Car Guy Magazine Car Guy Magazine Issue 215 | Page 38

Dr. Goodwin felt that the new-fangled
automobile was destroying the colonial
character of the town, so he reasoned that
since most of the automobiles were Fords,
he would speak to Henry Ford about his
ideas for Williamsburg. Without insight
about Henry Ford, and with even less tact
and diplomacy, he told Edsel Ford why
they should pay for the restoration. Dr.
Goodwin should not have been surprised
when they responded with an answer less
than positive. The crisp response by Henry
Ford was that he was “unable to interest
himself in the matter mentioned.”
To the rescue came John D. Rockefeller
Jr., who in 1924 said “that the opportunity to restore a whole town was something
he could not resist.” With the Rockefeller
money, the restoration of Williamsburg
was started and continues to this day.
Drive about 13 miles on the Colonial Parkway to the northeast, you arrive
in Yorktown. Pretend you’re in the year
1781 and you’ll be present for the defeat
of the British forces under the command
of General Charles Cornwallis. The battle
of Yorktown was the last major battle of
the Revolution and for all intents and purposes marks the end of the Revolutionary
War.
In 1930, Congress authorized a parkway connecting these three historically significant sites covering 174 years of history.
The problems presented with building
this parkway were how to connect three
distinct sites in different natural environments without destroying anything. Making it even more complicated was trying
to construct the parkway during the Great
Depression and the Second World War.
Fortunately for us, the ultimate result
was a nearly perfect 23-mile National Scenic Byway similar to the Natchez Trace

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Parkway. There are no billboards, no stoplights, no
views of commercial development, no modern intrusions and no “visual junk.”
The premise for this style of parkway was based on
19th century romantic landscape theories. Look at any
of the old lithographs of elegant horse-drawn carriages
on serene country lanes and the model for the Colonial
Parkway is clear. In keeping with these ideas, all the
parkway underpasses were built with the same red “Virginia-Style” brickwork seen in so many of the colonial
era structures. Even the concrete used in the construction of the road was made to resemble the earth tone
colors of the early trails. River gravel mixed in with the
concrete gives the appearance of millions of pebbles on
the road in front of you and a less than smooth, quiet
ride.
In addition to winding through scenic forests where
the trees form shady passageways of nature’s tunnels, this
three-lane pebble concrete ribbon also travels abreast the
scenic shorelines of the James and York Rivers.
One interesting fact about the parkway is that it
is the only “Suicide Highway” remaining in the U.S.
There are three lanes with no stripes or lane markers,
and when passing is permitted, it occurs in the middle
lane. If both directions decide to pass simultaneously, it
becomes a suicide lane.
The visual appearance and the slow pace — the
speed limit is 45 mph — were intended to make drivers slow down and appreciate the history and scenery.
Despite its curves, the Colonial Parkway is best suited
to classic cars, not high-horsepower machines. But any
vehicle makes an ideal chariot to enjoy the untouched
countryside that is nearly the same as it was 400 years
before.