PIKE PROBLEMS
The construction of roads has not always been the responsibility of the government.
Egress to and from one part of property to another was more of the worry of the owners than the community. A man's road was
more personal than it is today. He used it and if anyone else wanted to do so they needed his permission. He built it; he maintained it. Our early history is filled with references to so-and-so's, road and very often such was the mark of a successful operation - firm, usable roads to all areas of the place. In many cases owners of new lands needed to have ready access and to help in keeping them passable they caused them to be closed to all comers and marked as “Toll Roads” the road and if you paid the fee and you were welcome use his road. With the fees the owner could keep the road in repair and a safer, surer, faster way was provided.
It was no accidental, however to find a stretch of road that connect fields to the grist mill came to have a Toll Road attached. Or, if there was an especially good spot at which to ford a stream, it too came to be served by a Toll Road. Sharp business practices in turn led to a need for the governmental element to move protect the needs of the common people. Small towns developed several means of access, extra roads which are still evident today and they can often be traced to trails which left the road cut across field and forest to avoid Toll Gates.
The Valley Pike used to have numerous toll gate locations. The last ones disappeared the late 1920's and early '30's. The Indian Road, or Trail, as settlements grew up along the way, was often called by the name of then next settlement. Later, when Tennessee and Kentucky opened up those traveling south called it The Knoxville Road, and those going north called it the Philadelphia Road. As a growing kid on the trail in the section of in southwestern Virginia, I remember seeing large, clumsy “Knoxville Wagons”, powered by ox teams, lumbering into the nearby Blacksmith's shop for rim and wheel repair. It was said they were adept at starting new, no-toll roads as needed. During the Civil War it became the Valley Pike and post war the Lee or Lee-Jackson Highway. Interstate 81 paralleled the route, bringing back the old Indian concept of a varied pattern of suitable trails, ironically. As government took over, state lottery funds were used to maintain the road, as well.
We take our highway system for granted today, and complain bitterly when potholes become a hazard. I remember when many of them were largely family obligations.
A.L.M. May 12, 2003 [c704wds]
