1928 Virginia state highway renumbering facts for kids

In August 1928, the state of Virginia made a big change to many of its state highways. This happened because a new law meant there were many more state roads. The old way of naming roads, where three-digit numbers were just small branches off two-digit roads, became too confusing for so many routes. So, a new system was started. In this new system, three-digit road numbers were given based on which area (or "district") the road was in.

Virginia's Big Road Change in 1928

Imagine if all the streets in your town suddenly got new names! That's kind of what happened in Virginia in 1928. The state decided to give new numbers to many of its main roads, called "state highways." This was a huge project that changed how people found their way around.

Why Roads Get New Numbers

Roads get new numbers for a few reasons. In Virginia's case, a new law meant that many more roads became "state highways." This made the old numbering system very difficult to use.

• More Roads: The state was adding lots of new roads to its official highway system.
• Old System Was Confusing: The old way of numbering roads was simple at first. If you had a road like "SR 10," then a smaller road branching off it might be "SR 110" or "SR 210." But with so many new roads, this system became messy and hard to manage. It was like trying to organize a huge toy collection with only a few small boxes!
• Making It Easier: The new system was designed to be much clearer. It used a special way to number roads based on different areas of the state.

How the New System Worked

The new system was smarter. It divided Virginia into different "districts." Then, it gave three-digit road numbers based on these districts. For example, roads in "District 1" might start with "100," roads in "District 2" might start with "200," and so on. This made it much easier to understand where a road was located just by looking at its number.

Many of the main two-digit roads, like SR 10 or SR 11, kept their numbers. But many other roads, especially the smaller ones or those that were new, got completely new numbers. Sometimes, a new road number would even combine parts of two old roads!

Examples of Renumbered Roads

Here are a few examples to show how the road numbers changed:

Two-Digit Routes (10-55)

Many of the main two-digit roads kept their original numbers. This helped people still find the most important routes easily.

Three-Digit Routes by District

The three-digit routes were the ones that changed the most. They were organized by districts, making the system much more logical.

District 1 Roads

Roads in District 1 often started with "1" (like 100, 101, etc.).

District 2 Roads

Roads in District 2 often started with "2" (like 200, 201, etc.).

District 3 Roads

Roads in District 3 often started with "3" (like 300, 301, etc.).

District 4 Roads

Roads in District 4 often started with "4" (like 400, 401, etc.).

District 5 Roads

Roads in District 5 often started with "5" (like 500, 501, etc.).

District 6 Roads

Roads in District 6 often started with "6" (like 600, 601, etc.).

District 7 Roads

Roads in District 7 often started with "7" (like 700, 701, etc.).

District 8 Roads

Roads in District 8 often started with "8" (like 800, 801, etc.).

This big renumbering helped Virginia organize its growing network of state highways, making travel and navigation much easier for everyone.