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Blue Ridge Turnpike Company 1850 - 1868
Library of Virginia: Board of Public Records
COMPANY RECORDS: (Item # 215)
Virginia Assembly´s Act of 1848 authorizing incorporation.
Annual Report 1850: Stockholders - Jeremiah Rush, David M. Fisher ( 1 share @ $50). No Milam.
2/9/1850 President: Pascal Graves; Directors include George Kite.
8/5/1850 E. Hinshaw: request "right to occupy county roads" and "place {toll} Gates on such locations".
Second Annual Report 1851: Engineer, W. H. Clore: "easiest and shortest communication with the markets of eastern Virginia....easy grade....50 or 60 miles distance find their way to Gordonsville where by the Virginia Central Railroad....the industrial wealth of the Valley will be poured into Richmond.....impossible to make the road at the price agreed upon..."
Stockholders: Gaines I. Rush. No Milam or Fisher.
Third Annual Report 1852 (9/30/1852): "some delays in the mountains....Toll Houses...53 1/2 miles completed...3 miles only unfinished...completed in 2 to 3 months..."
1857 List of Stockholders: G. M. Bohannon – 111 shrs, Jos. Yowell – 2 shrs, Paschal Graves – 49 shrs. No Milam or Fisher.
June 5, 1867: " owing to the late war the Blue Ridge Turnpike Company has been disorganized "..., Respectively, Benj. F. Graves.
June 11, 1867: "...the road was used by both armies....whole organization was broken down and the Gates discontinued....whether they can proceed to re-establish the Gates on their road...."
April 23, 1868: "My friend Benj. F. Graves has resigned his appointment as one of the Directors..."
DRAWING: (Item # 549):
Eight microfiche of one drawing. No notation of a Gap – either Milam or Fisher or otherwise
Fiche 549.08: Mile 1 – Gordonsville, Virginia Central Railway terminates here.
Mile 8 – Liberty Mills, Dr. Reed
Mile 19 – Madison Court House
Fiche 549.05: Mile 25 – Criglersville, Storey´s Mill
Mile 26 – Thomas Clore, Esq.
Fiche 549.04: Mile 35 to 36 – West end of Robinson {Rose} River, Straight stretch may be Big Meadows ??
Fiche 549.03: Mile 46 – Hawks Bill River, P. Graves Esq.
Mile 51 – Shenandoah River, G. Kite Esq.
Fiche 549.01: Mile 56 – Newmarket and Sperryville Road junction
NO MENTION OF MILAM OR FISHER GAP IN RECORDS OR ON DRAWINGS
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I searched microfilm of the major Richmond newspaper, The Daily Dispatch, from January through June 1853 for information on the Gordonsville - New Market Turnpike. Although I didn't find an article about the Turnpike, I did find a 23 April 1853 advertisement for a stage coach using the Turnpike to speed travelers across the Blue Ridge Mountains. The service was offered by R. F. Omohundro & Co. In conjunction with the Virginia Central Railroad running between Gordonsville and Richmond, they advertise that the journey from Winchester to Richmond could be made in 24 hours.