The year 1908 was a big turning point in our transportation needs, both in the air and on land. In September of that year at Fort Myer, Virginia, Orville Wright was demonstrating the possibilities of air travel as he took his plane aloft. Automobile owners were discussing the need for better roads. There was talk of a highway from Atlanta to Boston.

The Times-Dispatch noted: “The many miles of wretched roads through Eastern and Central Virginia have cost this city the automobile route. The great North and South highway will not be laid through Richmond: that seems to be definitely settled.”

Richmond city roads didn’t have a great reputation. It was suggested to teamsters coming in from Henrico to lighten their loads at the city line, struggle through mud and ruts to market, and then go back for the rest of their load.

Both the New York Herald and the Atlanta Journal had scout cars to drive from the south to check the routes and the road conditions. Their findings showed that from Jacksonville to Washington, the worst stretch of road was between Richmond and the nation’s capital.

The roads in the Fredericksburg area were particularly bad, and the scout drivers suggested a better route would be by way of Culpeper and Warrenton.

However, the Times-Dispatch was in favor of the shorter route and, with a scout car of its own, took the Fredericksburg route on July 1. After three hours on the road, the car arrived in Fredericksburg to be greeted by a lone man. Everyone else had gone home, tired of waiting.

North of Fredericksburg, the car had to get a set of new tires. Finally, the scouts made it to Washington after 32 hours. Most people agreed that even under good driving conditions the trip would take 12 hours.

Undiscouraged, two weeks later the Times-Dispatch set out to prove this was not true. At 3:05 a.m. Wednesday, July 14, 1908, its scout car headed north. The driver and passengers were at Ellett’s Crossing beyond Ashland in an hour.

When they encountered heavy rains, mud reduced their speed and they had to use chains. After Stafford they found the going easier and at 12:30 p.m. they arrived in Washington, setting a new record of only nine hours for the trip from Richmond to Washington by any route. It was an important step toward assuring the final highway would go through Fredericksburg.

Ray Schreiner is a volunteer at the Valentine Richmond History Center and the Virginia Historical Society, and is an avid reader of old newspapers.