In the late 18th century, there were two roads over the Blue Ridge Mountains between Alexandria and Winchester, crossing at Snickers Gap (now along State Route 7) and Keyes Gap (State Route 9).[2] The Virginia General Assembly, in 1785, passed a law appointing nine commissioners (a non-profit turnpike trust) and instructing them "to erect, or cause to be set up and erected, one or more gates or turnpikes across the roads, or any of them, leading into the town of Alexandria from Snigger's [Snickers] and Vesta's [Keyes] Gaps". This was not the first law authorizing a toll road in the United States,[citation needed] but was the first recorded turnpike in operation, opening by the end of 1786. Thomas Jefferson, who was at least a moral backer of the enterprise, pronounced it a success. A 1793 for sale advertisement referred to one of the two roads as "the Turnpike Road, down which all the wheat, from an extensive and fertile Country, intended for the Alexandria Market, is conveyed".[3][4][5]
However, the lack of maintenance caused by low tolls led to the wearing out of the southern route. The Little River Turnpike, a private corporation chartered in 1802, realigned and improved the portion between Alexandria and Aldie.[5] A similar charter for the northern route east of Leesburg was assigned to the Leesburg Turnpike in 1809, and in 1810 the Snicker's Gap Turnpike Company obtained a charter for the road from Aldie northwest over Snickers Gap and beyond to the Shenandoah River at Snicker's Ferry.[6] (The Berryville Turnpike later improved the road beyond the Shenandoah to Winchester.) When completed, the turnpike had three toll gates over a distance of about 17.5 miles (28 km).[7]
The turnpike company continued to operate - at least over the gap - as late as 1915,[8] and the road later became part of the state highway system - State Route 7 over the Blue Ridge Mountains west of Bluemont, and secondary State Route 734 between Bluemont and Aldie. The state had plans to transfer SR 734 to the primary system as part of State Route 234, renumbering the short State Route 245 spurring off SR 7 at Bluemont as a portion of SR 234 in the 1940 renumbering,[9] but instead transferred this short stub (Clayton Hall Road) to the secondary system in 1943 due to low traffic.[10]
The Snickersville Turnpike Association, organized to prevent the replacing of the bridge, has more recently opposed other developments such as cellular towers,[14] in addition to continuing to participate in matters related to the bridge.
The Virginia Department of Transportation temporarily closed the bridge on May 24, 2007 for a more than nine month rebuilding. The deteriorated mortar, and some of the stones, were replaced, and the approaches were rebuilt, however the bridge remains in its original state.[15]
^"2005 Virginia Department of Transportation Jurisdiction Report - Daily Traffic Volume Estimates - Loudoun County" (PDF). (634 KiB)
^Thomas Jefferys, 1776, A Map of the most Inhabited part of Virginia, drawn by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in 1775, London: Sayer and Bennett
^Alice Morse Earle, Stage-coach and Tavern Days, 1900, p. 232
^J. R. Dolan, The Yankee Peddlers of Early America, 1964, p. 41
^ abFrederic James Wood, The Turnpikes of New England and Evolution of the Same Through England, Virginia, and Maryland, 1919, pp. 7-8
^ abSteve Twomey, A Bridge to the Past, for the Asking, The Washington Post, September 24, 1992, p. B1
^Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the Board of Public Works to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1851, p. 95
^ abSnickersville Turnpike Association, The Byway, accessed July 6, 2007
^State Highway Commission of Virginia (October 10, 1940). "Minutes of Meeting" (PDF) (Report). Richmond: Commonwealth of Virginia., p. 15
^State Highway Commission of Virginia (May 12, 1943). "Minutes of Meeting" (PDF) (Report). Richmond: Commonwealth of Virginia., p. 23
^"Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 2/28/11 through 3/4/11". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
snicker, turnpike, other, roads, known, virginia, state, route, virginia, state, route, turnpike, road, northern, part, state, virginia, part, maintained, state, route, primary, state, highway, road, between, aldie, bluemont, formerly, snickerville, loudoun, c. For other roads known as Virginia State Route 734 see Virginia State Route 734 The Snicker s Gap Turnpike was a turnpike road in the northern part of the U S state of Virginia Part of it is now maintained as State Route 7 a primary state highway but the road between Aldie and Bluemont formerly Snickerville in Loudoun County via Mountville Philomont and Airmont is a rural Virginia Byway known as Snickersville Turnpike State Route 734 and includes the about 180 year old Hibbs Bridge over Beaverdam Creek a tributary of Goose Creek This turnpike replaced in part the first toll road in the United States which consisted of two roads from Alexandria northwest into the Shenandoah Valley Snickersville TurnpikeRoute informationLength15 00 mi 1 24 14 km the old turnpike continued about 3 mi 5 km from the north end TouristroutesVirginia BywayMajor junctionsSouth endUS 50 at AldieNorth endSR 7 at BluemontLocationCountryUnited StatesStateVirginiaHighway systemVirginia RoutesInterstate US Primary Secondary Byways History HOT lanes Contents 1 History 2 Current status 2 1 Hibbs Bridge 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory Edit nbsp 1775 map showing the area northwest of AlexandriaIn the late 18th century there were two roads over the Blue Ridge Mountains between Alexandria and Winchester crossing at Snickers Gap now along State Route 7 and Keyes Gap State Route 9 2 The Virginia General Assembly in 1785 passed a law appointing nine commissioners a non profit turnpike trust and instructing them to erect or cause to be set up and erected one or more gates or turnpikes across the roads or any of them leading into the town of Alexandria from Snigger s Snickers and Vesta s Keyes Gaps This was not the first law authorizing a toll road in the United States citation needed but was the first recorded turnpike in operation opening by the end of 1786 Thomas Jefferson who was at least a moral backer of the enterprise pronounced it a success A 1793 for sale advertisement referred to one of the two roads as the Turnpike Road down which all the wheat from an extensive and fertile Country intended for the Alexandria Market is conveyed 3 4 5 However the lack of maintenance caused by low tolls led to the wearing out of the southern route The Little River Turnpike a private corporation chartered in 1802 realigned and improved the portion between Alexandria and Aldie 5 A similar charter for the northern route east of Leesburg was assigned to the Leesburg Turnpike in 1809 and in 1810 the Snicker s Gap Turnpike Company obtained a charter for the road from Aldie northwest over Snickers Gap and beyond to the Shenandoah River at Snicker s Ferry 6 The Berryville Turnpike later improved the road beyond the Shenandoah to Winchester When completed the turnpike had three toll gates over a distance of about 17 5 miles 28 km 7 The turnpike company continued to operate at least over the gap as late as 1915 8 and the road later became part of the state highway system State Route 7 over the Blue Ridge Mountains west of Bluemont and secondary State Route 734 between Bluemont and Aldie The state had plans to transfer SR 734 to the primary system as part of State Route 234 renumbering the short State Route 245 spurring off SR 7 at Bluemont as a portion of SR 234 in the 1940 renumbering 9 but instead transferred this short stub Clayton Hall Road to the secondary system in 1943 due to low traffic 10 Current status EditHibbs BridgeU S National Register of Historic Places nbsp nbsp nbsp LocationSR 734 6 mi NW of Aldie between Hibbs Bridge Rd SR 731 W to the S and Watermill Rd SR 731 E to the N Mountville vicinity VirginiaNRHP reference No 11000067Added to NRHPMarch 1 2011 11 The road between Aldie and Bluemont now known as Snickersville Turnpike after the former name of Bluemont remains a rural road designated as a Virginia Byway by the General Assembly in 1988 8 It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022 12 Hibbs Bridge Edit The 124 foot 38 m long by 22 foot 6 7 m wide 38 m by 7 m stone double arch Hibbs Bridge 39 02 14 N 77 43 23 W 39 037332 N 77 72303 W 39 037332 77 72303 over Beaverdam Creek between Mountville and Philomont built ca 1829 is in poor condition but has not been bypassed due to local opposition The bridge which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 is named after the Hibbs Family that operated mills nearby and has a posted but often ignored weight limit of 6 tons 5 metric tons 6 13 The Snickersville Turnpike Association organized to prevent the replacing of the bridge has more recently opposed other developments such as cellular towers 14 in addition to continuing to participate in matters related to the bridge The Virginia Department of Transportation temporarily closed the bridge on May 24 2007 for a more than nine month rebuilding The deteriorated mortar and some of the stones were replaced and the approaches were rebuilt however the bridge remains in its original state 15 See also EditOther early U S turnpikesMohegan Road and Greenwich Road 1792 Connecticut Turnpike roads in Baltimore County 1793 Maryland Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike 1794 Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places listings in Loudoun County VirginiaReferences Edit 2005 Virginia Department of Transportation Jurisdiction Report Daily Traffic Volume Estimates Loudoun County PDF 634 KiB Thomas Jefferys 1776 A Map of the most Inhabited part of Virginia drawn by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in 1775 London Sayer and Bennett Alice Morse Earle Stage coach and Tavern Days 1900 p 232 J R Dolan The Yankee Peddlers of Early America 1964 p 41 a b Frederic James Wood The Turnpikes of New England and Evolution of the Same Through England Virginia and Maryland 1919 pp 7 8 a b Steve Twomey A Bridge to the Past for the Asking The Washington Post September 24 1992 p B1 Thirty Sixth Annual Report of the Board of Public Works to the General Assembly of Virginia 1851 p 95 a b Snickersville Turnpike Association The Byway accessed July 6 2007 State Highway Commission of Virginia October 10 1940 Minutes of Meeting PDF Report Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia p 15 State Highway Commission of Virginia May 12 1943 Minutes of Meeting PDF Report Richmond Commonwealth of Virginia p 23 Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties 2 28 11 through 3 4 11 National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Retrieved 4 March 2014 Weekly listing National Park Service Virginia Department of Transportation Final Report A Management Plan for Historic Bridges in Virginia PDF 1 27 MiB January 2001 Michael Laris Board Rejects Cellular Tower The Washington Post March 8 2001 p T1 MJ McAteer Bridge Rebirth Takes More Than 9 Months The Washington Post June 28 2007 p LZ1External links EditKML file edit help Template Attached KML Snicker s Gap TurnpikeKML is from Wikidata Snickersville Turnpike Association Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Snicker 27s Gap Turnpike amp oldid 1111030268, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
