{"nrhp_refnum":"02001365","name":"Hanover Wayside","other_names":["042-0286"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"8225 Hanover Wayside Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hanover","county":"Hanover County","state":"VA","lat":37.70155340800005,"lon":-77.38825258051611,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-11-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Conservation","Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hanover Wayside is a roughly 35-acre public park on the east side of U.S. Route 301 in central Hanover County, Virginia, about fifteen miles north of Richmond. The Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1937-1938 with the National Park Service and the Virginia Department of Highways.","why_significant":"It is a surviving example of the New Deal Recreational Demonstration Areas program, which turned submarginal farmland into recreation space while employing young men through the CCC. Its layout and rustic buildings reflect National Park Service park planning principles of the 1930s. The park retains a high degree of integrity and was one of only thirteen highway waysides built in Virginia and South Carolina.","narrative":"Hanover Wayside is a 35-acre public park along U.S. Route 301 in central Hanover County, Virginia, about fifteen miles north of Richmond. The Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1937-1938 under National Park Service direction, as part of the New Deal Recreational Demonstration Areas program, which reused poor farmland for recreation aimed at lower-income families. It was one of only thirteen highway waysides built in Virginia and South Carolina. The park keeps its original character: a wooded entrance opening onto a central meadow, stone picnic grills, a rustic timber picnic shelter overlooking a lake formed by damming Kersey Creek, a one-story caretaker's cottage with outbuildings, and a louvered comfort station that follows National Park Service design guidance. Federal ownership passed to Virginia in 1943 and to Hanover County in 1983. Its integrity and its record of conservation, landscape design and rustic architecture explain its listing. It still serves local residents and visitors from the Richmond area.","period_of_significance":"1937-1952","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other: National Park Service Rustic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Little changed from its original design; still used as a public park, though the original restroom is presently closed and the water tank is no longer extant.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.007449-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/6811/41681193/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/02001365.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001365/88ff43e033-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001365/88ff43e033-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nickmorgan2","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hanover_wayside_picnic.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nickmorgan2</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hanover_wayside_picnic.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681193","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover_Wayside","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712468"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/hanover-county/hanover-wayside-02001365/"}