The 10th annual Great Road Encampment will be held Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 7 and 8.
With free admission, this 18th-century encampment in the East Montgomery Park behind the Elliston Fire Department at 5001 Enterprise Dr., will be held rain or shine from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday.
The event is sponsored by Montgomery County Parks and Recreation, Fort Vause Outfitters, the Great Road Craft Guild, Seams Colonial, and various private donors.
Demonstrations will include 18th-century reenactors, presentations on the history of The Great Road and the West Virginia Company of Roger’s Rangers, and demonstrations of a detached
military hospital and medicine of the time, flintlock muskets, camp cooking, knife and tomahawk throwing, leather work, blacksmithing, 18th-century clothing, spinning, and weaving.
Traveled by the likes of George Washington, Daniel Boone, Andrew Lewis, William Preston, Adam Harman, and the Ingles and Draper families, the Great Road was the main thoroughfare going west to the frontier. This event honors all who passed through the valleys of Southwest Virginia in the quest for a better life.
For more information, call Henry Bryant at 540-380-3469 or greatroadencampment@gmail.com.
