Piedmont Virginia
Is the long belt of country stretching for 244 miles from the banks of the
Potomac and the Maryland line southwest, along the eastern base of the
Blue Ridge Mountains, and between them and the Coast Range, to the
banks of the Dan at the North Carolina line; it varies in width from 20 to
30 miles, averaging about 25; its approximate area is 6,680 square miles.
Its latitude corresponds with that of the State, 36° 33′ to 39° 27′ north;
its longitude is from 77° 20′ to 80° 50′ west.
This Piedmont Country is the fifth step of the great stairway ascending
to the west; its eastern edge, along Middle Virginia, is from 300 to
500 feet above the sea; then come the broken ranges of the Coast Mountains,
rising as detached or connected knobs, in lines or groups, from 100
to 600 feet higher. These are succeeded by the numberless valleys of all
imaginable forms, some long, straight, and wide; others narrow and
widening; others again oval and almost enclosed, locally known as
"Coves," that extend across to and far into the Blue Ridge, the spurs of
which often reach out southwardly for miles, ramifying in all directions.
Portions of Piedmont form widely extended plains. The land west of the
Coast Range is generally from 300 to 500 feet above the sea, and rises to
the west, until at the foot of the Blue Ridge it attains an elevation of from
600 to 1,200 feet. The Blue Ridge rises to from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above
the sea; at one point near the Tennessee line it reaches a height of 5,530
feet; its general elevation is about 2,500, but its outline is very irregular.
Numerous streams have their origin in the gorges of the Blue Ridge,
and most of them then flow across Piedmont to the southeast until near its
border, where they unite and form one that runs for a considerable distance
along and parallel to the Coast Mountains, and takes the name of some of
the well-known rivers that cross Middle and even Tidewater Virginia, like
the Roanoke or Staunton, and the James. Some of these rivers break
through the Blue Ridge from the Valley, making water gaps in that formidable
mountain barrier, as the Potomac, the James and the Roanoke;
but they all follow the rule above given in their way across this section.
This is a genuine "Piedmont" country—one in which the mountains
present themselves in their grand as well as in their diminutive forms—
gradually sinking down into the plains, giving great diversity and
picturesqueness to the landscape. Few countries surpass this in beauty of
scenery and choice of prospect, so it has always been a favorite section
with men of refinement in which to fix their homes. Its population is 31
to the square mile, giving some 21 acres each.
