Brochure highlights history

Literature describes historic

By DAVE PAYNE Sr., dpayne@newsandsentinel.com
As tourism is concerned, the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike finally goes somewhere, thanks to a recently printed revision of the turnpike’s travel brochure.

The brochure describes historical sites along the old turnpike, which follows the path of West Virginia 47 in Ritchie, Wirt and Wood counties.

Bob Enoch, president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society, said the previous brochure – which is printed by the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Alliance – did not include any sites on the Parkersburg side of the turnpike.

“Overall, I’m pleased with how the new brochure turned out. It’s a revision of the previous brochure which didn’t include anything about the western portion of the turnpike.

It’s not as inclusive as I may have liked, but it’s certainly a lot better than what we had. If you look at the brochure, it seems awfully heavy on the eastern end of the turnpike, but that’s where most of the historical sites are.”

The Oil and Gas Museum is the designated visitors center on the Parkersburg side of the turnpike.

“Visitors can come into the museum,” said Oil and Gas Museum director Dave McKain, “and learn about what was happening on this side of the turnpike. This was a very important route; the battle of Rich Mountain was fought for control of it. The brochure is a guide that will help people access our trail. It includes California, Burning Springs and several other places.”

The brochure describes attractions on the turnpike, but slightly off the turnpike as well, such as the Burning Springs oil museum and North Bend State Park.

The turnpike was built in the 1830s to connect the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with the Ohio Valley and all points west.

The idea of such a route had been considered long before that.

When George Washington traveled through the area in 1770, he was constantly looking for information about possible routes for trade between Virginia, the West and Canada, especially with canals and river traffic. Washington proposed to connect the Little Kanawha River with Virginia, either by canals or roads and then the Muskingum River with Lake Erie to increase access to Canadian markets.

Many of those settling the American West traveled the winding path. Thousands of people on their way to California used the route on their way West.

The road was the primary route between the Shenandoah Valley and the Ohio River. During the Civil War, it crawled with Confederate guerillas and the road was strategically important for both sides.

Most of West Virginia’s largest battles, such as Rich Mountain and Robert E. Lee’s ill-fated first campaign as a Confederate officer, were fought for control of the turnpike.

The road was a major factor in slowing down the initial Burning Springs oil boom just before the Civil War as it made the Burning Springs oil fields vulnerable to Confederate raiders.

In recent years, the old Parkersburg-Staunton Turnpike was designated a National Scenic Byway by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.