The Lexington & Covington Turnpike Toll House 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 toll house was originally a two-room brick building, with a Flemish-bond brick front, a molded brick cornice, and gable-end chimneys (one now interior). A board-and-batten frame ell was added between 1865–67. The Lexington & Covington Turnpike Toll House’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, the turnpike declined in the 1850s and eventually reverted to county road status.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia