Current VA 16 1941-42 Official

VA 16 rerouted at Marion 1946 Official

VA 16 connected at last 1950 Official

Improvements:  Fully paved upon designation from NC to VA 348; entire northern piece except small section at southern end.
In 1951, VA 16 was paved from VA 42 to Tazewell SR 601.
In 1953, VA 16 became fully paved.
No VDOT maps show this, but VA 16 has been multilaned from I-81 north to its split with US 11 NB back to at least 1991.
Posted:  Fully posted; VA 16 was full of cutouts throughout in the early 90s. Cutouts remained in Tazewell and North Tazewell as of fall 2012; A couple Marion cutouts were still present as of fall 2008
Error US 16 shields have existed in Marion back to at least 1991. Cutout US 16 shield with US 11 back then and a US 16 shield in modern times.
Multiplexes:  US 58 (3.99 mi)
US 11 (1.19 mi)
VA 42 (0.32 mi)
US 19 Bus, US 460 Bus (3.00 mi)
Legislative names:  BF Buchanan Highway (3-29-34 designation predates VA 16), from US 58 to US 19-460 Bus
Other names:  Jefferson Hwy (NC Line to US 58); Troutdale Hwy (Mouth of Wilson to Smyth Line); Sugar Grove Hwy (Smyth Co s of Marion); Commerce St/Main St (Marion); Park Blvd (US 11 to VA 42); Main St/Fincastle Tpk/Tazewell Ave (Tazewell); Riverside Dr (North Tazewell); Stoney Ridge Rd (VA 16 ALT to WV).
Scenic Byway:  SR 601 Sugar Grove to US 19 Tazewell (since 1/20/00); Mathews CH to SR 600 (4/20/2000)
Comment: VA 16 is an epic three-state highway which very nearly goes through 5 states. It begins in St. Marys, WV near a bridge which Ohio has unfortunately chosen to number OH 807. From there it goes to the bottom of West Virginia, nipping the western part of Virginia, before entering North Carolina. It heads down through Charlotte before ending a couple miles from the SC line.
None of the 3 states had this road numbered 16 at the state lines in 1940 (WV 12, VA 81, VA 92, NC 681), so some coordination took place to get this thing numbered as one route. One thought that occurred to me is that MSR 16 would be a natural extension for US 521, not that I really want 3-state 16 to disappear...
VA 16 north of Hungry Mother State Park into Tazewell County is one of the most harrowing drives in Virginia. I have driven this northbound. There are numerous blind curves around rock outcroppings with little or no railing on the outside edge of the road. It is the only road I've ever driven where I was scared to take pictures while driving.
Trucks are prohibited north of VA 348 and with good reason. It is not possible for a semi to stay in the correct travel lane and would be a nasty surprise for an oncoming driver around a blind curve.
On the other hand, most of VA 16 is quite scenic.

Route 16: Orange, Madison, Stanley, Luray, New Market

This is how VA 16 ran:
Began at Orange CH and ran north with then-VA 2 using today's US 15, SR 721 Bennetts Ford Rd; SR 723 Petersburg Rd; abandoned loop over Rapidan River using a bit of SR 659 at Madison Mills. VA 16 then used VA 230 west to VA 231 except: SR 685 and SR 684; it may have used a bit of SR 607 at Aroda, SR 711, abandoned routing back to near the VA 230-231 jct (but stopped doing so by 1923 if it did). VA 16 then used SR 687 north to Madison CH then VA 231 north.
VA 16 used SR 654 Williamsburg Pike and SR 609 John Myers Rd before crossing the Robinson River into Banco. VA 16 then used SR 670 Old Blue Ridge Turnpike to Criglersville and Syria before heading over the mountain on what is now just a trail, crossing Skyline Drive at Fishers Gap, and descending to where SR 611 is. VA 16 then used SR 611 to SR 689 north through Ida to US 211 Bus through Luray.
VA 16 used US 211 west to New Market except SR 766 through Hamburg and SR 1001 into New Market. VA 16 ended at VA 3 (now US 11).
In Dec 1921 (CTB), VA 16 was rerouted at Criglersville to instead head northeast via SR 642 Poor House Rd to VA 231 which it followed pretty closely to then-VA 7 (now US 522), then over to SR 1001 Sperryville, then used current US 211 over the mountain to US 211 Business into Luray. The old crossing of the mountain into Page County and Luray became secondary (though some of this became parts of VA 231 and VA 266 later)
Around April 1922 (CTB shows both VA 16 and VA 21 having separate references as running New Market to Luray) it appears VA 16 was truncated to end at VA 21 (now SR 1001) Sperryville, while Luray west to New Market became an extended VA 21.
About 1928, VA 16 was rerouted to avoid Criglersville using today's VA 231.
ABout 1932, VA 16 was removed from SR 654 north of Madison CH.
In July 1933, VA 16 was assigned to the 4 pieces of what had been VA 46:
1. US 60 (now VA 13) near Powhatan to about Provost using today's SR 601 and SR 684
2. vA 45 Cartersville NW a mile or so via today's SR 690
3. 2 miles south of Columbia to about Stage Junction using today's SR 690 and SR 659
4. Bells Crossroads to the North Anna River north of Louisa using today's VA 208, SR 630, and SR 669.

In Oct 1934 (CTB), VA 16 Piece 1 south was truncated to US 60 west of Powhatan, leaving behind SR 601.
In Oct 1935 (CTB), Piece 2 was extended northwest 1.2 miles
In Sept 1937 (CTB), Piece 3 was extended north 1 mile and Piece 4 was extended 0.15 north to the middle of the N. Anna River bridge.
In Oct 1940 (CTB), all segments of VA 16 were renumbered as VA 27.

Original VA 16, Orange to New Market 1922-23 Auto Trails

VA 16 rerouted to Sperryville 1923 Official

VA 16 extended to Powhatan 1933 Official

Creation:  Appeared May 1953 (CTB) as an upgrade to SR 631. Adjustments:  None Improvements: Fully paved upon designation; no multilane segments Posting:  Fully posted; Cutouts exist in Tazewell and North Tazewell as of fall 2012. Multiplexes:  None Legislative names:  None Other names:  Fairgrounds Rd Scenic Byway:  None Comment:  Runs on Fairground Rd. just west of VA 16, as a bypass around central Tazewell, which is much faster than mainline 16 for through traffic. Does not explicitly appear on State Official maps. As of 2012 there is an early 1920's bridge still in use at its northern end.

VA 16 ALT in Tazewell 1958 Tazewell County