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Plank Road historical marker Virginia Boydton display Historical Site marker sign attraction education information landmark Place of Interest Tourist Destination Travel Destination Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road historic marker historic site Mecklenburg County signage attractive destination educating info tourist attraction VA history no people text appealing South tourism travel historic nobody word attract daytime displays historical markers markers signs color image historical landmarks outdoor vertical appeal day educate historic markers historic sites US colour image destinations outside tourist attractions day time USA day-time U.S. words color images Jason O. Watson / historical-markers.org daylight outdoors U.S.A. verticals colour images natural light outsides United States United States of America |
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BOYDTON AND PETERSBURG PLANK ROAD
The Boydton and Petersburg Plank Road was built between 1851 and 1853 and was funded by stock bought by the state as well as the public. The all-weather toll road increased the transporation of crops to market and also carried stagecoach traffic between Boydton and Petersburg. The road was constructed of pine and oak planks eight feet long, one foot wide, and three to four inches thick laid across parallel beams, slanted slightly to improve drainage. A ten-foot-wide shoulder let vehicles pass each other. By 1860 the road, except for an 1856 extension to Clarksville, was declared unsafe, due to heavy wear, poorly suited untreated lumber, and the collapse of the Meherrin River Bridge.
Department of Historic Resources, 2001 |