Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike of Virginia/West Virginia and the Civil War. By Mary Rayme/SPTA, © 2011-12.

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

5. Claudius Crozet
(1789-1864)

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

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

8. The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was the super highway
of it’s day connecting eastern Virginia to the western Virginia
border of the Ohio River.

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

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

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

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

13. July 1861
The Battle of Rich Mountain

14. Mountain Journey to the Battle of Rich Mountain

15. Retreat From Rich Mountain

16. Battle at Laurel Hill
General Robert Garnett

17. Slow Retreat
to Corrick’s
Ford

18. Battle at Corrick’s Ford

19. General Lee on the Turnpike

20. Camp Bartow and Battle of Greenbrier
General Henry Jackson

21. Battle at Camp Allegheny
General Robert Milroy

22. The Winter of 1861 1862

23. Stonewall Jackson The Shenandoah Campaign

24. Federal Troops Dominate Turnpike
Colonel John Imboden

25. The Road to Statehood
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.

26. Virginia and West Virginia
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.

27. Camp Allegheny in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

28. Cheat Summit Fort Earthworks

29. Traveller’s Repose, Bartow, WV

30. Mt. Iser Confederate Cemetery
outside Beverly, WV

31. The Beverly Heritage Center

32. The Goff House, Beverly, WV

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

34. Visit us online at spturnpike.org
and look for
The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
on Facebook.