U.S. Route 301 in Virginia

	U.S. Route 301
Formed:	1932 (1918 as SR 24, 1926 as US 17-1)
South end:	US 301 near Weldon, NC
Major; junctions:	US 58 in Emporia; US 460 in Petersburg; US 60 in Richmond; SR 207 in Bowling Green; US 17 in Port Royal
North end:	US 301 near La Plata, MD
	Virginia Routes
< SR 300	SR 302 >
	Primary – Secondary – History – Turnpikes
	United States Numbered Highways
	List – Bannered – Divided – Replaced

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In the U.S. state of Virginia, U.S. Route 301 exists in two independent sections, joined by a concurrency with U.S. Route 1 between Petersburg and Richmond. South of Petersburg, US 301 closely parallels Interstate 95 into North Carolina. North of Richmond, US 301 splits from the I-95 corridor, using State Route 2 north-northeast to Bowling Green and then former State Route 207 northeast to the Nice Bridge over the Potomac River into Maryland.

[edit] History

US 301 entering from North Carolina

US 301 south of Petersburg was part of the U.S. Highway System from its beginning in 1926, though it was part of U.S. Route 17-1 until 1932. The extension north from Petersburg was added in late 1940, when the Potomac River Bridge opened.^[1]

Prior to 1933, the road from Petersburg south into North Carolina was State Route 24. The initial SR 24 was a short route from Emporia southwest to North Carolina along current State Route 627 (via Brink and Barley).^[2] It connected at the state line to North Carolina Highway 40.^[3]

The "Halifax Road" from North Carolina via Emporia to the junction with State Route 35 (then State Route 5) south of Petersburg was not assigned as part of the initial state highway system in 1918. In March 1923, a delegation from Petersburg appeared before the State Highway Commission, requesting that this be added to the system. They claimed that the road was to be included in the system, but it was left out through an error.^[4]

US 301 coming off the Potomac River Bridge from Maryland

SR 24 south of Emporia was realigned in April 1924 to the present US 301 alignment,^[5] and North Carolina Highway 40 was realigned at around the same time to match.^[6] Over the next several years, the Halifax Road from Emporia to SR 35 was added to the state highway system as SR 24.^[7]^[8] By 1927, Route 24 had replaced Route 35 north of their junction to Petersburg, and was completely concurrent with U.S. Route 17-1.^[2] The number was decommissioned in the 1933 renumbering, at which time the present State Route 24 was designated.

[edit] Historic sites

Historic Site marker

The sites of the Garrett farmhouse and the barn where John Wilkes Booth was cornered and shot to death by federal troops in 1865 are within the right-of-way of highway 301, between Bowling Green and Port Royal. No physical trace of either house or barn remain. A historical marker and sign on northbound 301 point to the site of the house, which is in the median between northbound and southbound 301. The site of the barn is said to have been taken out by the roadcut for southbound 301.

James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, was born on March 16, 1751, on Belle Grove plantation on U.S. 301 in Port Conway, in a house which is no longer in existence. Belle Grove plantation was the childhood home of his mother, Eleanor Rose "Nellie" Conway, the daughter of its owner, Francis Conway, for whom Port Conway was named.^[9]^[10]^[11]