The County Line of
Northumberland and Lancaster Virgina
on Route 200
Prepared by WD3P
Based on trip to the area in December 1998
The Line
The county line between Northumberland and Lancaster Counties in South East Virginia is mostly along rural roads or is in the middle of a stream or river. The stretch along Route 200 north of Kilmarnock is very complex with the county line crossing the road several times or being part of the road.
The DeLorme Street Atlas USA and the Virginia Department Of Transportation (VDOT) County Maps which are based mainly on the Census TIGER maps agree for the most part. There are a couple of points of disagreement. These were my source for the following description of the county line.
Going North from Kilmarnock on Route 200 from Route 3 for about 0.08 mile one first arrives at the county line. The list below describes the line for the next 4.5 miles.
1. 0.38 miles - Route 200 is the county line.
2. 0.68 miles - The line is east of the road, usually less then 600 feet from the road.
3. 0.26 miles - The line crosses the west of the road and remains there for this short distance. This is the DeLorme version. The VDOT maps make the road the county line here.
4. 0.68 miles - The line again crosses the road this time going to the east of the road. Again this is the DeLorme version of the county line. The VDOT maps continue the road as the count line. The end of this stretch is where Route 607 meets Route 200.
5. 1.48 miles - This is a complex stretch. DeLorme puts the county line to the west of the road for the entire stretch. The VDOT maps put it to the west for the first 0.35 and the last 0.87 miles. But for the middle 0.36 miles they make Route 200 the county line.
6. 0.23 miles - The county is now to the east of Route 200.
7. 0.42 miles - Delorme splits this distance. For the first half the county line is just west of the road - not more than a few feet, apparently along an old roadbed. The Route again becomes the county line. The VDOT maps just show Route 200 as the county line.
8. At this point, about 4.5 miles from Kilmarnock the county lines bears off to the west along state road 615. Durring this entire stretch the county line is at most 1500 feet from Route 200. This occurs during a stretch where the line follows Route 679 to the west of Route 200. Viewing the maps and the roads it seems clear that the county line followed an old roadbed. When the road was widened and straightened then the line and the new road did not always follow the same path.
The County Line Signs
So where in all of this are the county line signs? As it turns out there is only one set of signs. These are on both sides of Route 200 just over 2.5 miles north of Kilmarnock. The signs are just a few feet south of where Route 607 meets Route 200 from the west. At this point the VDOT maps show this to be at the end of a stretch where the county line has been following the road. With the county line bearing off to the west at Route 607. The Delorme Street Atlas USA 6 shows that the county line crosses the Route 200 at Route 607. Both maps put the sign on the west side of the road in Lancaster County. The VDOT maps put the sign on the east side of the road in Northumberland County. The Delorme maps are not clear where the sign on the east side of the road is. It could well be on the real county line.
View The Map of the Northern Part of the Line