Celebrate 100 Years of the Appalachian Trail

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While the history of the Appalachian Mountains is as vast and expansive as the mountains themselves, the Appalachian Trail as we know it today is only 100 years old this month! In honor of the trail and all it has given to us throughout the years and all it will continue to give to us, we’re writing up a historical overview of the trail.

July 1921

Benton MacKaye, the man responsible for the first proposal of the Appalachian Trail, drafted up his original idea for the proposal that would eventually jumpstart the Appalachian Trail project.

October 1921

Benton MacKaye made his proposal for the Appalachian Trail public. As a result of this, support for the new project began to pour in. His proposal, “An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning” was published in the Journal of American Institutes of Architects in October 1921.(1)

Photo Courtesy of: https://appalachiantrailhistory.org/exhibits/show/builders/bmackaye

Download the original draft here!

1925

From 1921 to 1925, MacKaye spent his time broadening his support network in order to begin bringing the plans of the new trail to fruition. The Appalachian Trail Conference is organized.

1937

After years of slow progress, the ATC project was taken over by Judge Arthur Perkins, who then caught the attention of Myron H. Avery. Avery and other Washington natives were responsible for the creation of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. By 1937, the footpath of the Appalachian Trail spanning from May to Georgia was complete. The next project was to be building shelters along the trail. (1)

Katahdin Summit Completion in 1937. Photo Courtesy of: https://appalachiantrail.org/our-work/about-us/atc-history/

1938

In addition to the start of what would become World War II, a major hurricane came through New England and devastated a large portion of the trail. While trail volunteers had to stop efforts on the trail in order to answer the call of duty, the trail’s progress, both past and present, came to a halt once again, only this time for three years. It wasn’t until war veteran Earl V. Shaffer picked the project back up that the trail once again resumed progress.

In spite of the hurricane damage and the neglected trails, Shaffer was able to locate enough of the trail to hike from Georgia all the way to Maine in one trip, something the ATC didn’t believe was possible. In the spring of 1951, Shaffer once again declared the trail open.

1968

“In 1968, President Johnson signed into law the National Trails System Act 47 years after MacKaye’s original proposal was published. The A.T. became the first national scenic trail in place, a unit of the national park system.” (1)

1978

Land was officially bought via state and federal purchases per The National Trail Systems Act.

End of the 1980’s

As the Appalachian Trail was fully established, the new and growing enthusiasm for hiking was also taking off. With this, people from all over began to experience the Appalachian Trail as it was meant to be experienced. (2)

Photo Courtesy of: https://appalachiantrailhistory.org/exhibits/show/overview/newgeneration

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Facts About the Appalachian Trail

The trail spans 14 states.
Nearly 75% of the thru-hikers who attempt the entire length of the trail don’t make it.
Only about 1o total miles of the trail are privately owned.
The trail is 2,190 miles.
It is among one of the world’s only hiker’s-only trails, with trail markers guiding hikers the entire length of the trail.
The Appalachian Trail is the largest AND longest-running volunteer conservation project in the world.
Mount Oglethorpe was the original southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail – not Springer Mountain
The Appalachian Mountain Range is old enough to predate the North American Continent. (3)

Footnotes: