053-0244 Little River Turnpike Bridge

For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF

VLR Listing Date 06/06/2007

NRHP Listing Date 04/11/2014

NRHP Reference Number 14000148

Interest at the turn of the 19th century in improving Virginia’s transportation infrastructure prompted the General Assembly to charter dozens of private companies to construct and maintain turnpikes, canals, and railroads. The Little River Turnpike Bridge was begun in 1826 by the Little River Turnpike Company (LRTC), which was chartered in 1802 to establish “a Turnpike Road from the intersection of Duke Street in the Town of Alexandria with the south west line of the District of Columbia to the ford of Little River,” a distance of approximately 34 miles. The LRTC completed the road by 1811, and in 1817 stated its objective to spend surplus funds on “the reducing of the Hills and erecting permanent Bridges over the streams of water crossing said Road”. The Little River Turnpike’s crossing of the Little River in Loudoun County with the 108-foot-long, two-arch fieldstone bridge was an essential part of its function and identity. While the assets of the LRTC ultimately were transferred to county administration and finally to the state as U.S. 50, the Little River Turnpike Bridge, within the Aldie Historic District, today constitutes the most prominent surviving element of the turnpike.

Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.

Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

Updated: April 19, 2021