
  4. ^ Smith, J. Lawrence (1972), The Potomac Naturalist: The Natural History of the Headwaters of the Historic Potomac, 2nd edition, Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing Company, pg 44. The town of Parsons is the County seat of Tucker County, West Virginia, in the United States. The McClain Printing Company (MPC is a printing company specializing in books of West Virginia history and lore
  5. ^ Geology and Geography Session Abstracts : Speleogenesis Within an Anticlinal Valley: Hellhole Cave, West Virginia. NSS Convention 2005. National Speleological Society (2005). The National Speleological Society (NSS is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration conservation study and understanding of Caves in the United States Retrieved on 2008-03-16. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king  “Hellhole is an extensive (32 km) cave system developed within Germany Valley (Pendleton County, West Virginia) on the flank of the Wills Mountain Anticline. It is the most extensive of several mapped caves in the area (others include Memorial Day Cave and Schoolhouse Cave). Hellhole is the deepest cave in the valley (158 m). ”

Other sources

External links

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