An Unforgettable Dedication - Senator Byrd Opens the Seneca Rocks Visitor Center

By Jody Brumage

Senator Robert C. Byrd participated in countless dedications, groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings, and other similar ceremonies during his half-century of service in the United States Senate. Many of these events are recounted in photographs, documents, and objects that are now preserved in the collections at the Byrd Center. One such series of photographs illustrate the dedication of the visitors center at Seneca Rocks, one of West Virginia's most widely-known natural landmarks. The rocks were included in the first National Recreation Area created in the United States, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. Over a decade later, Senator Byrd journeyed to Pendleton County to dedicate the new visitors center in 1978. The experience was one of the most unforgettable dedications the senator attended in his career. 

Map of the Spruce Knob - Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area

Rendering of the Seneca Rocks Visitors Center

After years of work to obtain federal funding for the construction of the visitors center, work was completed and the dedication for the new facility was set for Sunday, June 25, 1978. Senator Byrd was asked to deliver the keynote address as the project's primary sponsor. Other speakers included John McGuire, the 10th President of the U.S. Forestry Service, which managed the recreation area containing Seneca Rocks. The stage was set for a fantastic event, with hundreds of people expected to attend the dedication of the beautiful new visitors center, all with the majestic rocks looming in the background. 

Senator Byrd and his staff departed Washington D.C. on a plane chartered by the forestry service bound for Petersburg, the nearest airport to Seneca Rocks. From there, the senator and his staff would be driven the remaining 25 miles to the visitors center. All seemed well until Senator Byrd looked out the window of the plane. As he recounted in his autobiography Child of the Appalachian Coalfields, "looking down from the window of the plane, I noted highways that appeared to me strange and quite unlike the area surrounding the Petersburg airport." When the plane landed, the senator was informed that the pilots had made an error: they had set a course for Petersburg, Virginia, not West Virginia. 

After making a telephone call to the visitors center to inform them of the situation, Senator Byrd and his staff took off again for Petersburg. Despite the late arrival, the dedication ceremony went on as planned. After giving his speech, Senator Byrd entered the crowd, took out his fiddle, and joined in with a bluegrass band to entertain the over 500 people in attendance. Another unique feature of the ceremony was the cutting of a log (in lieu of cutting a ribbon) to officially open the center. Senator Byrd took one end of a crosscut saw, Forestry Service President McGuire manned the other end, and together they formally opened the Seneca Rocks Visitors Center the public.

For Senator Byrd, the momentous occasion, despite the long journey to get there, was an important moment in the life of one of his earliest projects as a U.S. senator. His commitment to the project continued long into the future. When the original visitors center fell victim to arson in the 1992, Senator Byrd obtained 5 million dollars in appropriations to rebuild the center, which was dedicated in 1998 and continues to welcome visitors to Seneca Rocks today.

We invite you to explore this set of photographs from the dedication of the Seneca Rocks Visitor's Center, recently digitized from the extensive Senator Byrd Photograph Collection: