“Civil War Superhighway”

Woodstock, VA

This Civil War Trails sign was installed recently in front of the parking lot for the Woodstock Town Offices. I’ll provide the first part of the text and a closer look at the pictures.

“The road behind you is US Route 11. Today it looks very ordinary, but in the 19th century it was an engineering marvel.

During that time, travelers were often hampered by poor roads that were narrow, difficult to traverse, and plagued by choking clouds of dust when they were dry and muddy morasses when it rained.

The Valley Pike, as Route 11 was originally known, was a well-designed, relatively straight and wide highway. The road’s surface was graded for drainage and “macadamized,” or paved with layers of stone.

Construction of this 19th-century superhighway by the Valley Turnpike Company began in 1834. It eventually ran 93 miles from Winchester to Staunton.

When the Civil War began, the turnpike brought repeated military campaigns, bloodshed, and destruction to the Shenandoah Valley.”

 

The final picture dates from before 1911, which is when the turnpike gates were removed. Note the diagonally raised pole, or pike, and  the woman leaning toward the car, likely collecting the toll. A sign on the tree to the rightt says, “STOP, Pay Toll.” Except for the car, the road looked much as it did during the Civil War. 

Tuesday Treasures