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Circa 1860-1920s The Fancy Gap Turnpike was used as a stagecoach route from the South to the Great Lakes. The horse-drawn coaches would find a tortuous and steep five-hour climb up the mountain, during which they would stop halfway up the mountain to let the animals rest. Historians say this area was known as Double Branches, where two streams cascaded across the road. In the 1890s the railroad came as far north as Mount Airy. N.C., and Virginia farmers would drive their herds of cattle and sheep down Fancy Gap Turnpike to the railroad for shipment to points beyond. After the advent of the automobile. Virginia and North Carolina collaborated in building a graveled road from Mount Airy to Fancy Gap. completed in 1922. At Double Branches a culvert was placed beneath the road and a tavern and motel were built around where the water had raced. Automobiles and trucks of that era still had great difficulty getting up the mountain — motorists too would stop at the Double Branches for a break, cooling their automobiles along with themselves. This tavern/motel still sits along U.S. 52, just south of Fancy Gap. Even after the road was improved from that of 1928. it still caused nightmares for truckers and many songs have been written about its perils. In 1928. the road was further leveled and straightened and it was advertised that a car could now negotiate the grade in "high gear." From there, it would still take nearly another half century for the road to evolve into the road that still follows contours of the mountain.