Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 7 · column 5 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
roads were still dirt, there was no pavement. People forded rivers and streams, as tnere were few bridges. But, progress was being made. In 1903. a bridge at Rock Ford, where Route 647 now crosses into Fauquier County, was approved. It took until 1909 to form a joint committee with Fauquier, and the bridge was not completed until 1915. In 1905, The Board of Supervisors approved a new public road that appears to have run from the Warrenton Turnpike, somewhere near Massie’s Corner, to Flint Hill
The year 1908, though, marked a major turning point for the county. Acts of the Virginia General Assembly allowed counties to issue county bonds for permanent road or bridge improvements in their Magisterial Districts. Counties could make use of convict labor. They could obtain funding from the state for permanent road improvements.
As these acts evolved, they also posed a dilemma for our Board of Supervisors: direct state involvement in the once sacrosanct area of local road matters. This was a touchy subject all through the United States. County roads were being built that ran to the edge of a county, only to link to a trail in the next county. Counties lacked money to build public roads and maintain them. They lacked the technical expertise to build proper roads. Politics engendered a spoils system. Public money was being wasted. There was a need for centralized guidance, standardization, accountability, and fqr aualitv.
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