The King's Highway

We posted on FB today about the King's highway. The King’s Highway was a 1,300 mile road worked on from 1650 to 1746 in the American Colonies. It was built on the orders of King Charles II of England who asked the governors of his colonies to establish a road between the colonies soon after he was crowned. Each road was opened and maintained by an overseer (or surveyor) of the highways, who was appointed each year by the Gentlemen Justices. The overseer was usually assigned all the able-bodied men (the “Labouring Male Tithables”) living on or near the road. These laborers then furnished their own tools, wagons, and teams and were required to work on the roads for six days each year. County court records relating to roads and transportation are collectively known as “road orders.” The Virginia Transportation Research Council’s published volumes of road orders and related materials that contain not only information on early roads, but also the names of inhabitants who lived and worked along the roadways, plantations, farms, landmarks, landforms, and bodies of water. Much of this information is found nowhere else in early records, making these publications invaluable not only to historical and cultural resources research, but also to other disciplines, including social history, preservation planning, environmental science, and genealogy. Have you found an ancestor that worked on the King's highway or do you have questions about a possible ancestor that may have worked on the road ? Posted below is a link to the publication.

www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/89-r1.pdf


Regards,

ifam13