For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/08/2004
NRHP Listing Date 11/17/2004
NPS property number 04001268
The Lexington & Covington Turnpike Tollhouse occupies a small lot at the intersection of Lime Kiln and Enfield roads, both of which once formed part of the course of the Lexington & Covington Turnpike in the city of Lexington. Built circa 1834, the tollhouse was originally a two-room brick building, with a Flemish-bond front, a molded brick cornice, and gable end chimneys (one now interior). A board-and-batten frame ell was added between 1865–67. The tollhouse’s stone basement likely functioned as a kitchen and the main level as a dining room. Two vertical plank or “boxed” rooms were added to the east gable end of the original section, probably during the early 1870s, giving the house an overall U-shape. A Victorian porch and mantels may date to 1887. The turnpike served the farms and the iron furnaces of Rockbridge and Alleghany counties. Although it was intended as a link in a chain of turnpikes connecting Richmond with the Ohio River, it declined in the 1850s and eventually reverted to county road status.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated March 30, 2020
