Saunders Family

Saunders Farm c. 1950

NPS Photo

Saunders Farm was home to an African American family near the Peaks of Otter in Virginia (milepost 85). George Saunders purchased the 22-acre hillside property in May of 1912 from his parents, Edward and Mary Saunders, who had property nearby. George and his wife, Bettie, with their nine children, called the farm home until the mid-twentieth century.

The Saunders were primarily subsistence farmers, growing much of the food they ate. They did, however, have cash crops. The rocky slopes of the property made farming difficult, but a series of sixteen manmade terraces on the hillside made it possible for the Saunders to grow tomatoes. The Saunders then sold their tomatoes to a nearby cannery, with the proceeds used as "Christmas money." They built several other structures on their property as well that supported their agricultural practices, including a horse barn, and meat, hog, chicken, and corn houses.

Katherine Saunders West, the youngest of the nine children, recounted life as a young girl on Saunders Farm in a 2005 interview for an ethnographic assessment. Katherine remembered preparing food and cooking with her mother, Bettie, feeding the animals, and milking the cows. For fun, Katherine ran up and down the hill next to the house and played solitaire, checkers, and dominoes with her brothers. She even had a pet pig that she proudly took care of:

"My little pet pig just followed me around out here, 'cause I was the one to feed him... [He] would come to the kitchen door and come in there if the door was cracked."

In 1942, the Saunders sold their farm to the U.S. government, seven years after construction on the Blue Ridge Parkway began near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina. The family moved to nearby Thaxton, Virginia thereafter. Bettie Saunders died in 1961 at 75 years old. George Saunders died in 1969 at the age of 89.

There is currently no public access to the Saunders property.

Written by Ethan Crump