The Great Wagon Road

[NW Mailing List]

Regarding the Great Wagon Road:

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't its present incarnation US Route
#11 which closely follows the old way? There have been some widening
in places and straightening out in others and Of course I-81 has
superceded it for speed and comfort but I just love to drive parts of
Route 11 when not in a hurry north of Roanoke.

I think there are some books which have been written on the Road but
can't name their titles or authors.

Bob Cohen


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Ed Painter mentions "The Great Wagon Road" in his recent response to
"N&W in 1911--Two Christmas items."

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Wikipedia features a great reproduction of the 1751 "Fry-Jefferson
Map" locating the Great Wagon Road with respect to the various
mountains in the Shenandoah Valley. To make the image full-screen,
double click on the thumbnail, then click "Full Resolution," then
click again to magnify it even more. What is amazing about this map is
how accurately those old birds had figured out the configuration of
the mountain ranges, even at that early date, probably long before any
serious surveying had been done of that frontier part of the state.
(How do you think they did it? Sextant and compass only...?)

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> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road


If anyone knows of a more detailed map of the Great Wagon Road,
perhaps locating its path with respect to present day towns and
features, I'd love to see it.

Sorry if this ain't "pure railroadin' ...," but it's about as close to
railroadin' as one could have come in the Year 1751 Anno Domini !

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-- abram burnett, a piker