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By Don Audette
Rappahannock News Writer
Eighty years ago, in 1921, there! was a sense of exhilaration ih Rappahannock County. The Lee Highway Association, in ^deliberating on its transcontinental route, had decided to drop the original Northern Virginia path from Alexandria to Winchester. Thati route tended to the nortKwest and added 45 miles in getting to the Valley Turnpike.
A; new route had been mapped out: Rosslyn, Cheri-ydale, Falls Church, Fairfax, Centerville, to Gainpsville. But, at Gainesville there was a choice. To reach the Valley Pike* Lee Highway might go by Way of Front Royal and Stra^burg, or go by way of Warrenton, Sperryville, and Luray.
Rappahannock County was yitally interested in this decision. A much-publicized “named” highway running through the county would bring the county much prestige. The memorial highway to Robert E. Lee would honor an American hero in the same manner as the Lincoln Highway honored Abraham Lincoln. Lee Highway would also add a third state-constructed and state-maintained road through the county. And, the highway in the end was to be double the normal width, having a 60-foot right-of-way. But, the prize wak still to be won.
Dr. Samuel Myrtle Johnson, general director of the Lee Highway Association, made a reconnaissance trip in mid-February 1921, to check out the Front Royal route and the Warrenton-Sperryville
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