Albemarle County roads, 1725-1816

Summary: This publication is the result of an effort to write a history of the early road system of Albemarle County which could be used as a prototype for similar histories of other areas. This has involved research in such primary sources as court records, deeds, and plats and, in the secondary, printed materials on the county and state, as well as on-site surveys of road traces and historic sites and their associated architecture. Albemarle County, formed in 1744 from Goochland, had its basic road network laid down between 1725 and 1750. With subsequent additions and improvements, the principal part of this network remains in service today and still constitutes most of the important roads of the county. Along it has flowed the economic, social, and political life of the community each day for the last 250 years. It is the skeleton along which are arranged most of the plantations, mills, battlefields and archaeological sites ranging from Monticello to the Indians' soapstone quarries near Alberene. Designed to serve as an example for local historians executing similar works for other counties, this publication serves to underscore the importance of the preparation of a detailed history of the early roads of each of Virginia's counties.