Vestal's Gap Road

F-37

Vestal's Gap Road is among the oldest remaining segments of colonial highway in America. Initially an Indian trail, it became an important route for commerce from Alexandria to Leesburg and Winchester, westward migration, and troop movements. Lt. Col. George Washington and Gen. Edward Braddock’s forces traveled the road in 1755 to defeat at Fort Duquesne in the first phase of the Seven Years' War between the British and the French. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution were secretly carried to Leesburg over this road when the British burned Washington, D.C. in 1814. The Leesburg Turnpike supplanted the road in 1825.

Department of Historic Resources, 2010

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Milner, John. Archaeological Investigations Along Vestal’s Gap Road at Lanesville, Claude Moore Park, Loudoun County, Virginia. John Milner Associates, Prepared by Donna J. Seifert, Ph.D., Alexandria, 1999. Halkett, Sir Peter, Halkett’s Orderly Book, 44th Regiment Began at Camp at Alexandria, March 27th, 1755, April 28-April 30, 1755 reflect journey on this segment of roadway. Harrison, Fairfax. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, October 1924, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, reprint of Mrs. Browne’s Diary in Virginia and Maryland, With Braddock’s Army, notes on June 2 and 3, 1774 reflect Journey on this segment of the roadway. Madison, James. “Map of Virginia, 1807,” in collection of Library of Congress.