e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia Online

Roads

Last updated on 24 Jul 2025 by Stan Bumgardner

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At the end of the Revolutionary War, few good roads reached into the mountains of Western Virginia. Most early roads were poorly built and not maintained, making travel hard and dangerous.

In 1808, a national transportation plan was proposed but not adopted, so states took control. In 1816, Virginia created a fund and board to improve roads by helping turnpike companies. The state paid part of the cost, and private investors paid the rest. Toll fees helped with maintenance, but most investors didn’t expect profits—they just wanted better access to markets.

  • National Road

    In 1806, Congress approved building a National Road--basically, the United States' first interstate--to connect eastern markets to the Ohio River. Construction started in 1811 and reached Wheeling in 1818. The road helped Wheeling grow as a key tr...

  • Wheeling Suspension Bridge

    The Wheeling Suspension Bridge opened in 1849 and was the longest in the world at the time. Designed by Charles Ellet Jr., it helped make America a leader in bridge building. All materials were made locally, and no government money was used.The br...

  • James River & Kanawha Turnpike

    The James River & Kanawha Turnpike, now part of U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 64, began as an Indian trail used for travel to salt licks. In 1774, Col. Andrew Lewis used the path to reach the Battle of Point Pleasant. Virginia later turned it i...

  • Northwestern Virginia Turnpike

    The Northwestern Virginia Turnpike was started in 1827 to connect Winchester to Parkersburg. It became an important east-west road in what is now West Virginia, later becoming part of U.S. Route 50. This road helped connect the northern part of th...

  • Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike

    The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was a major early road in Virginia, planned to connect Staunton (Virginia) to Parkersburg on the Ohio River. It was part of a larger plan to improve transportation through roads and canals that started in the earl...

  • Covered Bridges

    Covered bridges were first invented in Europe, but builders in North America improved on the design. Between 1805 and 1900, over 10,000 were built in the U.S. Many were in what is now West Virginia, including more than 50 in Harrison County alone....

  • Bridge Builder Lemuel Chenoweth (1811-1887)

    This Randolph County native was a skilled carpenter who built covered bridges in western Virginia. He also constructed houses, furniture, and churches—including one that stood for over 100 years.In the 1840s, Chenoweth won a major contract to buil...

  • Giles, Fayette & Kanawha Turnpike

    The Giles, Fayette & Kanawha Turnpike was built to improve transportation in Western Virginia. Started in 1838 and finished in 1848, it ran from Pearisburg, Virginia, to Gauley Bridge, passing through towns like Beckley and Fayetteville. It co...

  • Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike

    The Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike was built between 1849 and 1858, running about 110 miles from Weston to Gauley Bridge. It was one of the few north-south roads built before the Civil War and passed through rugged mountains.Funded by the sta...

  • Sectional Tensions & the End of the Turnpike Era

    People in Western Virginia felt the state hadn't treated them fairly when it came to building roads and transportation. This added to tensions between the eastern and western parts of Virginia and became an issue during the statehood movement.West...

  • Automobiles and Calls to Fix the Roads

    In the 1890s, farmers, and even bicyclists, pushed for better roads in West Virginia, but counties only built roads to their own county seats, not between counties. By 1909, only two county seats were linked by paved highways. In 1917, the State R...

  • Good Roads Movement

    In the 1920s, West Virginia's Good Roads Movement aimed to fix the state’s poor roads, which were muddy and hard to travel, especially in the mountains. After voters approved two amendments (in 1920 and 1928), the state raised $85 million through ...

  • West Virginia Turnpike and Other State Roads

    In the 1930s and '40s, West Virginia finally started making big progress in building roads. A 1933 law put all public roads under state control, creating over 4,400 miles of main highways and 31,000 miles of smaller roads. The 1944 Federal-Aid Hig...

  • Interstate System

    Highway construction in West Virginia greatly expanded after the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act created the modern interstate system. These high-speed, four-lane roads were hard and expensive to build in the state’s rough terrain.West Virginia’s int...

  • The Phil G. McDonald Bridge

    Some consider the Phil G. McDonald Bridge an even greater engineering achievement than the New River Gorge Bridge. The span (sometimes known as the Glade Creek Bridge) opened on July 15, 1988, just east of Beckley. It stands about 700 feet above a...

  • Appalachian Corridor Highways

    In the 1960s, the Appalachian Regional Commission, spurred by U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph, planned over 3,000 miles of roads across 13 states to boost the economy and improve life in the Appalachian region. Most were designed to help areas bypa...

  • Division of Highways

    In 1969, the West Virginia Division of Highways (DOH) replaced the former State Road Commission and became part of the state Department of Transportation. The department has over 6,000 employees, with about 4,800 working for the DOH.The DOH manage...