US 15 crosses the James River (Photo by Doug Kerr)
The James Madison Highway 
A History
History of the James Madison Highway:
The James Madison Highway (US 15) is named in honor of the fourth President of the United States.  James Madison was born and raised in Albemarle County.  Madison is considered the "Father of the Constitution" and served as President from 1809-1817.  The highway was designated in his honor by an act of the Virginia State Assembly on March 19, 1928. (1)  Today, much of the James Madison Highway follows US 15.  Over 80 percent of the highway wanders along two lane roads through Virginia's Piedmont.  The James Madison Highway runs solely through Virginia, ending at both the Maryland, north of Leesburg,  and North Carolina, south of Clarksville, state lines. 

History of US 15 in Virginia:
Us 15 would first appear in the Commonwealth in 1927.  It would enter the state from North Carolina as it does today, south of Clarksville; however at that point, US 15 continued to run east along VA 32 (now US 58) to South Hill.  It was in 1929 that US 15 was moved on to an alignment that is similar to the route the highway takes today. (2)  From Clarksville, US 15 would continue north on VA 32 routing through Keysville, Farmville, Palmyra, Orange, Culpeper, Warrenton and Leesburg.  As a result of this move, VA 32 would no longer exist.  As a result of the alignment shift, US 15 now followed the entire James Madison Highway.

In the 1940's, US 15 would have its next large scale alignment shift.  The designation was adjusted between Warrenton and Gilbert's Corner.  Prior to this change, US 15 had followed a route that consists of modern US 17 north out of Warrenton, north on VA 245 through Great Meadow, at The Plains it continued north on what is now secondary route 626 to US 50 in Middleburg, finally east of US 50 to where the route turned north at Gilbert's Corner.  This former route of US 15 is still considered as the James Madison Highway today.  (1)  In the early 1950's, the creation of what is now Kerr Lake caused US 15 to be realigned south of Clarksville.

Since the opening of the Keysville Bypass in 1966, US 15 has been realigned several times onto a freeway bypass of several small cities.  During the next 20 years, bypasses were built around: Leesburg, Culpeper, Remington, Farmville, and finally Warrenton in 1987. (2)  This would be the second time US 15 was rerouted in Warrenton.  50 years earlier, US 15 was rerouted on a bypass to the west and north of the historic downtown.  The new bypass now carries US 15 to the east.
Site Navigation:
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    Sources & Links:

  • (1) Virginia Department of Transportation. "Designated Interstate Highways and Primary Route Numbers, Named Highways, Named Bridges and Designated Virginia Byways." 2003. p 51
  • (2) Froehlig, William & Roberson, Michael. "US 15." Virgina Highways Project. http://www.vahighways.com/route-log/us015.htm (October 1, 2005).
  • James Madison Biography

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    Page Created: October 10, 2005
    Last Updated: May 31, 2009

    © 2005-09 William Lawson