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.