Section 1: Roads

Less Connectivity, More Self-Reliance

In 1896, life in rural America was isolated.  Trips to the store or to pick up or send mail were rarely made more than once a week.  Stafford County roads were in a constant state of disrepair.  Long before the first automobile arrived in Virginia in 1899, Stafford’s dirt roads could be treacherous for horse drawn carriages and wagons.  

Today, many of Stafford County’s roads still follow the paths of 18th and 19th century roadways and bear their names (Garrisonville Road, Wide Water Road, Warrenton Road, Courthouse Road, Brooke Road etc.)  Wherever possible, roads followed ridgelines where rainfall drained away allowing them to dry out and return to use more quickly. 19th century roadways frequently had curves and switchbacks to allow horse-drawn wagons and carriages to utilize more gentile terrain. 

From the early colonial period, road maintenance was the responsibility of each county government.  The magistrates of each county appointed overseers of the road (sometimes also called surveyors of the road) who were paid a small sum for keeping open 1 to 3 miles of road in their neighborhoods.  The overseer of the road was authorized to engage local men to drain and fill mud holes and to clear fallen trees.