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Recently I processed the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority Records, 1954-1983 [Accession 40941], documenting the building of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike from 1955 to 1958. The collection is arranged into two series. Series I: Papers, 1954-1973, consists of agreements, brochures, by-laws, correspondence, designs, financial records, legislation, reports, specifications, and oversize maps. The bulk of the collection is housed in Series II: Work progress photographs, 1956-1983 (bulk 1956-1958), which documents the building of the Turnpike by contractors. The area was divided into sections (A-1, B-1, B-3, etc.) and the photographs are arranged by section. An oversized map contains a key to the sections and details what streets each section covers.

The Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority was established in 1955 to build the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike (RPT). The Authority was a small state agency created by the General Assembly to administer (design, finance, acquire right-of-way, construct, operate, collect tolls, and maintain) the Turnpike. The RPT cost $76.7 million to build, funded by proceeds from toll revenue bonds sold by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It ran for 34.7 miles from US-1 in Dinwiddie County to US-301 in Henrico County (from today’s I-85 Exit 63 to I-95 Exit 82). Soon after opening in its entirety on July 1, 1958, the RPT was designated with the I-85 and I-95 designations, even though no federal aid was used to build the RPT, and it became part of the Interstate Highway System. The 1973 General Assembly passed legislation to dissolve the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority and transfer its “duties, powers and obligations” to the Virginia State Highway Commission (the predecessor of the current Commonwealth Transportation Board), so the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation (today’s VDOT) took over administration of the RPT in 1973.

While the photographs document the building of the turnpike, they also document the destruction of many homes and businesses in Jackson Ward, Richmond’s oldest historically African American neighborhood. As was common in mid-century planning practices, lower-class or Black neighborhoods were often targeted and destroyed. This highway, along with the construction of Richmond’s Downtown Expressway, were large factors in the decline and subsequent decay in many urban areas of the city. The photographs were taken monthly over a period of two years (1956-1958) and show the gradual destruction of the neighborhood and the building of the highway.

Recently there was an article in the New York Times about the Kensington Expressway that split a Buffalo, New York, neighborhood in the 1950s-1960s.1 The neighborhood was predominantly African American and the expressway “stifled economic development and depressed property values.” Efforts are now underway to revitalize the neighborhood by altering a portion of the highway into a tunnel with green space above.

The Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority collection is now processed and available for researchers who come to visit the Library of Virginia’s archives reference area. A description of the collection can be found on the Library of Virginia’s catalog and the finding aid is available online at the Archival Resources of the Virginias.

Footnotes

1. Madeline Ngo, “A Highway Split Their Community: Efforts to Fix That Face Opposition,” New York Times, (New York, NY), May 7, 2024.

Header Image Citation

Photo No. 6, Station No. 1814 50 South on Cl., 24 April 1957. Structure A-18 at Brook Avenue, Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority Records, 1954-1983 [Accession 40941], Library of Virginia.

Renee Savits

State Records Archivist

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