Not many people realize the oldest road in America was created to connect Charleston and Boston by way of a 1,300-mile simple roadway closely following the coast in the American colonies. It was laid out and constructed between 1650 and 1735 and parts of it still exist today, at least in South Carolina. Other sections, particularly on the more northern end, have been incorporated into major highways.

If you never thought an old road could captivate your curiosity for any length of time, then pay a visit to Charleston.
Flickr/Henry de Saussure Copeland
Seen here in a Library of Congress image taken in 1865, the streets at Market and King are lined with cobblestones used as ballast on ships; the smooth crosswalks were laid with Welsh slate. Today, underneath layers of asphalt, most of those cobblestones are likely just as you see them here.
Today, seven such cobblestone streets are still exposed and maintained in the historic district.
Flickr/Kevin
You can read about all seven of them in this article.
Long before the inventions of trains, planes, and automobiles, there still existed a need to get from point A to point B in a timely fashion.
Flickr/simpleinsomnia
During the colonization of the Americas, Englands King Charles and King Charles II were instrumental in getting a main road built to connect Boston and Charleston.
Wikipedia/TastyCakes (public domain)
The colonial governors, on order from Charles the II of England, would eventually succeed in creating a successful highway that connected most of the colonies.

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There was a period of approximately nine years when Charles the II of England was forced into exile in neighboring France.
Wikipedia/John Michael Wright
But it would appear that during his period of exile, the orders for building the road were still carried out in the colonies.
Although most of that original road seen in the route illustration above has been changed, large portions from Virginia to Charleston are still in place.
Wikipeida/Cg-realms
In South Carolina, if you've ever driven the coastal Highway 17 between Charleston and the North Carolina state line, then you've traveled in the same path as the colonials.
Flickr/simpleinsomnia
Of course, the surface is now paved and has been widened to accommodate more traffic and vehicles larger than a carriage or a horse, but it's believed that most of the South Carolina portion of the King's Highway is still in the same place as the original road.
In fact, along the Grand Strand, parts of Highway 17 Business (the original road) are actually named Kings Highway.
Google Maps
And now you know why. The King's Highway still exists here in South Carolina, a noble reminder of the state's transportation history.

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