Blue Ridge Turnpike

The Blue Ridge Turnpike, completed in 1853, passed near here on its 56-mile route from the vicinity of New Market to the railhead in Gordonsville. Crossing the mountains at Fishers Gap, the road linked the Shenandoah Valley to markets in the east. The Blue Ridge Turnpike Company financed the $176,000 project by selling shares of stock to individuals and to the Commonwealth of Virginia. After the road sustained heavy damage during the Civil War, the company abandoned it. Counties along the route took over maintenance about 1870. Traces of the original alignment exist along State Routes 231 and 670 and within Shenandoah National Park.