(SNP033) George Corbin, transcribed by Victoria M. Edwards

Authors

George T. Corbin

Files

Interviewee

Corbin, George T.

Identifier

SNP033

Format

1 audio file (running time: 1:05:46)

Interview Number

SNP-33

Location of Interview

In and around Nicholson Hollow in Madison County, Virginia

Date of Interview

4-20-1969

Description

Records an interview with George Corbin, who leads a party of researchers from the National Park Service (NPS) and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) on a walking tour of the Corbin homestead in Nicholson Hollow. The primary interviewer does not identify himself on the tape, but does name Edward Garvey of the PATC as a member of the group, and another participant gives his name as Paul Lee. The Corbin homestead was located on part of the land turned over to the NPS by the state of Virginia in the 1930s. Corbin identifies the sites of a number of homesteads and the names of their former occupants, including a tour of the cabin he built in 1909, which was turned over to the PATC for use as a trail shelter and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings as the George T. Corbin Cabin. The tour includes a visit to the Corbin and Nicholson family cemetery and the site of the local schoolhouse. Mr. Corbin speaks at length of the genealogies of the Corbins and the Nicholsons, as well as many of the other local mountain families. Included are numerous anecdotes regarding businessman and entrepreneur George Pollock, owner of Skyland resort, and a discussion of the activities of several area moonshiners, including Mr. Corbin. The last quarter of the interview features the comments of an unidentified woman presumably a relative of Mr. Corbin.

Rights

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Personal Names

Corbin, George T., 1888-1978; Pollock, George Freeman, 1869-1949

Family Names

Corbin family; Nicholson family

Subjects

United States. National Park Service; Potomac Appalachian Trail Club; George T. Corbin Cabin (Madison County, Va.); Mountain people -- Blue Ridge Mountains -- Social life and customs; Mountain life -- Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.) – History; Mountain people -- Virginia -- Shenandoah National Park -- Social life and customs; Blue Ridge Mountains -- Social life and customs; Rural poor – Virginia; Country life -- Appalachian Region, Southern; Agriculture -- Appalachian Region, Southern; Food habits -- Appalachian Region, Southern; Distilling, Illicit – Virginia.

Place Names

Nicholson Hollow (Va.) – History; Skyland (Va.); Madison County (Va.) – History; Shenandoah National Park (Va.) -- History, Local.

Interviewer

Garvey, Edward B.; Lee, Paul

Transcriber

Edwards, Victoria M.

Collection Title

Shenandoah National Park oral history collection

Collection Number

SdArch SNP

Recommended Citation

George T. Corbin interviewed by Edward B. Garvey and Paul Lee, April 20, 1969, SdArch SNP-33, Shenandoah National Park Oral History Collection, 1964-1999, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University

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