Qualla: Colonial Parkway

Colonial Parkway: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown National Park Service photographer, Public domain. The pavement has no painted lines, just a fine grain of rounded river gravel set in concrete that catches the light differently from any other road in America. The Colonial Parkway runs 23 miles across the Virginia Peninsula, linking the three corners of the Historic Triangle - Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown. There are no traffic lights, no commercial trucks, no billboards. At the Williamsburg midpoint, the parkway tunnels under the historic district so completely that visitors above can walk colonial streets without ever hearing a car. At the ends, the road runs right beside the James and York rivers, with pull-offs every few miles where Canada geese have the legal right of way. The parkway took 25 years to build and another 70 to defend from encroachment. It still holds the line.

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Image: Unknown National Park Service photographer | Public domain

Colonial Parkway: Olmsted's Theory, Virginia's Road

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. The National Park Service surveyed the route in 1930, drawing a 500-foot right-of-way and rejecting the original inland routing along colonial roads. Instead, the parkway was aligned along the York River through U.S. Navy land - including the Naval Weapons Station at Yorktown and...

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Image: Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Colonial Parkway: Twenty-Five Years

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Construction started on the ten miles between Yorktown and Williamsburg, on land the Navy gave the Park Service for free. The road reached Williamsburg by 1937. After debate, the planners decided to tunnel under the historic district rather than around it. The tunnel was finished...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Colonial Parkway: Drive It Slow

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Colonial Parkway is, on paper, a road. In practice, it is something closer to a long pull-off with a few scenic detours through trees. The speed limit is 45 mph for most of the route, 35 in a few stretches, enforced by National Park Service rangers. There are no painted lane ...

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Image: Famartin | CC BY-SA 4.0

Colonial Parkway: The Murders

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Between October 1986 and September 1989, eight young people - four couples - were murdered along or near the Colonial Parkway. The killings became collectively known as the Colonial Parkway murders. Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski were found in their car off the parkway in Oct...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Colonial Parkway: Three Points

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. At the western end of the parkway lies Jamestown Island, where the Virginia Colony was founded in 1607 on the bank of the James River. At the midpoint is Williamsburg, where the colonial capital moved in 1699. At the eastern end is Yorktown, where General Cornwallis surrendered t...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain