Carroll County

Red-tailed Hawk, © Rob Bielawski

Formally established from Grayson County in 1842, Carroll County consists of 478 square miles of land that had formally been part of not just Grayson, but also Wythe, Montgomery, Fincastle (now defunct), Botetourt, and Augusta through a convoluted chain of county formations going back to the 1700s. In 1845 and 1854, annexations from Patrick County of land in the Fancy Gap area solidified Carroll’s present boundaries. Though formerly inhabited by indigenous peoples, Carroll was slow to attract European settlers owing to the poor soil and limited agricultural prospects. The first Europeans to settle in this region were Scots-Irish, who moved in as part of the frontier settlement in Virginia’s Appalachian regions. With agriculture mostly a non-starter, the main economic draw in this region was mining of various ores, most prominently lead. The source of Carroll’s name remains a matter of dispute owing to a dirty legislative trick alleged to have been pulled by James Blair – as the story goes, State Delegate John Carroll, a representative of Grayson County, intended to form the new county and have it named in his own honor but Blair, his rival and legislative opponent, introduced a bill naming it instead for Declaration of Independence signatory Charles Carroll of Maryland. Ironically, John Carroll’s second attempt at an honorific was also thwarted; he moved to have the county seat named Carrollton, yet locals persisted in calling it “Hillsville.” The latter name is still in use today, though it remains the county seat and only incorporated town. These days, Carroll County leans heavily into its Appalachian traditions. One major source of tourism is the Blue Ridge Parkway, which winds through a substantial portion of southern Carroll and includes a major entry point near Fancy Gap. Carroll is also known for its Appalachian music traditions, as the birthplace of country music pioneer Ernest “Pops” Stoneman, a part of the “Crooked Road” Cultural Heritage Music Trail, and home to a thriving local old-time and bluegrass scene. Appalachian art and craft are also well-represented at the county Visitors Center and Artisan Gallery, which showcases work from over a hundred local artists and craftspeople.

Apart from this history, one episode in Carroll County history is so singularly shocking as to merit a special mention here: the infamous massacre at the Hillsville courthouse in 1912, which left five dead, seven wounded, and resulted in the execution of one of the most powerful men in Carroll County! At the center of this epic tale was Floyd Allen, patriarch of one of the most powerful local families and active in both business and politics. Renowned for his short temper and prone to violent outbursts, Allen had a past rap sheet that included multiple brawls and shooting incidents – he even got into a gunfight with his own brother, Jack, a law enforcement officer! In 1910, two of Floyd’s nephew, Wesley and Sidna Edwards, got into a dispute with another local man over a woman, which ultimately resulted in a physical altercation during a church service. After fleeing the state, the two brothers were eventually arrested and transported in handcuffs to jail; the wagon carrying them was intercepted en route by Floyd, who beat a sheriff’s deputy unconscious and freed his nephews. After two years of legal wrangling, and amid a tense local climate that included witness intimidation and death threats directed at the presiding judge, Floyd was found guilty of assault and sentence to one year in prison by District Court Judge Thomas Massie, whom Allen allegedly threatened to kill as the sentence was handed down. At this point, shots broke out and the courtroom erupted into a full-on gunfight that resulted in the deaths of Judge Massie, Sheriff Lew Webb, Commonwealth’s Attorney William Foster, jury foreman Augustus Fowler, and 19-year-old witness Elizabeth Ayers. Multiple members of the Allen clan were involved, and went on the run following the shootout; within a month, all had been taken into custody, including Floyd’s brother Sidna Allen, who was found hiding out in Iowa. After a polarizing trial, Floyd Allen and his son Claud were both sentenced to death by electrocution. Despite receiving death threats, Governor William Mann refused to commute the sentences, and even had to cut short a trip to Pennsylvania after a power struggle with Lieutenant Governor James Ellyson, who had attempted to commute the sentences in his absence. On March 28, 1913, Floyd and Claud Allen were executed in the electric chair within eleven minutes of each other. Four other members of the Allen family were convicted and served prison time for the massacre, though all eventually received pardons by the 1920s.

While birding in Carroll County may not be quite as exciting as a true Wild West-style gun battle, it is certainly anything but boring! Carroll has a relatively unique geography, as it straddles the Piedmont and Mountain regions, with about a fifth of the county (the southeastern portion around Cana) falling in the former province, and the rest consisting of uplands defined by the Blue Ridge Plateau. Elevation in the county ranges from a high of over 3500 feet at the peak of Rich Mountain, to a low of 1950 feet where the New River flows out of the county. Though it lacks the heights to have many elevation breeders, a few species including Ruffed Grouse, Blue-headed Vireo, Veery, and Black-throated Blue and Green Warblers have been reported during the breeding season. Numerous small creeks crisscross the county, but the main body of water is a stretch of the mighty New River the cuts across the northwestern corner. Two dams on this portion of the river form a wide reservoir, and the southern terminus of New River Trail SP (which parallels the river for its entire duration in Carroll) is just beyond the Grayson line in the town of Fries. The Byllesby and Buck Dams are located about 3 miles apart, and the reservoir they form, as well as the concurrent section of New River Trail SP, offer some of the best birding in the whole county. Confoundingly, this area is also one of the most underbirded parts of Carroll, with striking gaps in the available eBird data. Nonetheless, the riparian woods here are phenomenal at all times of year, whether one seeks the winter woodland suite, migrants of almost any sort, or a breeding assortment that includes Wood Thrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white and Hooded Warblers, Northern Parula, and Scarlet Tanager, among others. Even with the scant reports from here, the list of waterfowl includes Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, American Black Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, and Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers. With more frequent checking, one could expect a more robust list and perhaps a rarity like a Long-tailed Duck or White-winged Scoter. Pied-billed Grebe and Double-crested Cormorant have been reported sporadically throughout the year (even a summer record for the former!), while there is a fall record of American Coot and a spring Forster’s Tern. The base of the Byllesby Dam has a good-sized cattail marsh that hosts breeding Willow Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, and Red-winged Blackbird, as well as wintering Song Sparrows. With the right effort, this could be a good spot for any rail, Least Bittern, or Marsh Wren. There is also an extensive mudflat at the base of the dam that is worth checking in shorebird season; though the species list is paltry (Killdeer, Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper), there is one report of 24 Spotted Sandpipers, and other shorebird species could reasonably be expected. At the dams, and anywhere else along the New River, one can also expect to encounter Bald Eagle and Osprey, depending on the season.

Located to the southwest of Hillsville, Crooked Creek WMA is another good birding destination for Carroll, particularly for woodland breeders including Ruffed Grouse; Yellow-billed Cuckoo; Broad-winged Hawk; Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, and Red-eyed Vireos; Wood Thrush; Ovenbird; Worm-eating, Black-and-white, and Hooded Warblers; Northern Parula; and Scarlet Tanager. This is also a good destination for migrants in both spring and fall, with an impressive roster that boasts Tennesse, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, and Canada, among others. Golden- and Blue-winged Warblers have both been reported throughout May and into June, raising the possibility of breeding, but most of those reports date to the early 2000s. Near Fancy Gap, Devil’s Den Nature Preserve is a mix of mature woods and cleared, brushy areas on a high escarpment, as well as a large cave and a series of trails. Again, woodland breeders are well-represented here, but the mix of scrubbier habitats adds Eastern Meadowlark to the mix and also makes for good sparrowing in fall, with migrant records of Grasshopper and Savannah, winter White-throated, Fox, and Dark-eyed Junco, and resident Chipping, Field, Song, and Eastern Towhee.

Just outside the town of Hillsville, the Beaver Dam Creek Nature Trail offers not quite a mile of creekside walking through surprising habitat diversity, including open meadows near the trailhead, scrubby tangles along some of the edges, and more mature woods for much of its length. Come here for migrants and hope for something less-common like a Mourning Warbler (plenty of nice tangles) or an Olive-sided Flycatcher (plenty of good snags), or try in the breeding season when thrushes and warblers are singing, Louisiana Waterthrushes announce themselves all along the creek, and a dense mountain laurel thicket might attract a Swainson’s Warbler someday. In the same vicinity, Gardners Mill Wetland west of town is an intriguing spot that has had breeding Willow Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Red-winged Blackbird in years past, and might just get the occasional Virginia Rail or Sore moving through. Unfortunately, in recent years the vegetation on the periphery has grown up and made it difficult to bird the marsh. A little further west of Hillsville, on the opposite side of I-77 heading towards Galax, the Carroll County Recreational Park is a mixed-use facility mostly given over the ballfields, but including some decent wood edges where one can usually draw in a mixed flock. Suburban birds are also present here, and this is an easy way to tick Rock Pigeon, House Finch, House Sparrow, and the like for Carroll.

A final word of mention goes to Lovill’s Creek Boat Ramp, south of Cana in the far southeastern part of Carroll County (almost to North Carolina). Situated on a U-shaped lake that is the largest body of water in the county apart from the dammed stretch of the New River, this boat ramp is worth hitting any time waterfowl are around, with a list that includes Wood Duck, Mallard, American Black Duck, Green-winged Teal, and Ring-necked Duck (and which could almost certainly be boosted easily with more effort). The only Snow Goose record for the county also comes from here, and this site is likewise known for hosting the only known reliable Brown-headed Nuthatches in the county.

It must be mentioned that Carroll ranks among the more underbirded and less-known – from a birding perspective – counties in Virginia. With a little over 1700 checklists, it comes in 94th in the eBird rankings. Local birders and visitors alike seem to spend less time birding here than in Carroll’s more well-known neighbors with prominent birding destinations, including Grayson, Wythe, and Pulaski. Even some of the most promising hotspots, such as Byllesby Dam or Lovill’s Creek Boat Ramp, have huge gaps in the eBird data; at both these locations, the number of vacant weeks on the bar charts outnumbers those with data! Carroll is off the beaten path, but there is much to be said for anyone who wants to take on the task of pioneering here!

—Matt Anthony

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