The Roads to Richmond

[burt]

my copy of VIRGINIA RAILWAY DEPOTS came today! I see what you mean by the proposed C&O/SAL depot in 1948. Not very impressive. Though probably practical and needed at the time and as a matter of fact, today. I wonder if it was one of the reasons the SAL moved to Broad Street Station in the 1950s?

Great, ich. You got it in a hurry. I know you'll enjoy browsing thru the book.

Note that Norfolk finally got a very impressive station, but it had limited use and was demolished.

I think there is a blurb in the Broad Street Station section that says something like 30,000 people passed through on a particularly heavy traffic day during WWII. Troop trains came in and out of the depot on a frequent schedule.

[Cadeho]

Poor poor Telegraph. I followed it using local.live's aerial shots and from here to northern Va it has many renamed sections and abandoned paths. Curse you Route 1! Why weren't roads that important? To any history buff or anyone who'd like to have tangible evidence, this is horrible.

[Cadeho]

It's official, I'm obsessed with Telegraph Rd. I have a lot of maps to find. It's amazing there's nothing online and it amazes me that no one documented this road before it was chopped up into pieces. I'm trying to piece it together at least from satellite. I wonder how many other major roads have been erased. I can't even find much on Route 1.

[heykey4]

It's official, I'm obsessed with Telegraph Rd. I have a lot of maps to find. It's amazing there's nothing online and it amazes me that no one documented this road before it was chopped up into pieces. I'm trying to piece it together at least from satellite. I wonder how many other major roads have been erased. I can't even find much on Route 1.

Oh, it should prove to be an excellent project to undertake. Now if Telegraph Road was created because of the running of telegraph lines from Richmond to Washington, did a counterpart road exist from Richmond south? Or perhaps those installing telegraph line just ran it down the Petersburg Turnpike (today's Jefferson Davis Hwy)?

[Cadeho]

I don't know if we had a road that followed telegraph lines south of Richmond but Jeff Davis seems a good choice. The other thing is it seems southside doesn't have any major roads disappearing. Their old roads are still being used. Warwick Rd may be in sections but it's still being used. There's one part west of Chippenham that's been abandoned.

I may spend Hanna's rainy days at the Library of Va. One day I will spend a day driving up Rt 1 to find parts of Telegraph. I do think that parts that go through Quantico may be tricky.

[heykey4]

I don't know if we had a road that followed telegraph lines south of Richmond but Jeff Davis seems a good choice. The other thing is it seems southside doesn't have any major roads disappearing. Their old roads are still being used. Warwick Rd may be in sections but it's still being used. There's one part west of Chippenham that's been abandoned.

I may spend Hanna's rainy days at the Library of Va. One day I will spend a day driving up Rt 1 to find parts of Telegraph. I do think that parts that go through Quantico may be tricky.

How goes the Telegraph Road research?

[Cadeho]

Hanna took away a weekend. I need to go to the Library of Virginia or each county's courthouse or historical society where it passes through for accurate maps. Other than that local.live's satellite pics are far better than Google's as far as being able to follow the road from Henrico to Alexandria. I really do want to spend a day driving it north of Hanover where I can. You can see where parts of it used to cross fields and cut through forests. I really want to tell Henrico and Hanover save what's left instead of destroying more history.

[burt]

Hanna took away a weekend. I need to go to the Library of Virginia or each county's courthouse or historical society where it passes through for accurate maps. Other than that local.live's satellite pics are far better than Google's as far as being able to follow the road from Henrico to Alexandria. I really do want to spend a day driving it north of Hanover where I can. You can see where parts of it used to cross fields and cut through forests. I really want to tell Henrico and Hanover save what's left instead of destroying more history.

Before I left Richmond in '79, you could buy individual county maps at the Highway Department building on Broad east of 12th Street. Give them a call and ask if they're still available and if not, where can you obtain them.

[Cadeho]

Thanks for the advice... one place I didn't think about was VDOT. After all, they deal in roads!

[heykey4]

How, if at all, does Old Washington Highway in Glen Allen factor into the history of US 1 or for that matter Telegraph Road? Was it at one time US 1, or did they relocate Washington Highway when US 1 came through in the early 20th century? I rode down it Sunday having never come across it before.

[Cadeho]

I don't know if or think that today's Old Washington Highway was a part of Route 1. However, I do think it was another name for Telegraph. Burt? Old Washington is a nice ride. I drove it a few months ago and took some pictures.

[burt]

I think I was mistaken about Telegraph Road being Washington Hwy. The latter road pretty much parallels the CSX mainline north of Mountain Road where the old hotel used to be in Glen Allen, doesn't it?

But I know I'm right about the junction called Solomon's Store at present US 1 and Telegrah Road, but am not sure where Telegraph ends.

[Cadeho]

I think I was mistaken about Telegraph Road being Washington Hwy. The latter road pretty much parallels the CSX mainline north of Mountain Road where the old hotel used to be in Glen Allen, doesn't it?

But I know I'm right about the junction called Solomon's Store at present US 1 and Telegrah Road, but am not sure where Telegraph ends.

Not really Burt. I read that Ashland was on the Old Washington Highway. However, today's Old Washington Highway is still an old road, one that Civil War troops marched. Telegraph used to end in Alexandria.

[Cadeho]

Last Saturday I went up Rt 1 and found and drove some sections of Telegraph. I took pics from Carmel Church to Massaponax. I did get lost for a second, having taken a wrong turn. I noticed the sun on the wrong side of the car and turned around. I do say, I enjoy a ride in the country. I also enjoyed riding through and taking pics of Ladysmith Village, a New Urbanist community in Ladysmith, Va. I hope to retrace my route whenever I get out earlier one day, then I can do north of Fredericksburg. Burt, do you have any knowledge about Fredericksburg and where Telegraph Road ran through there? I've looked at old Fredericksburg maps while I was in school up there and I can't recall the road. I guess it ran through town on its streets and crossed the river into Falmouth and continued from there.

[Cadeho]

I'm still fascinated by what used to be before we destroyed many routes by "improving" them. I still can't figure out how we ended up with an Old Brook Road several blocks over from Brook Rd. From what I gather from using attempting to piece together William Byrd's lots put up for lottery. I believe I have mapped them on top of today's map and Brook Road was a boundary. The way the road curved puts it on Old Brook's path but beyond where it currently ends at Azalea, I have no idea how it ran north of that or if it did at all. Supposedly it was another road to the mountains by way of today's Mountain Rd but the turnpike built out of the old road ended at the fork of Mountain/Greenwood and Telegraph at Solomon's Store. One map shows a few extra blocks of Old Brook almost reaching Wilmer where the post office is now. I guess I'll have to find older maps of Henrico whenever I make it to the Library of Va for some real research.

A little history on some of our roads from Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion http://books.google.com/books?id=z2VzSg9hf...ary_r&cad=0 published in 1940:

From 1802 to 1818 eight turnpike companies were incorporated to establish roads out of Richmond: Manchester Turnpike (1802) to Falling Creek; Richmond Turnpike (1804) running by the Deep Run Coal Pits to the Three Notched Road at Short Pump; Richmond and Columbia Turnpike to Goochland Courthouse; Brook Turnpike (1812) to Williamson's Tavern (now Solomon's Store); Westham Turnpike (1816) from Richmond to Leonard's Tavern near Westham; Manchester and Petersburg Turnpike (1816) laid out by Claude Crozet; Mechanicsville Turnpike (1817); and Richmond and Osborne Turnpike (1818), running to a ferry that crossed the James to Osborne's Wharf.

Before all those turnpikes, people still were able to enter the city by even older ancient roads. Some of the turnpikes were widened versions of older roads or sections of the older roads. I wish cartography was a better science or art back then. For me it's hard to tell the precise location of things on the wider old maps of the area.

Manchester Turnpike became Buckingham Turnpike and then Midlothian. Richmond Turnpike became Deep Run Turnpike and then Broad St. It replaced and improved upon an earlier road to the coal pits named Coal Pit Road. It split from Westham Road near the intersection of today's Robinson and Stuart and followed W. Broad St. from Sheppard to possibly Dabney/Bethlehem Roads which could possibly have been part of the old road and ran along Broad St's route to the coal fields near Springfield Rd. The Richmond Turnpike began aligning itself with H St and running to the Coal Pit Rd and along today's route of Broad until its end at Three Chopt.

I am not sure what the Richmond and Columbia Turnpike was unless it was another name for River Road which had other names. If that is so, then the turnpike wasn't a new route but probably widened the pre-existing road to Columbia (a really scenic drive when I feel like burning gas too).

Brook Rd is one of our oldest roads, splitting from the old road I've talked about before that exists now in pieces represented by Park Ave and Governor St near the intersection of today's Grace and 1st St. One map has it continuing from Grace St in the middle of the block before Thomas Rutherford's land was subdivided west of the new town grid.

Westham Turnpike was also called Dover St in the town of Sydney's plan and is W. Cary St and Cary Street Rd which a few blocks west of Boulevard is a stretch of that ancient road Brook, River, and Three Chopt split and what lead into town by the Westham Road from the west.

The Manchester and Petersburg Turnpike has to be today's Jefferson Davis. I know it had a couple of names too before they named it Jefferson Davis. Since stretches of Jefferson Davis have been renamed elsewhere in the state, mainly north of the city, I wonder if we'd ever want to rename it?

Mechanicsville and Osborne would still be familiar to those who built them at least by name.

On a 1890 map of Richmond and Manchester, there is a dotted line south of and parallel to Midlothian Turnpike with "graded line of old abandoned road." I do not know where it went or if it was actually used as a road or a predecessor to Midlothian Tnpk. It originated from Maury St near Maury Cemetary, it makes a turn to run parallel to Midlothian at the intersection of Broad Rock, 32nd, and Stockton. The map does not go beyond its intersection with what is now Old Warwick Road. Many properties used and continue to use this road as a border although today it's mainly from Belt to near Old Warwick. I guess I'd have to check out Chesterfield maps for this one.

[heykey4]

Over the holidays I made several trips between Richmond and Roanoke Rapids, NC. In the four trips made in December I would attempt to use the back roads in either my travels down or back up to Richmond. It's very scenic once off the interstate.

The assumption would be that US 301 would be the original route from Richmond-Petersburg to the North Carolina state line. Going way back to say Civil War times, the route would be from Petersburg to Weldon, NC since Roanoke Rapids wasn't established until after that war. From Petersburg south I came across Halifax Road which meanders on down south of Petersburg (in fact it is an extension of Halifax Street in the city) sometimes blending in to US 301 other times wandering west of the US highway other times east of it. It does stick close to the railroad (crossing it several times) which was laid down as the Petersburg Railroad which ran from Weldon, NC to Petersburg. And since Weldon and Roanoke Rapids are in Halifax County, NC...I can only imagine that's the origin of the name of the road.

Halifax Road runs down to Carson, VA where it changes names to Halligan Park Road and it keeps that name for several miles before turning back into Halifax Road a few miles north of Stoney Creek, VA. When you approach Stoney Creek it's renamed Main Street through town. It disappears from there, though I think it blends in with US 301, and reappears as you approach Jarratt, VA. It proceeds south west hugging the railroad then jets out to the southeast and meets back up with 301 north of Emporia. It yet again splits with 301 and becomes Halifax Street in Emporia and stops at Virginia Street just north of the Mehrrin River. I thought all was lost until you venture over to 301 and head south and behold! A street named Old Halifax Road! This runs a little ways and ends into US 301 right at Exit 8 on I-95. From here to the NC border it's just 301 all the way into Weldon. I was amused to find in Weldon & Roanoke Rapids I would come across "Old Emporia Road" and "Old Highway Road" and other various routes that our friends in North Carolina can wonder about.

And for those who enjoy railroad history, Weldon was a big railroad junction in the heyday of rail....it was also the headquarters for General Beauregard as he was in command of the Confederate forces all the way up to the James River in Manchester in the spring of 1864. If I remember my readings, his command included Drewry's Bluff and I was perplexed how a General in Weldon, NC was giving orders to a post not 10 miles down river from Richmond...but I digress.

So that's my exploration of old roads south of Richmond along the I-95 corridor.

[burt]

Good to hear from you after a long absence, lch4. How about old roads paralling US 1 thru Dinwiddie and south to the NC border? The original rail bed between Petersburg and Raleigh is along this corridor and is the designated Southeast High Speed Corridor between Richmond (Main Street Station) and Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte.

The original trackage used to carry Seaboard Airline Railway freight and passenger trains from Richmond and Petersburg via Columbia, SC to a point near Savannah, thence to Florida destinations. The famous "Silver" fleet of passenger trains such as The Meteor, The Star and The Comet (via a connection at Hamlet, NC to Atlanta) traversed this trackage.

By the way, there were two rail lines between Richmond and Petersburg parelling one another. Verstiges of both remain, with the Atlantic coast Line track remaining as the Main Line.

Hopefully under Obama's public works program, rail work will be a priority.

[Cadeho]

Sounds like a nice trip lch4. I have not done much travelling south of Richmond and wanted to give it a try one day. I'll take a look and map your journey.

[heykey4]

Burt, I have seen the old Seaboard rail bridge over Lake Gaston, and of course the pillars of the trestle over the Appomattox in Petersburg/Ettrick area. Over on maps.live.com or Google Maps you can see the railbed of the SAL from Centralia to Petersburg I haven't followed it much past there going south. In 2008 I joined the ACL/SAL Historical Society and picked up copies of their magazine "Lines South" issues about Richmond & Petersburg, it's extremely interesting info and great pictures. The Seaboard wouldn't have built to Richmond had Southern Railway not started service to Hampton Roads via trackage rights from the Atlantic Coast Line. The "gentlemen's agreement" between SAL and Southern that if Southern didn't serve Hampton Roads, SAL wouldn't build to Richmond.

But you're right, the tracks from Petersburg to Weldon are old ACL mainline now being used by CSX. I bet it was something else to see those big purple and silver ACL passenger trains speeding down the tracks.

Cadeho, take the trip down south when you get a chance, I recommend stopping in Carson, Stoney Creek, Jarratt and Emporia. Carson's library is in their old train station and there's an old Norfolk & Western Railroad caboose on the property. Stoney Creek is small-small town America and Jarratt reminds me of a ghost town (my apologies to anyone from or living in Jarratt). Emporia is a city probably a bit bigger than Ashland and more industrial than the center of the universe, but at Christmas this year the store fronts in downtown Emporia were decorated for Christmas and it certainly gave you a nostalgic feel. And keep on going to Weldon and Roanoke Rapids, both interesting towns in their own rights and stop off at Ralph's Barbecue on US 158 in Weldon. If you like barbecue, you'll like Ralph's.

Happy New Year to both of yall!

[heykey4]

I went out yesterday to show a friend of mine Rocketts Landing. After that we headed over to Riverside Drive because I've been wanting to recreate a photo I saw in a magazine of the James River Viaduct (the railroad bridge between Powhite and Nickel Bridges).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lch4/3226569733/

[Cadeho]

I love then and nows. Nice work.

I have a question... is this in red, the path of the Chesterfield Railroad? I can't seem to follow it too far past the city limits.

From local.live.com

[heykey4]

I love then and nows. Nice work.

I have a question... is this in red, the path of the Chesterfield Railroad? I can't seem to follow it too far past the city limits.

From local.live.com

I don't know much about this railroad other than it existed. I wonder if the Chesterfield Historical Society has any info on it?

Check out the Wikipedia entry for Chesterfield Railroad....there's an image of a map on the entry.

[burt]

I think the Chesterfield Railway simply hauled coal from mines in the western part of the county to James River docks near Manchester. Unless I'm mistaken, it never was a passenger line.

I think I've also heard that it was a "gravity" track from the mines down slope to the river, but I may be making that up.

[Cadeho]

Wikipedia is where it began and I connected the two... the info on Wikipedia, the map of the railroad, my 1890 map, and Richmond's property map. I say it's a good bet. It amazes me how much stuff from our past is not given the respect it should. I know there are markers, but there should be more than a footnoted mention somewhere. Let's be interactive with our history.

[heykey4]

Wikipedia is where it began and I connected the two... the info on Wikipedia, the map of the railroad, my 1890 map, and Richmond's property map. I say it's a good bet. It amazes me how much stuff from our past is not given the respect it should. I know there are markers, but there should be more than a footnoted mention somewhere. Let's be interactive with our history.

I agree with the need to be more interactive with our history.