Historic Route 1

Historic Route 1. The United Daughters of the Confederacy conceived of the Jefferson Davis Highway in 1913, along the same series of roads in Virginia that U.S. Route 1 later followed. The Virginia General Assembly officially designated the United Daughters of the Confederacy's route as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway in 1922. It was added to the state highway system in 1918 as state Route 1, then was renumbered state Route 301 in 1923. The U.S. Route 1 designation was applied to its whole length in 1926. The General Assembly designated it as, “Historic Route 1" in 2008, at the request of the Jefferson Davis Association., A drive along the Route 1 corridor in Chesterfield County will take visitors past numerous historical and heritage sites including the Defense Supply Center, historic Bellwood House, Drewry’s Bluff, Dutch Gap Canal, Falling Creek Ironworks Park, Half Way House, Battery Dantzler and Fort Stevens., Historic Route One Facts, Route 1 is 2,390 mile long and is the longest north-south highway in the United States. It runs from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida. U.S. Route 1 was established in 1911 as the Quebec-Maine International Highway. In 1915 it was renamed the Atlantic Highway and would eventually be known as Route 1. Route 1 ends at the southernmost tip of the country, in Key West., Most of Interstate 95 was completed in the late 1970s, replacing Route 1 as the main highway along the East Coast. Route 1 passes through major historic sites related to the Civil War in Baltimore, Maryland and Richmond. Historic markers along the highway point out specific locations and events connected to the war., (captions) , Painting by Sydney King depicting the battle of Drewry’s Bluff, (courtesy of National Park Service) , Bellwood House, built in 1804 by Richard Gregory. The house was used as headquarters by General P.G.T. Beauregard during the Civil War. James Bellwood purchased the house in 1887. In 1941, the U.S. government purchased the land for a military supply depot known today as Defense General Supply Center. , The Half Way House