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More than 239 years ago, King George III granted 157 acres of this Shenandoah Valley land to Thomas Jefferson for 20 shillings. Today, the landmark Virginia Natural Bridge north of Roanoke has grown in scope and prestige alongside America itself. Bidders will have a chance to own this slice of history on December 18, 2013 in an on-site auction by Woltz & Associates. Millions have visited the wondrous 20-story limestone arch that spans 20 feet over Cedar Creek.

Other property highlights include sweeping Blue Ridge vistas, caverns, well-kept roads, and the Natural Bridge Hotel and Conference Center. Guest rooms number more than 150 if you count up the hotel and annex and several brick cottages nearby. To read more about the available 1,600 acres offered on 35 individual parcels, click here. My son Alex is a senior at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. In early October, when we attended parents weekend, we decided to take in some of the local sites. We had a wonderful visit to the Natural Bridge and the Natural Bridge Caverns just off Interstate 81 about an hour north of Roanoke in the heart of the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. I highly recommend a stop if you are in the area. You enter the gorge where the bridge is located down this steep stairway through the woods (or you can take a shuttle bus). The Natural Bridge was created when an underground cavern, carved by Cedar Creek, a tributary of the James River, collapsed and left behind a span of its rock roof 215 feet high and 90 feet wide. It is the kind of mammoth natural site that we normally only find in the western US. The bridge is so big and substantial that Route 11, the state highway, runs across the top of it, and you don’t even notice the road. The trail to the bridge is lovely and runs along Cedar Creek, a tributary of the James River. The Natural Bridge is not only a natural wonder, but it is also a very significant historic site. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been selected from that list of 65,000 to be one of only 2,430 National Historic Landmarks. The Natural Bridge was a sacred site of the Monacan Indians. In 1750, it was surveyed by George Washington for Lord Fairfax, the owner of the original Virginia land grant of 1649. In 1774, it was purchased by Thomas Jefferson as part of a 157 acre parcel acquired from King George III for 20 shillings. Read more...http://carolynsshadegardens.com