The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Remnants of Possible Civil War Cedar Log Highway Found in Virginia

From the Dec. 23, 2015, Chicago Tribune  "Remnants of Cedar-Log highway could date to Civil War era, historians say" by Jonathan Hunley, Washington Post.

They logs were found along Ox Road in Fairfax County, Virginia, on ground now occupied by George Mason University.  They were found below ground level on October 14th by a road shoulder/sidewalk project.  Work shifted to another part of the project while the logs were photographed and analyzed.

They would constitute what would be called a "corduroy road" because of its close resemblance to the cloth  Since the logs were buried, there was not a lot of deterioration.

A member of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table said that during the Civil War a "corduroy road ran from the Occonquo River to the Fairfax Courthouse and most likely these logs were a part of it.  The road was built in 1862 as a link to get supplies from the railroad's Fairfax Station to the Fairfax Courthouse which was a significant Union supply depot.

--Old Secesh


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