Edward B. Garvey

Panoramic view of the Potomac River taken from Weverton Cliffs looking west/southwest

Edward B. Garvey (November 13, 1914[1] in Farmington, Minnesota[2] – September 20, 1999, at Arlington Hospital in Virginia[3] of congestive heart failure)[4] thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1970 and in 1971 published a book about his adventure, Appalachian Hiker, that raised awareness of thru-hiking.

Garvey was an auditor for the Soil Conservation Service and chief financial officer for the National Science Foundation and retired in 1969.[2] He lived in the Washington, D.C., area from the 1940s.[2]

He helped build and maintain the Appalachian Trail and served as a president of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club as well as on the Appalachian Trail Conference board of managers and was a member of the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association.[2]

He also worked to pass state and federal legislation including the National Trails System Act of 1968 and its 1978 amendments.[3]

In 1996, the Wilderness Society and the Izaak Walton League honored him with the American Land Hero Award for his efforts to protect the Appalachian Trail.[2]

On June 17, 2011, he was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame at the Appalachian Trail Museum as a charter member.[5]

The Ed Garvey Memorial Shelter on the Appalachian Trail at Weverton Cliffs at Weverton, Maryland, near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was built and named in his honor.[6]

  1. ^ Social Security Death Index. "EDWARD GARVEY (1914-1999), Social Security Death Index". SSDI Death Records. Mocavo.com. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Ed Garvey". Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  3. ^ a b BACKPACKER Editors. "AT Advocate Edward Garvey Died | Backpacker Magazine". Backpacker.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2014-05-11. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "Edward Garvey Dies; Was Conservationist; Worked to Preserve Appalachian Trail". Washington Post. September 23, 1999. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013.
  5. ^ "Hall of Fame charter class". Atmuseum.org. 2011-06-17. Archived from the original on 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  6. ^ "ED Garvey Memorial Shelter - PATC". Patc.us. 2001-04-29. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-05-11.