<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4R9wj7_1H6emcic00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4R9wj7_1H6emcic00" width="1280" height="960" ></figure>Before Interstate 95 made Richmond a place to hurry through, U.S. Route 1 made it a place to pause and relax.This year, as this 2,369-mile corridor from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida, turns 100, its vintage character recalls how Richmond welcomed travelers, where they could find good food and a room for the night, and what happened when the traffic moved on.During the 1918 General Assembly session, Virginia established a 4,002-mile highway network. This network included the Richmond-Washington Turnpike, a rough gravel-and-soil thoroughfare that frequently washed out during heavy rains and cut from points north through Richmond south to Jeff Davis Highway in Chester. On Nov. 11, 1926, the American Association of State Highway Officials created Route 1 when they approved the U.S. numbered highway system, creating continuity across routes in surfacing, uniform signage, and even numbers for east-west routes and odd numbers for north-south routes.An October 1927 Department of Agriculture press release praises Route 1’s improvements, stating that “From Ellsworth (Maine) through the large eastern cities to Richmond, Virginia, there is a dustless, all-year pavement for practically the entire distance of 884 miles. South of Richmond, with the exception of a 15-mile unimproved section, there is continuous improvement with sand-clay surfacing or better as far as Augusta, beyond which there are 68 miles of earth road in Georgia much of which is now being surfaced and will be open for traffic by the end of the year.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4Dej1U_1H6emcic00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4Dej1U_1H6emcic00" width="1280" height="960" ></figure>Richmond played a crucial role for Route 1 travelers, particularly those heading south, serving as “a transition between a cluster of mid-Atlantic megalopolises, followed by 500 miles of smaller cities that are like stepping-stones,” according to Peter Evans, who curates the website Route1views.com. Located almost dead center between Maine and Florida, Richmond was the last decent place to find meals and overnight accommodations before striking out into those barren rural landscapes of the Deep South. Raleigh was the next largest city, almost 170 miles south. After Raleigh, Columbus, South Carolina was the only metropolitan area interrupting the lonesome 666 miles to the Florida state line.This significant location explains the unusual proliferation of tourist cabins, motor courts, service stations, diners, RV parks, and restaurants that competed for passing families from the late 1920s through the mid-1950s. One of the earliest, Royall’s Tourist Camp on Brook Road near Hilliard, offered motorists cottages, meals, fuel, and auto repairs. Royall’s dated to at least 1927 and was still listed in Richmond’s business directory in 1941.The Wigwam Restaurant opened about seven miles north of Richmond in 1935, and the motel followed in 1949. It appealed to northerners by offering “air-cooled” dining and dancing, along with Virginia staples such as fried chicken, Virginia ham, and fresh produce, all supplied by the owner, I. O. Keeton, from his nearby 100-acre farm.Richmond Auto Court, located at what is now Brook Road and Lakeside Avenue, advertised a 24-hour Esso station, a Dining Room, and a sprawling complex of small cabins. Further into town, the Brook Run Lodge, just north of Azalea Avenue, touted modern tile baths and steam heat.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0J57sf_1H6emcic00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0J57sf_1H6emcic00" width="1536" height="985" ><figcaption>1950 Richmond Auto Court postcard courtesy of the author.</figcaption></figure>The Chamberlayne Motor Court welcomed visitors to Chamberlayne and Azalea Avenues, where Route 1 briefly joined Route 301 to cross the James River. It is one of the only northside motels from that era still in business.Across the river, travelers encountered a similar corridor of diners and motels. The White House Motor Lodge, built in the “mini-Mount Vernon” style, remains open as the White House Motel along the southside Jefferson Davis Highway motel strip. Ford’s Motor Court, located “midway between Richmond and Petersburg,” offered Tudor-style cabins.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0w2cZF_1H6emcic00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0w2cZF_1H6emcic00" width="1800" height="1080" ><figcaption>1940s Chamberlayne Motor Court postcard courtesy of the author.</figcaption></figure>The post-war automobile boom did not liberate everyone equally.In 1946, William E. Brooks, Audrey W. Brooks, and Dr. Cortlandt M. Colson opened The Colbrook Inn in South Chester. Later renamed the Colbrook Motel, it appeared in the Green Book, a segregation-era listing of safe dining and overnight accommodations for Black travelers, from 1956 through 1967. Its grounds included cottages, a restaurant, and a service station. Although the motel closed in the early 1980s, a local housing nonprofit is currently repurposing the long-dormant Chesterfield County site into 144 affordable apartments.By the mid-1950s, Route 1 had become Virginia’s busiest road and one of the nation’s busiest highways. In 1958, however, through-traffic came to a halt with the opening of the first leg of the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike, the first segment of what would later become I-95. This development fundamentally altered the Route 1 “rest-over” business model, leading to decades-long closures of those motels and restaurants.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3xGR7L_1H6emcic00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3xGR7L_1H6emcic00" width="1280" height="960" ></figure>Today, the “number one highway” offers short local hops and skips amid modern housing developments, older manufacturing districts, and the ghosts of once-bustling businesses. It also provides a slower, stoplight-paced escape from I-95’s grinding Richmond-to-Washington bottlenecks.“Much more than 100 years of history can be discerned along Route 1 as you travel,” notes Evans. “However, the mid-century vestiges of leisure travel are the easiest to read, from hotels to golf resorts to motor lodges, RV campgrounds and parks.”</div></body>

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Before Interstate 95 made Richmond a place to hurry through, U.S. Route 1 made it a place to pause and relax. This year, as this 2,369-mile corridor from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida, turns 100, its vintage character recalls how Richmond welcomed travelers, where they could find good food and a room for the night, and what happened when the traffic moved on.

The Number One Highway Turns 100

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Before Interstate 95 made Richmond a place to hurry through, U.S. Route 1 made it a place to pause and relax. This year, as this 2,369-mile corridor from F

The Number One Highway Turns 100

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