Virginia man refused $4,855 for land and was evicted as Shenandoah park formed

Melanchton Cliser and his family were among the residents forced from their Virginia home as land was acquired for Shenandoah National Park in the 1930s. Cliser owned 46 acres along US 211 and operated a gas station. In October 1935, the local sheriff and deputies handcuffed him, removed the family's belongings and sealed their house. His case was part of a wider and often contentious effort that displaced hundreds of families from the Blue Ridge Mountains as the park took shape.