Alabama (the other 5 electoral votes from that state went to John F. Kennedy), and a faithless elector from Oklahoma (the other 7 electoral votes from that state went to Richard Nixon). Death Shortly after leaving office, Byrd died in 1966 from a brain tumor; he had been in a coma for four months. He was 79 years of age and had been a Senator for over 32 years. He was interred in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester. Legacy Possibly his greatest legacy was the creation of Shenandoah National Park, as well as the Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Virginia state park system. Byrd's influence kept the park segregated during construction by the CCC, at its initial establishment, and even a year after the Truman Administration mandated full desegregation in all National Parks. Shenandoah National Park's main visitor center is named in his honor. The Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over the James River in Big Island, Virginia was named and dedicated to him in 1985. On November 26, 1968, the Virginia State Highway Commission named Virginia State Route 7, a historic road which travels from Alexandria past Berryville to Winchester, as "Harry Flood Byrd Highway" between Alexandria and Winchester. The name is still in use between the Shenandoah River and Leesburg. Byrd's home from 1926 until his death, Rosemont Manor, still exists and is surrounded by about 60 acres. Although many acres of Byrd's former orchards are now commercial and residential properties, Rosemont is now open to the public as a bed and breakfast, as well as event venue. A statue of Byrd was installed in Richmond's Capitol Square in 1976. The statue became controversial after Virginia began to reconsider its historical monuments, and the Byrd statue was subsequently removed in 2021. In 2016, forty-five years after its 1971 founding, Harry F. Byrd Middle School, a National Blue Ribbon School in a Richmond, Virginia suburb, was renamed to Quioccasin Middle School. In response to a campaign in the local community, the Henrico County School Board agreed that "having a school named after a man who supported school segregation was inappropriate." "Quioccasin" is both the name of the road on which the school is located as well as the name of a black village that had once been located in the immediate vicinity. References Citations Sources Finley, Keith M. Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight Against