Snickersville Turnpike and Edward Snickers

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Snickersville Turnpike was the first operating turnpike in America by 1786. Originally an Iroquois hunting trail, the Turnpike was named after Edward Snickers, who owned and operated an Inn and Ferry on the Shenandoah River. George Washington often used the turnpike and stayed in Edward Snicker’s Inn, as he was a land surveyor for property in Goose Creek.

Images

Stone fence along Snickersville Turnpike

Snickers Gap

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Edward Snickers was a man of many trades. He transported goods and produce for sale as a wagoner, which is likely how he first met George Washington. He also managed a tavern and Inn, built roads, ran a ferry, and owned a merchant mill, Blacksmith shop, gristmill, and saw mill. Despite his wide range of talents, he made most of his money buying and selling property in Goose Creek and Shenandoah Valley. Snickers surveyed 450 acres of land next to the Shenandoah River in 1735. In 1769, Snickers purchased 625 acres of land in the Shenandoah Valley from George Washington's brother, John Augustine Washington.

Snickers and Washington developed a relatively close relationship, as Snickers appeared at least seven times in Washington's diary entries. Interestingly, in the spring of 1778, in the thick of the Revolutionary War, Snickers decided to assist Washington in the war effort by rounding up a group of men from the Quaker village of Lincoln. Upon bringing the recruits to Washington, Washington actually turned the men away because he knew they were Quakers and therefore did not believe in war and violence. Washington had the men return home and aid the Patriot troops by supplying them with food and supplies.

Snickers Gap, today most well known as Snickersville Turnpike, was a major intersection for trade. Snickers Gap, Ashby's Gap (today known as Route 50), and Vestal's Gap (today approximately Route 9) functioned as a trade outlet for markets and towns on the East Coast.

Sources

“To George Washington from Edward Snickers, 19 July 1758,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-05-02-0243. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 5, 5 October 1757–3 September 1758, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1988, pp. 299–300.]

“To George Washington from Edward Snickers, 17 May 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-01-02-0261. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, vol. 1, 1 January 1784 – 17 July 1784, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 392–394.]

“Enclosure: Minutes of the Committee for Supervising Expenditures, 17–18 August 1756,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-03-02-0322-0002. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 3, 16 April 1756–9 November 1756, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984, pp. 368–371.]

Falkner, Suzanne Freis. History of Bluemont-Beginnings, March 11th 2008. Accessed May 14th 2021. http://www.bluemontva.org/historyarticle20080311_1.html.

McKay, Hunter Branson. Fairfax Land Suit. Belmont, Massachusets. 1951.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Jane Bruenjes