SR 13 is the remnant of a much longer route. It was part of the initial system defined in 1918, running from the West Virginia state line via Lexington, Lynchburg, Farmville, and Richmond to State Route 8 near Tappahannock. This corridor is now generally U.S. Route 60, U.S. Route 501, U.S. Route 460, State Route 45, U.S. Route 60, and U.S. Route 360. This was entirely concurrent with other routes west of Farmville - State Route 14 west of Lynchburg and State Route 10 from Lynchburg to Farmville - and so in the 1923 renumbering it was truncated to Farmville-Tappahannock.