A Road From The Past

The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was built between 1838 and 1850 to provide a roadway from Staunton, Virginia, and the upper Shenandoah Valley to the Ohio River at present-day Parkersburg, West Virginia. Designed by Claudius Crozet, Principal Engineer and Surveyor for the Virginia Board of Public Works, it was originally planned as a variation of the macadam system, with an elevated surface of layered small stones to create a watertight road, though only some sections were completed that way. The turnpike became crucial during the Civil War, when some of the earliest campaigns were fought for control of it, and it served as the main route for opposing forces before and after the Battle of McDowell on May 8, 1862. During that battle, members of the same community of Clarksburg fought each other along the roadway about a mile farther down the pike. By the 1920s, highways were paved for automobiles, and although some rerouting improvements were made, considerable sections of the original turnpike remained the best available route; at this location, the road was moved to where modern-day Rt. 250 now sits.

Virginia · United States