Claudius Crozet had been an engineer in Napoleon’s Army.

Claudius Crozet (1789-1864)

Crozet referred to Western Virginia as a “sea of mountains & valleys with little level land and rivers flowing in every direction of the compass”

While the Turnpike was planned ���and laid out in the 1820s, it wasn’t started until the 1840s and not complete until 1848.

The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was the super highway��� of it’s day connecting eastern Virginia to the western Virginia ���

border of the Ohio River.

The Turnpike also made the important connection to ���the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

The Turnpike was important���to industry. Coal, oil, and lumber��� all benefited from the new road.

The strategic location of the Turnpike made it extremely ���valuable to both the North & South during the Civil War.

As a gateway to the B&O Railroad, the Turnpike was fought over for much of the Civil War and much of West Virginia was the scene of divided loyalties.

July 1861���The Battle of Rich Mountain

Mountain Journey to the Battle of Rich Mountain

Retreat From Rich Mountain

Battle at Laurel Hill

General Robert Garnett

Slow Retreat to Corrick’s Ford

Battle at Corrick’s Ford

General Lee on the Turnpike

Camp Bartow and Battle of Greenbrier

General Henry Jackson

General Robert Milroy

Battle at Camp Allegheny

The Winter of 1861 & 1862

Stonewall Jackson & The Shenandoah Campaign

Colonel John Imboden

Federal Troops Dominate Turnpike

Many parts of the Turnpike were traded back and forth ���from Union to Confederate troops. Beverly was one of the most fought over towns as it had a strategic position on the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike and the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike.

The Road to Statehood

Abraham Lincoln signs the bill to create West Virginia on June 20, 1863. The only United State created out of war, the Turnpike to this day is split between West Virginia and its old counterpart Virginia. The reasons for West Virginia separating are numerous.

Virginia and West Virginia

Camp Allegheny in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

Cheat Summit Fort Earthworks

Traveller’s Repose, Bartow, WV

Mt. Iser Confederate Cemetery ���outside Beverly, WV

The Beverly Heritage Center

The Goff House, Beverly, WV

Visit the historic Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike �and take a drive through history.

Visit us online at spturnpike.org ���and look for ���

The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike ���on Facebook.