{{Unreferenced, date=December 2012
Anderson's Corner, Virginia is located in
James City County
James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg.
Located ...
near the unincorporated community of
Toano. Located at the intersection of
U.S. Route 60 and
State Route 30, Anderson's Corner was the western terminus of
State Route 168 a new four-laned highway also known as the
Merrimack Trail
Merrimack Trail is the local name for State Route 143 as it passes through portions of York County and James City County and the independent city of Williamsburg in the Virginia Peninsula subregion of Hampton Roads in Virginia.
History
With ...
which was established in the pre-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
era to supplement the heavily traveled Route 60 through the Williamsburg where the
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...
Restoration funded by Abby and
John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
had added to traffic, as well as the growing
Virginia Peninsula
The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the ''Lower Peninsula'' to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the n ...
area, connecting via harbor ferry with similarly designated roads in
South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,191,937. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA (Metropolitan S ...
.
On the south side of the harbor, Route 168 connected with North Carolina's own
Route 168 leading to the Outer Banks resorts. The newly completed two-laned
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
*Hampton, Victoria
Canada
*Hampton, New Brunswick
*Hamp ...
was designated Route 168 when it opened in 1957. The new
Tidewater Drive
State Route 168 is a primary state highway in the South Hampton Roads region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It runs from the border with North Carolina (where it continues as North Carolina Highway 168 towards the Outer Banks) through the ind ...
received the Route 168 designation after World War II.
As portions of
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...
were completed in the late 1950s and 1960s, they occasionally bore a Route 168 designation for a period of time until substantial through service using the I-64 signage became more practical for use. The route 168 designation was eventually truncated south of the bridge-tunnel, and portions of the former roadway became reused as frontage routes, as well as parts of state routes 30 and
State Route 143).
Anderson's Corner became far less busy with through tourist and other traffic after the interstate opened, not unlike many older business areas in the United States during that era of the mid-20th century.
Geography of James City County, Virginia