Virginia State Route 13 - History

History

SR 13 is the remnant of a much longer route. It was part of the initial system defined in 1918, running from the West Virginia state line via Lexington, Lynchburg, Farmville, and Richmond to State Route 8 near Tappahannock. This corridor is now generally U.S. Route 60, U.S. Route 501, U.S. Route 460, State Route 45, U.S. Route 60, and U.S. Route 360. This was entirely concurrent with other routes west of Farmville - State Route 14 west of Lynchburg and State Route 10 from Lynchburg to Farmville - and so in the 1923 renumbering it was truncated to Farmville-Tappahannock.

The road from southeast of Warsaw to Callao was added to the state highway system in 1924, and the next year it was connected to the rest of SR 13 by the addition of the road from Tappahannock to Warsaw.

To the west, a short piece of road from State Route 2 at Sprouses Corner west to Buckingham was added in 1923, and later that year it was assigned the State Route 322 designation as a spur of State Route 32 (formerly SR 2). Disconnected extensions of SR 322 were added in 1924 on both sides of Amherst and in 1925 in both directions from both segments. Further extensions of SR 322 were planned in 1926, but, later that year, SR 322 was renumbered as an extension of SR 13; the short piece from Cumberland southwest to Farmville became State Route 133 (renumbered State Route 310 in the 1928 renumbering, and part of State Route 45 in the 1933 renumbering).

The road from Buena Vista west to State Route 14 at McCormick's Gate (now the junction of U.S. Route 60 and State Route 608/Pathfinder Drive) was added in 1924. This became part of the SR 13 extension, but in 1928, SR 14 was rerouted to pass through Buena Vista and use that piece of road, and thus SR 13 was truncated to Buena Vista. In 1927 and 1928, the remaining pieces of SR 13 were added, making SR 13 a continuous route from SR 14 in Buena Vista east to Callao.

Until the 1933 renumbering, no significant portions of SR 13 were concurrent with U.S. Routes. In 1933, U.S. Route 60 was shifted north from the Lynchburg-Burkeville alignment (now U.S. Route 501, U.S. Route 460, and U.S. Route 360) to replace SR 13 from Buena Vista to Richmond, and U.S. Route 360 was designated over SR 13 from Richmond to Callao; thus SR 13 was completely eliminated in 1933.

However, a new cutoff between Cumberland and east of Powhatan was planned as State Route 13 Alternate. A short piece west of Powhatan had been added to the state highway system in 1932 as part of State Route 46 (now State Route 684 in that area), but the main part was added in 1933 and 1934 (specifically as US 60 in the latter year). By 1935, the new US 60 was complete, and the old route reverted to its old designation - State Route 13.