VA 55 original route
1929 Official

VA 55 expanded. Note the relationship with the railroad changed between Strasburg and Front Royal.
1931 Official

VA 55 using Happy Creek Rd 1932 Warren County VA 55 moved to current route 1958 Warren County

VA 55 original Front Royal route 1936 Warren County

In Feb 1939 (CTB), VA 55 was placed on its current route through Markham, leaving behind SRs 756 and 757.
In June 1941 (CTB), VA 55 was removed from SRs 754, 755, and 756 west of Lebanon Church. Also, VA 55 was rerouted in Strasburg to its current routing, leaving behind SR 761 and Capon St.

VA 55 using US 11 south and Capon St 1936 Shenandoah County

VA 55 using current routing 1958 Shenandoah County

In Aug 1941 (CTB), VA 55 was removed from SR 763 east of Marshall.
Between 1940-43 VA 55 was removed from SR 784 and abandoned routing in The Plains.

VA 55 using SR 784 Lee St 1940 Fauquier County

VA 55 removed from Lee St 1943 Fauquier County

About 1941, VA 55 was placed on a new bridge over the S fork of the Shenandoah River, leaving behind Old Winchester Pike in Riverton and N. Royal Ave in Front Royal.
In April 1973 (CTB), VA 55 was removed from F-289 on the north side of I-66 in the Thoroughfare Gap area.
About 1978, VA 55 was placed on I-66 between today's exits 23-27, leaving behind F-185. Also around this time, VA 55 was removed from F275 west of Delaplane.
In late 2011, VA 55's east end was placed back on its original end, opposite current SR 619 at US 29.
Improvements:  Paved upon designation from Strasburg to around Lebanon Church; Riverton to Front Royal; Marshall east a mile or so
In 1931, VA 55 was paved from Strasburg east ot about the Shenandoah River.
In 1932, VA 55 was paved from Shenandoah River to Riverton.
In 1933, VA 55 was paved from Front Royal east a few miles; Delaplane to Marshall.
In 1934, VA 55 was paved from about Thoroughfare Gap to Gainesville.
In 1936, VA 55 was paved from The Plains to Thoroughfare Gap.
In 1937, VA 55 was paved everywhere east of Lebanon Church except a bit around The Plains.
In 1940, VA 55 was paved from Lebanon Church west to the Frederick County Line.
The last segment of VA 55 from the West Virginia line to Shenandoah County was paved between 1942-44.
VA 55 is multilaned on its I-66 duplex since 1978.
VA 55 is multilaned on its US 522 duplex from Front Royal to Riverton, back to at least 1993 and probably further back as the S. Shenandoah bridge was multilaned when built in 1941.
VA 55 is multilaned on South St between US 340 and US 522 since back to at least 1993.
Posted:  Fully posted; last known cutout is at The Plains at SR 626 (Nov 2022, Froggie); Front Royal at US 340 split was there until about 2020; Strasburg until between 2013-18.
Cutouts in Strasburg went away around 2000 or so.
VA 55 is one of the most errored routes around. US 55 shields have been in Front Royal in numerous locations off and on over last 25 years, with two still standing on the South St area. Also there used to be a US 55 shield at the bottom of the ramp from EB I-66 Exit 22.
The is a US 55 shield in Strasburg at US 11 (since 2001) and at SR 628 in Lebanon Church.
There is also a text US 55 sign on US 211 at Massanutten Mountain.
Multiplexes:  US 48 (14.23 mi)
US 11 (0.23 mi)
US 340, US 522 (1.38 mi)
US 340 (1.22 mi)
US 17 (0.64 mi)
I-66, US 17 (3.36 mi)
US 17 Bus (0.98 mi)
Legislative names:  John Marshall Highway, entire route except I-66 duplex (since 9-7-33)
Other names:  Wardensville Pike (Frederick Co); Massanutten St/King St/Front Royal Rd (Strasburg); Strasburg Rd (Warren Co w of US 340/522); Shenandoah Av/14th St/N. Royal Ave/South St (Front Royal); Winchester Rd (US 17 dup); Free State Rd/Main St (Marshall); Main St (The Plains); Washington St (Haymarket)
Scenic Byway:  Fauquier Co. routing (8-19-96); Frederick SR 600 to Fauquier line except in Strasburg and Front Royal (6-12-97);
Comment: VA 55 is pretty much I-66's personal frontage road east of Linden.
In West Virginia, route 55 has been placed on new expressway from Wardensville to Moorefield as part of the Corridor H project. West Virginia intends to connect this to the Virginia line but Virginia does not seem to have much interest in upgrading VA 55 west of I-81 which is a pretty decent ride with only a couple 35 or 40 mph curves on it.
Now that US 48 has been signed in Virginia and West Virginia, will VA 55 be truncated to I-81 at some point?