I hope everyone is aware of the series of Virginia county road order books
published by the Virginia [Highway and] Research Council over the years, and
still progressing under the Council's historian Ann Miller. All or most of
these books are now online on vtrc.virginiadot.org. Years ago, the Council's
Howard Newlon and Mason Pawlett published a long-running series of
historical articles called "Backsights: Essays on Transportation History" in
the monthly VDOT newsletter, which alas, these days, has no historical
articles anymore. About half of these essays were collected into one volume
and published in 1985. The rest were collected and ready for publication
when VDOT ran out of funds for such things. It's time for this second volume
to be resurrected. For people like me, the Council's historical work is the
best thing VDOT ever did.
Bill Trout
Virginia Canals & Navigations Society
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