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[photo]
Route 15 in Virginia, one of the State's oldest roads

Photo courtesy of Scenic America

The establishment and maintenance of public roads were among the most important functions of the county court system during the colonial period in Virginia. Each road was opened and maintained by an Overseer (or Surveyor) of the Highways appointed yearly by the Gentlemen Justices of each county. For these purposes, he was usually assigned all the able-bodied men (the "Labouring Male Tithables") living on or near the road. These individuals then furnished their own tools, wagons and teams and were required to work on the roads for six days each year.

Some of Virginia's most prominent early roads include:

  • Great Wagon Road (Great Valley Road)--Many early German and Scots-Irish settlers used what became known as the Great Wagon Road to move from Pennsylvania southward through the Shenandoah Valley through Virginia and the Carolinas to Georgia, a distance of about 800 miles. Beginning first as a buffalo trail, a great Indian Road (the Great Warrior Path) ran north and south through the Shenandoah Valley, extending from New York to the Carolinas. Virginia Main Street communities along this route include Winchester, Staunton, and Abingdon.
  • The Wilderness Road--The road through the Cumberland Gap was not officially named "the Wilderness Road" until 1796 when it was widened enough to allow Conestoga Wagons to travel on it. However, by the time Kentucky had become a State (1792), estimates are that 70,000 settlers had poured into the area through the Cumberland Gap, following this route. The Wilderness Road connected to the Great Valley Road which came through the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania. Virginia Main Street communities near this route include Radford and Marion.
  • The Three Chopt (or Three Notch'd) Road--In the early 1700s settlers traveled the major east-west route from Richmond to a pass in the Blue Ridge Mountains named Wood's Gap (Jarman's Gap), paralleling the James and Rivanna rivers. This thoroughfare, the Three Notch'd Road or Three Chopt Road, threaded its way through the Southwest Mountains east of the Rivanna River Gap following an Indian hunting path through the region. Virginia Main Street communities near this route include Orange, Waynesboro and Staunton.

[photo] The Blackwater River was an important transportation source for Franklin in the 19th century
Photo courtesy of Virginia Main Street Program

These roads were often poorly maintained and caused severe problems for those wishing to move goods from one location to another. Virginia's rivers, such as the Blackwater River through Franklin, provided a smoother mode of transportation and were used as trade routes early in the Commonwealth's development. First navigated by double dugout canoes or larger boats (often called batteaux, a derivation of bateaux, the French word for boats), many of the Virginia's rivers, including the James, Appomattox, Maury, New, Staunton/Roanoke, Rappahannock, Rivanna and Potomac, began to receive "improvements," such as wing dams, sluices (channels for swift water) and even locks. As the systems of canals and locks adjacent to the relatively wild rivers were developed, towns in their vicinity flourished. Virginia Main Street communities that were particularly impacted by advances in river navigation include Lynchburg (James River), Radford (New River), and Winchester and Berryville (Shenandoah River).


[photo]
Danville's restored train station

Photo courtesy of Virginia Main Street Program
When the railroad began to take prominence in the mid-19th century, their holding companies purchased many canals, laying tracks on their towpaths (paths running parallel to the canal that allow mules to tow canal boats via a rope). It did not take long for the railroad to become the premier mode of transport in Virginia. In fact, every Virginia Main Street community has or had a rail line running through it. Many of these communities have restored their train depots and auxiliary buildings, including Staunton, Rocky Mount, Orange, Manassas, Bedford and Lynchburg.

[photo] Automobiles in downtown Radford, c. 1940
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection [LC-USF34-062052-D DLC ]

The Virginia State Highway Commission was established in 1906, with responsibility for construction and maintenance of the State highway system. In 1918, Virginia's General Assembly designated a network of 4,002 miles of roadway, with the counties responsible for lesser roadways. By the late 1920s, the automobile had firmly established itself as the newest and most improved method of travel in the State. In 1932, the General Assembly passed the Byrd Road Act, establishing the State secondary road system and allowing the counties to transfer responsibility for secondary roads to the Virginia Department of Highways (which became the largest State agency in personnel and expenditures by 1938). Virginia, like the rest of the country, embraced the automobile and the ease of travel it provided. Furthermore, the development of the automobile and modern roadways greatly facilitated the growth of tourism in Virginia, which has become a major factor in the State's economy over the last century.


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