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the hearing advertisement. We support that usage.
“Poe’s Road” is one of the most consistent names in the history of Rappahannock County and of Culpeper before 1833. The name dates to the mid 1700’s. It was used on the Culpeper map of 1776 and John Wood’s 1821 Culpeper County map. The “Hotchkiss Map” of the Civil War vintage (he was Stonewall Jackson’s map maker) places the “Poe’s Road” label squarely on the sector you have named “Jericho.” It is “Poe’s Road” on the 1932 State Highway Department map and later U.S. Geological Survey maps. One of our members possibly recalls seeing a map with “Jericho" in parentheses, but to date we have been unable to find such a map. Nor have we found reference to “Jericho” in the land records.
We speculate on three possible origins of “Jericho Road.” The name could have been incorrectly borrowed from some other old road (e.g. Hotchkiss depicted a road leading from today’s Foxhall Farm on 637 to Rucker Farm on 647). It could have been generated by someone who remembered that a part of 637 once had a “Biblical name” but never bothered to search the records and reconnect with Shiloh Road. Or it could somehow derive from association with the Jordan River.
The Historical Society currently has no reason to support a name based on any of these three scenarios, but we remain willing to be persuaded by new facts if such can be found. Meanwhile, we ask the Board of Supervisors to recognize that Rappahannock County depends on volunteers to educate us about our past. If the County rejects the Poe’s Road findings of Elisabeth B. and C.E. Johnson, Jr. (1981) and Robert T. Dennis (1993 publication imminent), what will motivate our volunteers to keep working?
CATHRYN KNUEFFER
President
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