- Valley Pike
Valley Pike or Valley Turnpike is the traditional name given for the Indian trail and roadway which now is designated as
U.S. Highway 11 in theShenandoah Valley ofVirginia .Long before the arrival of English colonists, Native Americans of the Delaware and Catawba tribes used this well-watered path as a migratory route and hunting grounds, moving between what is now Georgia and
Canada . Beginning in the 1730s,Scots-Irish and German immigrants coming fromPennsylvania began to move up the valley and establish settlements. They initially called it the "Indian Road" and by 1825, it was known as the "Great Wagon Road ."On
March 3 ,1834 , The Valley Turnpike Company was incorporated by an act of theVirginia General Assembly , and the state participated in the public-private venture through theVirginia Board of Public Works with a 40% investment to build 68 miles between Winchester and Harrisonburg. A similar road from Harrisonburg to Staunton was built by another company, and they merged. The new combined road, by then known as the "Valley Pike", was significantly improved and tolls were charged for the upkeep of its 93 mile length.The Valley Pike was a key transportation link during the
American Civil War , and was used by Confederate GeneralStonewall Jackson to expedite hisfoot cavalry up and down the Valley and to and from the various mountain gaps (such asSwift Run Gap andThornton Gap ) which he used to make sudden appearances in front of Union troops in the Piedmont region on the east side of theBlue Ridge Mountains .In 1918, The Valley Turnpike Company, which had been managed by a young
Harry Flood Byrd , allowed the Valley Turnpike to be one of the first roads taken over by the state. It was designated as part of State Route 3, one of the routes of the state highway system managed by the State Highway Commisson.The Valley Turnpike was given the U.S. Route 11 designation in 1926, and remained the major north-south highway thoroughfare for the Shenandoah Valley until
Interstate 81 was built beginning in the 1960s. Today, the road carries much local traffic, and provides an alternative to the busyInterstate Highway .ee also
*
Winchester and Martinsburg Turnpike , Winchester north to Martinsburg
*Junction Valley Turnpike , Staunton south to Buchanan
*Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike , Staunton west to Parkersburg on theOhio River References
* [http://www.winchesterstar.com/thewinchesterstar/Millennium%20Edition/Millennium%20Legacy/driving_pike.asp Winchester Star Millennium Legacy article "The Road Most Traveled Drove Economy, Heritage" January 1, 2000]
* [http://www.vahighways.com/route-log/us011.htm Virginia Highways Project website]
* [http://www.roadstothefuture.com/ Roads to the Future] Scott Kozel's very detailed Highway and Transportation History website with lots of information and maps of Virginia's highway system
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~vashenan/cem/turnpike.html The Valley Turnpike] an historical article by Don Silvius
* [http://www.virginiaplaces.org/transportation/valleypike.html Virginia Places website] about Virginia's Geography
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