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It is amazing the connections you can find and create in our state parks. Virginia State Parks allow us to connect with nature, with history, and with our own friends and family. I am an interpreter at Caledon State Park and I work to develop programs which provide opportunities for guests to do just that – connect.

Whether you feel refreshed from being alone in nature, learn more about some of your local history, or create memories with your loved ones, connections are what it is all about. Throughout the time I have worked here, I have stumbled upon connections between myself and the park that I would never have expected.

Taking a group on a hike on the Smoot Trail

I have discovered newfound interests in animals I didn’t have any familiarity with before and I quickly figured out the best spots in the park that provide me with undeniable peace whenever I visit them. My interest in history has led me to look deep into the past of the property the park now sits upon. From pre-contact through modern history, I have found mini-connections with much of the park’s past.

I have made new connections with many people through the park, from kids in my Junior Ranger programs to homeschool groups to volunteers and community partners. But the closest of these connections to Caledon would have to be the one that I found with my own great-grandmother.

Showing animal pelts to Junior Rangers

The most recent owner of the Caledon property before it was donated to the Commonwealth was the Smoot family. Mr. Lewis Smoot was a descendent of the Alexander Family (the original owners of Caledon). He (and his mother before him) used Caledon as their retirement property after spending much of his life based out of Alexandria. Their home, which is now the Caledon Visitor Center, was built in about 1911. The Caledon property served as an oasis for spending time with family, hunting, and fishing throughout his remaining years.

Caledon State Park Visitor Center

As Mr. Smoot grew older, he required nurses to attend to him at home. He had a few different nurses over the years and he eventually met his wife by that means. Ann Smoot was one of his nurses and they married in 1953 after spending some time together. After that, he didn’t need any more hired nurses because she took care of him from then on.

This is where the cool connection comes in. After I received my job at Caledon, my father mentioned to me offhand that his grandmother had worked for Mr. Smoot. I was blown away to find that I am now working in the same building as my Great-Grandmother. I haven’t been able to find out a ton about when or how long she worked at Caledon but I do know she was here.

For the past two and a half years, I have walked the same hallways, climbed the same stairs, and crossed the same thresholds that she did around sixty years ago. But my grandmother, Arra Morgan, was a nurse for Mr. Smoot and before that she served as a 1st Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. After the war, she pursued a masters at the Medical College of Virginia and ended up working for Mr. Lewis Smoot in King George County as a special duty nurse. She passed away before I was born and so I never knew her personally but finding this out has made me feel much more connected to her. It has led me to learn more about her and ask my family more questions.

Who knows what other connections could be hiding?

Posing with my grandmother's picture at the Caledon State Park Visitor Center

Though my connection to Caledon isn’t necessarily your connection, I encourage you to find your own. Take the time and come out to your favorite Virginia State Park (or visit a new one) and connect with the nature, the history, and the friends and family you bring along with you.

Why not take advantage of the upcoming holiday season to make new annual traditions like going on an after-meal hike on Thanksgiving or even skipping the lines on Black Friday and making your own “Green” Friday at a park? You can make your own adventure at any of the parks or you can attend one of our very fine programs where interpreters, like myself, attempt to guide you as you find your own connection. A list of the programs offered at all the parks can be found here. For more information on your Virginia State Parks, please click here or call 1-800-933-PARK (7275).