# Merrimack Trail

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{{Refimprove|date=February 2007}}
'''Merrimack Trail''' is the local name for [State Route 143](/source/Route_143_(Virginia)) as it passes through portions of [York County](/source/York_County%2C_Virginia) and [James City County](/source/James_City_County%2C_Virginia) and the [independent city](/source/independent_city) of [Williamsburg](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia) in the [Virginia Peninsula](/source/Virginia_Peninsula) subregion of [Hampton Roads](/source/Hampton_Roads) in [Virginia](/source/Virginia).

== History ==
With the Restoration and additional tourism traffic generated by [Colonial Williamsburg](/source/Colonial_Williamsburg) beginning in the late 1920s, Merrimack Trail was built in the early 1930s to supplement [U.S. Route 60](/source/U.S._Route_60_(Virginia)) as part the  [State Route 168](/source/Route_168_(Virginia)) project which extended all the way east to North Carolina.

The Merrimack Trail portion of VA-168 extended on the [Virginia Peninsula](/source/Virginia_Peninsula) from Anderson Corner near [Toano](/source/Toano%2C_Virginia) to a crossing of [Hampton Roads](/source/Hampton_Roads) to [South Hampton Roads](/source/South_Hampton_Roads) by ferry, prior to the opening of the [Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel](/source/Hampton_Roads_Bridge-Tunnel) on November 1, 1957. The ferry, which connected to Norfolk at the end of 99th Street at Pine Beach, charged a toll of automobile and driver, $1 and $1.25 for each additional passenger.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/VAGuide/hampton2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991008211305/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/VAGuide/hampton2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 8, 1999|title=Hampton Roads Port|website=xroads.virginia.edu}}</ref>
 
The name originated because the road lead to a ferry landing in [Newport News](/source/Newport_News%2C_Virginia) was located near the historic location of the [Battle of Hampton Roads](/source/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads) between the [ironclad](/source/ironclad) warships in March 1862 during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). The Confederate ironclad [C.S.S. ''Virginia''](/source/CSS_Virginia) had been built from the hull of the [U.S.S. ''Merrimack''](/source/USS_Merrimack_(1855)), partially burned by Union troops evacuating the [Norfolk Naval Shipyard](/source/Norfolk_Naval_Shipyard) the previous year.

In the 1960s, as the new [Interstate 64](/source/Interstate_64_in_Virginia) was completed, major portions of VA-168 west of [Old Point Comfort](/source/Old_Point_Comfort) were redesignated as [State Route 143](/source/Route_143_(Virginia)).

== References ==
{{reflist}}

Category:Transportation in Williamsburg, Virginia
Category:Transportation in York County, Virginia
Category:Transportation in James City County, Virginia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merrimack Trail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimack_Trail) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimack_Trail?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.