Mountain Road began as an old Indian trail, and it later became the main route from Richmond to Charlottesville in the 1700s. In those days, horse-pulled wagons instead of cars traveled along it. Thomas Jefferson used this road to go back and forth from his home at Monticello, to the capital, Richmond. Soldiers marched along it as well.  Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who helped America win its independence from Britain, marched down this road on his way to the victory at Yorktown in 1781.  During the Civil War in 1864, Union General Phillip Sheridan traveled down Mountain Road on his way to destroy the RF&P railroad and fight in the Battle of Yellow Tavern. Once cars started being used in the 1900s, gas stations sprang up along Mountain Road.  Courtney Gas Station, featured in this video, is the only remaining historic gas station in Henrico County. (Trouble viewing the YouTube video? Try Vimeo or direct link).