The Farm Heritage & Community Park Project was an experiential learning project for the Spring 2003 Applied Anthropology class at Radford University.  The class took on the role of a consulting team and spent the Spring semester (January-April) studying possible ideas for creating a Farm Heritage & Community Park, a place where education, events, and celebrations can focus on the strong agricultural culture of the New River Valley, both past and present.  

Farm Heritage Park Project, 2003

  1. -Experiential Project for the 2003 Radford University Applied Anthropology class.  The class worked as a consulting team to investigate possible ideas and designs for a Farming Heritage & Community Park for somewhere in the New River Valley (in cooperation with the Montgomery County Parks and Recreation office).

  2. -Development of a consulting report, Farm Heritage and Community Park: Conceptual Plans and Ideas  (2003).  To read the report, click here: Farm Park Report.pdf 

Radford University Project Director/Professor: Dr. Mary LaLone
(not pictured)

Spring 2003 Student Research Team:
Jessica Baciu, Nicole Danhauser, Dixine Darist, Beth Griffith, Krissy Howell, Darby Kirby, Tracey McDonald, Sarah Mihelarakis, Beth Smit, Kay Spence, Steve Storer, & Jeremy Zukas

Farm Heritage and Community Park

This is a conceptual map of the basic model for the Farming Heritage and Community Park.  This map includes the parking lot, the orientation center, picnic area and playground, farmer’s market shelter, barn and access road, stage, pond, and trails, as well as the open areas between all these features.

This is a conceptual map of the expanded model for the Farming Heritage and Community Park.  This map includes the parking lot, the orientation center, picnic area and playground, farmer’s market shelter, barn and access road, stage, pond, and trails, as well as the open areas between all these features in the basic model.  It also includes the addition of a multi-purpose building with its own parking, a farmhouse museum, and a horse rink.  The multi-purpose building might be a space for indoor vendors selling farm produce and crafts, community events, as well as other activities. 

Please cite all research from the web publication of this report as:


(Chapter authors)

2003 (Chapter title.) IN Farm Heritage and Community Park: Conceptual Plans and Ideas.  Mary B. LaLone, compiler/director.  Radford, VA: Department of Sociology and Anthropology,  Radford University.  Pp. (pages used).  Electronic document: URL information.

Further Reading:

LaLone, Mary B.

2005 "Building Heritage Partnerships: Working Together for Heritage Preservation and Local Tourism in Appalachia.  Practicing Anthropology 27(4):10-13.


2009   "Guidelines for a Partnership Approach to Appalachian Community and Heritage Preservation Work." IN Participatory Development in Appalachia: Cultural Identity, Community, and Sustainability, Susan E. Keefe, ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. Pp. 201-229.


Farm Heritage and Community Park - Expanded Model