Ararat, Virginia

Ararat is an unincorporated community in Patrick County, Virginia, United States, south of the Blue Ridge Parkway and north of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Ararat is located near the Virginia/North Carolina state line about five miles north of Mount Airy, North Carolina and about 25 miles west of Stuart, Virginia. The community's name comes from the Ararat River which flows through the area.^[1] The River takes its name from the Saura Indian name for nearby Pilot Mountain in Surry County, North Carolina. The large Monadnock mountain was thought to resemble a bullfrog and the Indians named it after the sound they thought it made "Ratratrat". Early white settlers thought what they were saying sounded like "Ararat," the mountain which, according to the Bible, was the landing point of Noah's Ark.

Blue Ridge Elementary School is located in the community. Several famous people were born in the community, such as the Reverend Bob Childress;^[2] "The Man Who Moved A Mountain," and James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart,^[3] the Major General of Cavalry for Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War.

The J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace,^[4] Laurel Hill, is a preserved private park in the community that is open for self-guided tours daily and holds a Civil War encampment the first full weekend of October each year.

References

  5. The Hollow History Center(Ararat)- http://www.patrickchamber.com/profile.cfm?ID=385

Sources

• Davids, Richard C., ' ' The Man Who Moved A Mountain ' ' , Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1986, ISBN 080061237X, ISBN 978-0800612375.
• Perry, Thomas D., ' 'J. E. B. Stuart's Birthplace: The History of the Laurel Hill Farm ' ', Laurel Hill Publishing, 2008, ISBN 1438239343, ISBN 978-1438239347.
• Smith, Karen Cecil., ' 'Orlean Puckett: The Life of a Mountain Midwife, 1844-1939 ' ', Parkway Publishers, 2003,ISBN 1887905723, ISBN 978-1887905725.

External links

• http://www.usbeacon.com/Virginia/Ararat.html