Existing comment:
Chancellorsville Campaign
Just ahead is the crossing of the Orange Plank Road, a mid-nineteenth century trade route from the mountains to the navigable Rappahannock at Fredericksburg. Loaded wagons had the right-of-way on the planking, which covered half the roadbed. Successor to the crushed-stone Orange Turnpike, the Plank was likewise a pay road with toll gates. It diverged from the route of the old Pike in places to afford better traction on easier grades. By the time of the Civil War, the growth of railroads had reduced Fredericksburg's western business. |