routes that took the high ground when they could and crossed water in the most tolerable locations . Many accounts of travel in colonial Virginia describe treacherous conditions , and during wet seasons , roads were often impassable . One visitor described Virginia ’ s roads as “ hopeless seas of mud with archipelagoes of stumps .”
One solution to many of our region ’ s road surfacing and maintenance woes of the latter 18th century and into the 19th century came in the form of a “ public / private partnership ”— turnpikes . Many turnpikes , because they relied on income from travelers , could afford to improve their surfaces with gravel , broken stone , or the surface known as macadam . Macadamizing — as the process became known , named after its developer John Loudon McAdam — involved placing tightly-packed layers of broken stone of very specific sizes onto a well-prepared road bed , then rolling and tamping them to a uniform thickness . The top layer would consist of finely crushed stone to bind the surface and make it relatively impervious .
McAdam ’ s instructions for his paving system were extremely detailed , and properly macadamizing a road was expensive . As a result , his system and comparable brokenstone paving methods remained relatively rare in Virginia . “ Well into the 20th century , the majority of Virginia ’ s roads were surfaced primarily with native soil , and perhaps a small amount of broken stone or gravel spread on the roadbed ,” according to VDOT historian Ann Miller . Despite the advances of the “ turnpike era ” and macadamizing , most roads remained dirt
and in miserable condition because superior surfaces were costly .
Who do you think finally provided a national impetus for road improvement late in the 19th century ? Bicyclists ! The League of American Wheelmen ( LAW ) grew out of the 1890s bicycle craze , and by 1900 had become the nation ’ s largest special-interest group , advocating for macadamizing roads on which to ride bicycles . The LAW worked to convince America ’ s farmers that a road fit for bicycles benefited them as well . In 1891 , it published a treatise titled “ The Gospel of Good Roads : A Letter to the American Farmer ,” making the case to farmers that improved roads reduced the costs of their horse-drawn transport because they could travel faster , sustaining less damage to both the vehicles and the animals . The LAW joined forces with farmers to form a new lobbying
Opposite page : Flora Hillman of Bloomfield , Virginia , drives her Welsh pony along Willisville Road in western Loudoun . Above : On Loudoun ’ s roads of old , horses and humans could be called on to assist automobiles . A horse team pulls a car from a muddy lane near Waterford . Two men dig out a car , circa 1936 . ( Archival images courtesy Virginia Department of Transportation .)
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