SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA

One of these counties was Spotsylvania County, Virginia, a map of which is shown on the opposite page.  Since the Civil War the farmland in this county had gradually declined from its prosperous condition before the war until it was little better than a wilderness of second-growth timber, valued at from $5 to $15 an acre.  For many months of the year the roads were well-nigh impassable.  There was much wealth in timber, but it could not be marketed to advantage.  The soil was very little cultivated.  More farm products were shipped into Fredericksburg, the only city in the county, by rail from outside than were shipped out from the farms of the county.

MOVEMENT FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT

Nearly one third of the population of the county lived in Fredericksburg; but under the law of the state of Virginia the people of the city could not be taxed for county purposes outside of the city.  Moreover, two of the four districts of the county at first took little interest in the matter of road improvement, although they had to use the roads in going to market at Fredericksburg.  Courtland and Chancellor districts, however, were determined to have better roads, and voted to raise the necessary money by selling bonds to the amount of $100,000.  Three years later the other two districts, inspired by the success of Courtland and Chancellor districts, also voted bonds for road improvement to the amount of $73,000.  This debt would of course have to be paid off by levying taxes upon the people of the districts.  With a tax rate of $1.70 on every hundred dollars’ worth of property, a farmer with a farm assessed at $3000 would pay a total tax of $51, of which $19.48 would be for the roads.

COST MUST BE JUSTIFIED

It is not always easy to convince the people of a community that it is worth while to spend so much money on their roads.  They have to be shown that the expenditure will in due time pay for itself, as well as add to the convenience and pleasure of the community.  Too much money spent in costly improvements on roads that are little used, or in construction that does not stand the traffic and soon wears out, is of course a bad investment.  But the results in Spotsylvania County, as well as in the seven other counties studied by the Office of Public Roads, justified the cost.

STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION

The law of Virginia provided that all highway construction in the state must be supervised by the state highway commissioner.  He accordingly appointed an engineer to supervise the work in Spotsylvania County, the engineer’s salary being paid by the state.  The work of construction, however, was under the direction of a county board of public roads.  The board appointed a superintendent who hired all labor and teams and purchased all equipment and materials.  Three main highways in Courtland and Chancellor districts, and leading into Fredericksburg, were chosen for improvement.  Within two years more than forty miles of road were completed, or about 10 per cent of all the roads in the entire county.