Refugees came from Washington, 130 miles to the north, and they came from Richmond, 70 miles to the east. But the majority of the students stayed, believing that they could go home easily if it were necessary. “If this keeps up,” remarked a member of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, “we’re going to be overrun without any war.”Ī few of the students at the University of Virginia left Charlottesville to join their families. The governing bodies of Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County were rumored to be concerned about the drain on the area resources, without really having any way of turning back newcomers. A few evacuees found lodgings with private families, at great expense, but most were forced to camp by their cars in their traiIers next to the fast-food chains on Route 29. A week before the attack, Charlottesville had no free hotel or motel rooms.

Spontaneous evacuation, without official sanction or direction, grew and spread. There was no hard evidence that the Soviets were evacuating and there was a good chance that the crisis would pass. But, with the concurrence of his advisors, he decided that an evacuation call from the Federal Government would be premature, and possibly provocative. President’s desk that a sizable number of Americans were deserting the major cities for what they perceived to be safety in the rural areas, he considered ordering a general evacuation. The threat of possible nuclear war hung heavy in the world’s consciousness. For some weeks, there had been a mounting anxiety as the media reported deteriorating relations between the superpowers. The nuclear attack on the Nation did not come as a complete surprise. Much of the country had been devastated by massive nuclear attack, but the small, gracious city of Charlottesville, Va., had escaped unharmed. No fireball had seared the city, no blast wave had crumbled buildings and buried the inhabitants, no dark mushroom cloud had spread over the sky. Main Street scene, Charlottesville, 1970s.Īt first, it seemed like a miracle.

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