Boydton in Mecklenburg County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road
A “Timbered Turnpike”
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, June 13, 2010
1. Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road Marker
Inscription.
Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road. A “Timbered Turnpike”. The Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road, built between 1851 and 1853, was the first all-weather route connecting Southside Virginia’s tobacco and wheat farms with the market. Pine and oak planks, 8 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 3-4 inches thick were laid across paralleled beams slanting toward a ditch. The road boosted crop revenues 30 to 100 percent. Along the approximately 73 miles, there were 7 toll houses and keepers. Stagecoaches drove the 73 miles Monday through Saturday, stopping every 11 miles for food and fresh teams. Condemned by 1860, the victim of heat, rainfall, humidity, and clay, it nonetheless provided an important route for troop movements during the Civil War. Another continuous hard-surface link would not exist until the 1930s. Parts of some highways, including U.S. 1, follow the old roadbed, and Petersburg still has a thoroughfare called Boydton Plank Road. A ten mile extension to the Roanoke River at Clarksville was completed in 1856.
The Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road, built between 1851 and 1853, was the first all-weather route connecting Southside Virginia’s tobacco and wheat farms with the market. Pine and oak planks, 8 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 3-4 inches thick were laid across paralleled beams slanting toward a ditch. The road boosted crop revenues 30 to 100 percent. Along the approximately 73 miles, there were 7 toll houses and keepers. Stagecoaches drove the 73 miles Monday through Saturday, stopping every 11 miles for food and fresh teams. Condemned by 1860, the victim of heat, rainfall, humidity, and clay, it nonetheless provided an important route for troop movements during the Civil War. Another continuous hard-surface link would not exist until the 1930s. Parts of some highways, including U.S. 1, follow the old roadbed, and Petersburg still has a thoroughfare called Boydton Plank Road. A ten mile extension to the Roanoke River at Clarksville was completed in 1856.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Roads & Vehicles • War, US Civil. A significant historical year for this entry is 1851.
Location. 36° 40.127′ N, 78° 23.135′ W. Marker is in Boydton, Virginia, in Mecklenburg County. Marker is at the intersection of Hull Street (Virginia Route T-1204) and Cemetery Street, on the left
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when traveling east on Hull Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Boydton VA 23917, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. On the lower right is a portrait of Robert E. Lee with the caption, "Boydton Plank Road was mentioned numerous times in Robert E. Lee’s dispatches to President Jefferson Davis and Secretary of War John C. Breckenridge during the last days the Confederate Army was in Petersburg, Viginia."
2. Moving goods to market on the Plank Road
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, June 13, 2010
3. Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road Exhibit
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, June 13, 2010
4. Plank Road Exhibit
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, June 13, 2010
5. Plank Road Exhibit
Credits. This page was last revised on February 3, 2020. It was originally submitted on June 14, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,519 times since then and 56 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 14, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.
