The next time you’re viewing a map of the county, look along its western edge and look for the “gaps.”
Prior to construction of the Shenadoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway system, the Blue Ridge Mountains represented both a barrier and, through a system of highland valleys, a connection to the rest of the country. One such passage is named “Taylor’s Gap.’ Like most of the gaps, they are named after former residents. This one is named after Benjamin Taylor (d. 1809), his wife, Mary, and their family. Taylor’s Gap Road is located near their former homestead even though the widow left for Georgia in 1811 after her husband’s death.