Old Road to the West

Colvin Run Road is a remnant of an 18th-century wagon road from the Shenandoah Valley to Alexandria that probably originated as an Indian path. George Washington passed by here in 1753 and 1754 en route to persuade the French on the Ohio River to withdraw from English territory. In 1755, during the French and Indian War, a brigade of Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock's army traveled the road on its ill-fated march to Fort Duquesne. The road was incorporated into the Middle Turnpike before 1840. A century later, the moving and straightening of the Leesburg Pike reduced Colvin Run Road to a byway.