Western Virginia shaped America
By Jim Glanville
Much of America’s westward expansion funneled through Southwest Virginia. In 1770, the rutted wagon road that traverses our region via what is now the Interstate 81 corridor was the most heavily traveled route in all America.
In the decades following independence, down this Great Southwest Road of Virginia, hundreds of thousands of Virginians moved south and west to newly created states, carrying with them their culture and their political institutions. One writer calls this route of massive internal American emigration “The path of empire in the conquest of The Great West.”
Glanville, of Blacksburg, is a retired chemist who writes and speaks extensively about the history and archaeology of the region.
September 13, 2012 - 8:01 AM
This migration is perhaps one of the most interesting historic events. There has always been a difference in thought between the coastal settlements of the wealthy British Companies and those that migrated down from Pennsylvania through the Great Road. You can follow the Scotch Irish trek into the west and south in fact as well as lifestyle. Senator Jim Webb has produced a good documentary on this as well. See where Fincastle was the turning point to going west or south through Roanoke. Another good book is “Best Little Stories from Virginia” by C. Brian also has some great insight into the Great Road.