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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

WV 44 and WV 20

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Highway	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
WV 20 (current alignment)	US 52, Bluewell	Summers County line north of Lerona	40
WV 20 (1940s-1970s alignment)	Tazewell County, Virginia state line, Pocahontas	Summers County line north of Lerona	51
WV 20 and 44 (original alignment)	US 219 (now WV 104), Princeton	Summers County line north of Lerona	35

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Overview

Let me get sentimental for a moment: West Virginia Route 20 is my road; the highway that I grew up a stone's throw from and traversed more times than I care to admit. Route 20 was a lifeline to anyone who had a car, connecting the isolated community of Athens to recreational opportunities to the north and shopping destinations to the south. It also kept on going...and going, and going. In fact, Route 20 is the longest West Virginia state highway in the entire state, terminating in Wetzel County just shy of the Ohio River and passing through such cities as Buckhannon and Clarksburg along the way. It's also one of the state's oldest highways, appearing in West Virginia's original state route plan of 1922.

But it's not quite as simple as that. WV 20 in 1922 was a fraction of its modern length, only extending as far north as Greenbrier County. Its south end terminated in Princeton. What's more, the number didn't stay consistent: By 1932, the State Road Commission had inexplicably renumbered the highway as WV 44. The "44" number was current at the time West Virginia's county highway system was established in the mid-1930s, resulting in a plethora of 44-prefixed fractional roads that remain along the route to this day.

The State Road Commission were never prone to letting a good number go unused, so the "20" route number was promptly reassigned to a highway in northern West Virginia. From there the new WV 20 was extended southward, bumping into the north end of WV 44 in the process. By 1945 the "20" route number had been reinstated along WV 44, reuniting WV 20 with its former course in Mercer County as if it were meant to be! At the same time, the southern end of the highway was extended west through Princeton, Bluewell, and Bramwell to the Virginia border, turning WV 20 into a true "cross-state" road.

A few minor realignments of WV 44 and WV 20 were made between the 1930s and 1970s, most notably in Athens where the routing changed several times. By 1980, the Bramwell portion of the road near Virginia had been demoted to secondary status and renumbered as CR 120. The highway has been unchanged in Mercer County since.

Prehistory

WV 20 was routed on top of pre-existing infrastructure. The oldest portion of the road is likely the series of serpentine curves south of Athens; these are shown on USGS maps as early as 1887 with essentially the same routing as today. Most of the roads that were eventually signed as WV 20 were originally built in the 1890s, barring minor straightening and such. Between Athens and Princeton, WV 20 was built on top of unused grading prepared in the teens for a proposed interurban streetcar system extension (see below).

When WV 20 was extended west of Princeton in the 1940s, it was routed along highways that had previously been numbered as CR 32 from Princeton to Glenwood, CR 17 from Glenwood to Bluewell (US 52), and CR 15 from US 52 to the Virginia state line. Portions were also added as concurrencies with WV 71 (which occupied a substantially different southeasterly alignment until 1977) and US 52. Of the county highways that WV 20 replaced, only CR 15 still survives today in truncated form.

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Points of interest

A: Several segments of WV 20 in Mercer County have undergone realignment over the years, including this 2-kilometre bit south of Lerona that was bypassed in the 1950s. Though WV 44 had reverted to being WV 20 by the time this realignment was done, the state chose to make a homage to the old number by redesignating this segment as CR 44, which it remains today.

B: Another slight realignment of WV 20 was done at the Bent Mountain Road junction north of Athens in order to straighten the road and eliminate a T-intersection for through traffic. From overhead, it's plainly obvious how the road used to be aligned. (Note also the mix of "44" and "20"-prefixed fractional designations.)

C: Athens is my hometown, and it's also the place that yields the single most fascinating aspect of WV 20's history. It seems that the town and state just couldn't decide which way the northbound road should go out of town!

Athens is located high on a ridgetop, and its north-facing topography doesn't lend itself to an obvious way out. When a northbound road to Hinton was first constructed in the early 1890s (first image), it approached Athens (then known as Concord Church) through a meandering course of switchback turns and a diagonally-aligned street which today is known as Old Hinton Road.

By 1916, Athens had seen growth and developed a semblance of a street grid. In the process, the highway approach was straightened out and moved onto a new north-south block known as Burch Street. When WV 20 came into existence in 1922, it was undoubtedly given this routing. The USGS clearly shows WV 20 being aligned this way on photorevisions of their 1924 base map (second image), even after the road was realigned yet again.

By 1935, WV 20 had become WV 44. The switchback turns north of Athens must have been a dangerous liability for traffic, since the road was realigned again...to another meandering course, this time feeding traffic a block west onto Hinton Street (which might have assumed that name at this time). The West Virginia State Road Commission map from this era (third image) clearly shows WV 44 being routed this way...and the base map has stray marks visible from where the previous switchback-laden Burch Street alignment was literally scratched away! It's also worth noting that at this time, WV 44 was still nothing more than a dirt road north out of town.

By 1945 (fourth image), WV 44 was back to being 20 again. The highway also underwent its third realignment, straightening out the approach and feeding itself directly onto State Street like it does today. This time they must have finally gotten the alignment right, since WV 20's course through Athens has been unchanged ever since.

Unfortunately for the curious, none of these old alignments are passable to motorists or even pedestrians. The stubs of the switchback-laden 1890s-1930s alignment now end in peoples' driveways, while the bulk of the 1930s-1940s alignment is presently an overgrown path through private farmland.

Hinton Street in Athens: A former state highway? Looking north from this vantage point, a curb cut is visible in the distance...a subtle but sure clue that this street went on and had a lot more significance at one time. (Photo by the author, 2000.)

One block west lies WV 20's current alignment, which curves into and commandeers the pre-existing north-south course of State Street. (CR 20/2, if you will.) (Photo by the author, circa 1992.)

Regardless of which way WV 20 approached Athens, it would have eventually led here: The corner of State and Vermillion Streets (aka WV 20 and CR 9), home to Athens' sole traffic light. The CVS store was built in 1998. Had I taken this nighttime shot three years earlier, three houses and a former Gulf gas station would have been visible where the parking lot is now, and I'll forever kick myself for not taking more photos before the town's turn-of-the-century demolition spree. (Photo by the author, 2000.)

Visible on the other side of the street are the town hall (housed in a very old building that housed Athens' telephone switchboard in the early 20th century) and a masonic lodge.

D: 9 kilometres south of Athens lies WV 20's original terminus at the "Athens Crossroads" intersection on Princeton's east end. By 1945 the highway had been extended west through downtown Princeton and Bramwell. The original terminus remained significant as the point where WV 20 and US 219/460 touched, however...and by mid-century it was turning into a spot of commercial development. In 1978 the intersection became home to Allen's Supermarket, a onetime IGA affiliate that later evolved into a local chain. (Photo by the author, 2009.)

E: WV 20 leads motorists through downtown Princeton on Thorn and Mercer streets, affording a glimpse of more local landmarks along the way. One such landmark is the historical Princeton Post Office, constructed in 1934. The USPS relocated to a new post office around the year 2000, and the older building was later refurbished as the new home of the Princeton Public Library. Note the route marker in the foreground. (Photo by the author, 2013)

F: A short distance away from the Post Office lies another one of Princeton's landmarks: The Mercer County Courthouse, designed by Alex Mahood, completed in 1931, and straddling the line between Art Moderne and neoclassical architecture. The jailbar-like columns and monochromatic, slab-like faces give the building a very intimidating appearance...heightened by the courthouse's location at the top of the hill, facing traffic from two directions and towering forebodingly over the city for blocks around. (Photo by the author, 2000.)

Note the route marker assembly, with WV 20 signs on the right side of the pole and nothing on the left. Could the missing spots have held a US 21 or US 460 sign at one time? It makes you wonder.

The Mercer County Courthouse is a focal point for through traffic. WV 20 intersects US 19 at this spot and follows a traffic circle arrangement around the building. These 1970s-era signs with Series C numerals once helped guide traffic through this arrangement, but they're gone now. (Photo by the author, 2000.)

G: Here's how Princeton looks from the city's west edge, still on WV 20. The extremely weathered sign at the bottom (which is now gone) says, "This community has been selected as All West Virginia City, sponsored by West Virginia Chamber of Commerce." What being an All West Virginia City entails, I don't know: This was an artifact of a bygone 1970s-era promotion whose significance has long been lost to time. (Photo by the author, 2013.)

H: Several segments of WV 20 west of Princeton have undergone minor realignments since the 1950s...including the 2-kilometre stretch that carries the highway to its present-day terminus at US 52 in Bluewell. The old alignment (red arrows) straddles both sides of WV 20's present-day routing (blue arrows), and is now designated as CR 20/8.

I: From the 1940s until the 1970s, WV 20 continued beyond Bluewell, following a concurrency with US 52 north to Bramwell and then leading west to Virginia (Photo by the author, 2013.).

Bramwell was the "Home of the Millionaires:" The place where the wealthy robber barons of West Virginia's early 20th century coal industry resided and commissioned impressive works of residential architecture for themselves built on the backs (and lungs) of human lives. Millionaires are also a fickle bunch who abandoned the town that they helped create: Bramwell's population started shrinking as early as the 1920s, and the town's architectural development became stopped in time.

Since the late 1970s, WV 20's former course through Bramwell has been signed as CR 120. This road is an anomaly in many ways: It's signed with full-size black-and-white route markers equivalent to the standard for state highways...not the one-piece guide signs that West Virginia county roads usually receive. It's built like a state highway, with edge and centre-line striping...not a one-lane slab of asphalt with gravel shoulders like so many county highways typically are. It also has a three-digit number (obviously selected for its similarity to "20") instead of the low numbers and fractional numbers that county highways typically receive. In other words: It might as well still be WV 20. (Photo by the author, 2013.)

After taking a jog through Bramwell's block-long "downtown," CR 120 passes through the neighbourhood of Coopers (also in Bramwell) and ends at the Virginia state line, a stone's throw from Pocahontas. At this point the road transforms into Virginia SR 644 and continues for some 27 kilometres before petering out in the middle of nowhere.

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Fractional spur roads

Due to WV 20's length and the sheer number of farms and dwellings requiring connections along the route, it boasts the greatest number of fractional spur roads of any highway in Mercer County. In fact, the route denominators would have easily hit three digits if they weren't split between the "44" and "20" prefixes!

Route 20 was signed as Route 44 at the time the fractional road system was established in the 1930s, and the oldest spur roads thus bear "44" numerators as a shadowy, ghost-like reminder of the former road. CR 44/1 through CR 44/12 were numbered off southly from Summers County to Princeton as part of the original fractional number allocation circa 1935, with higher-numbered roads being later additions.

CR 44/10 (Old Athens Road) is particularly interesting. It dates to the nineteenth century, and was part of the original route linking Athens to Princeton. The steep grades of this road were deemed unsuitable when plans to build an Athens-Princeton interurban rail link were flouted in the teens, so an alternate southerly course was duly graded for this purpose. Though the interurban rail link was never built (one of many Mercer County mistakes), the grading was reused for WV 20 when the highway was commissioned in 1922.

Route	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
44/1	Pine Grove Rd.	WV 20 (former WV 44), Lerona	dead end	7	Original 1930s assignment.
44/2	Browns Ridge Rd.	CR 44 (former WV 44), Lerona	Summers County line	5	Original 1930s assignment.
44/3	Lick Creek Rd.	CR 44/2, Lerona	dead end (originally through to Summers County line)	6	Original 1930s assignment. Truncated and impassable.
44/4	East Side Bent Mountain Rd.	CR 44 (former WV 44), Lerona	CR 44/7 east of Athens	8	Original 1930s assignment.
44/5	Cyprus Ln.	CR 44/1	dead end (originally through to WV 44, now 20)	4	Original 1930s assignment. Road has been completely realigned since 1945. Part of the former road is now 20/93.
44/6	White Oak Creek Rd.	WV 20 (former WV 44) north of Athens	CR 3/3	9	Original 1930s assignment.
44/7	Bent Mountain Rd.	WV 20 (former WV 44) north of Athens	18/3 near Pettry	4	Original 1930s assignment. Includes a stub of former WV 44 & 20.
44/8	Pump House Rd.	WV 20 (former WV 44) north of Athens	CR 7 east of Athens	2	Original 1930s assignment.
44/9	Laurel Creek Rd.	WV 20 (former WV 44) south of Athens	CR 9/1 south of Athens	3	Original 1930s assignment. Impassable.
44/10	Old Athens Rd.	WV 20 (former WV 44) south of Athens	WV 20 (Thorn St.), Princeton	6	Original 1930s assignment. Former alignment of WV 44 & 20's predecessor road. A small portion in Princeton is impassable.
44/11	N. McNutt Ave.	CR 44/10, Princeton	WV 20 (Thorn St.), Princeton	2	Original 1930s assignment. Technically ends at Princeton city limits. Originally extended north 2 km, crossing Brush Creek to end at Virginian Railway; truncated by 1945.
44/12	Bratton Ave.	CR 24/1 north of Princeton	dead end (originally through to 219/3)	insignificant	Original 1930s assignment.
44/13	(unknown)
44/14	(unknown)
44/15	Lamb Ln.	CR 44/1 near Lerona	dead end at Summers County line	insignificant
44/16	Clover Ln.	CR 44 (former WV 44), Lerona	CR 44/17	insignificant
44/17	Clover Ln.	CR 44/16	dead end	insignificant
44/18	Foggy Bend Ln.	CR 44/17	dead end	insignificant
44/19	Fairway Dr.	CR 44 (former WV 44), Lerona	dead end	insignificant
44/20	Hill St.	CR 44/11, Princeton	CR 44/22, Princeton	insignificant
44/21	Estill St.	CR 44/11, Princeton	CR 44/20, Princeton	insignificant
44/22	Murdock St.	CR 44/20, Princeton	Butler St., Princeton	insignificant
44/23	Estill St., McKinley Ave.	CR 44/10, Princeton	Roundhouse Rd., Princeton	insignificant	Technically ends at Princeton city limits.
44/24	Double Cabin Branch Rd.	CR 44/6 north of Athens	dead end	2
44/25	Duncan Rd.	CR 44/10 north of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
44/26	Birdtown School Rd.	CR 44/4, Bent Mountain	dead end	insignificant
44/27	Banks Rd.	CR 44/4, Bent Mountain	dead end	insignificant
44/28	Cross Lane Rd.	CR 44/7 north of Athens	CR 44/7 north of Athens	insignificant	Loop
44/29	Hideaway Pl.	CR 44/28	dead end	insignificant
44/30	Furrow Ln.	CR 44/28	dead end	insignificant
44/31	Mink Farm Rd.	CR 44/10, Princeton	dead end	insignificant
44/32	Ford Rd.	CR 44/31, Princeton	dead end	insignificant
44/33	Le Farm Rd.	CR 44/4, Bent Mountain	dead end	3
44/34	Old Logan Rd.	CR 44/10 north of Melrose	dead end	insignificant	Stub of old CR 44/10 realigned by the construction of the WV Turnpike. Doubtful that it ever went to Logan.
44/35	East View Heights Rd.	CR 44/4, Bent Mountain	dead end	insignificant

CR 20/1 is an anomaly: This road was numbered in the 1930s as a spur not of WV 20 (which didn't exist at the time), but of a separate CR 20 east of Athens. After WV 44 reverted to the "20" number in the 1940s, CR 20 was renumbered as CR 9/8 in order to avoid numeric duplication. Nevertheless, its orphaned CR 20/1 fractional spur persists on maps to this day.

Another interesting anomaly is the town of Bramwell: Virtually every one of the town's streets has been numbered as a fractional county highway, resulting in a huge block of contiguous numbers from 20/66 through 20/82. County highways were traditionally a rural phenomenon, ending at town or city limits where municipal maintenance began, so this circumstance is unusual. Bramwell's population has been in free fall for a century, plunging from a high of 1,690 in 1920 to an amount a fifth that. Without having a tax base to pay for maintenance, the town undoubtedly found itself forced to farm its streets off to state control.

Other than CR 20/1, all "20" numerator roads were commissioned in or after the 1940s. Most could charitably be described as glorified driveways.

Road	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
20/1	Island Creek Rd.	CR 9/8 (former CR 20) east of Athens	Summers County line near Hill Top	11	Intersected CR 20, not WV 20. Segments impassable.
20/2	Cooper St.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Coopers	CR 20/17	insignificant
20/3	Oxley Hollow Rd.	WV 20, Athens	dead end	4	Formerly part of CR 3/5. Technically ends at Athens town limits.
20/4	Bragg Rd.	WV 20 south of Lerona	dead end	2
20/5	Bluestone Ave.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	US 52, Bramwell	insignificant
20/6	Northview Ave.	WV 20 north of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/7	Lilly Addition Rd.	WV 20, Princeton	HARP 920, Princeton	insignificant
20/8	Houston Rd., Spurrier Rd.	WV 20 east of Bluewell	US 52, Bluewell	2	Former alignment of WV 20.
20/9	Cooper St., Bell Rd.	CR 20/2, Coopers	CR 20/73, Coopers	insignificant
20/10	(unknown)
20/11	Gott Rd.	WV 20 (New Hope Rd.), Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/12	Dan Hale Reservoir Rd.	WV 20 near New Hope	WV 20 near New Hope	insignificant	Former alignment of WV 20.
20/13	Gobbler Run Rd.	CR 20/12	dead end	insignificant
20/14	(unknown)
20/15	Guard Dr.	WV 20 west of Princeton	WV 20 west of Princeton	insignificant	Former alignment of WV 20.
20/16	1st St.	CR 20/7, Princeton	CR 20/6, Princeton	insignificant
20/17	Shinbrier Mountain Rd.	CR 20/9, Cooper	dead end	2
20/18	(unknown)
20/19	(unknown)
20/20	Brick St., Duhring Ave.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	insignificant	Loop
20/21	(unknown name)	CR 20/20, Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/22	Bent Mountain Rd. (spur)	WV 20 north of Athens	CR 44/7 north of Athens	insignificant	Former stub of WV 44 & 20.
20/23	Sunset Dr.	WV 20 south of Lerona	dead end	insignificant
20/24	Parkview Terrace Rd.	WV 20 south of Lerona	dead end	insignificant
20/25	Charwood Ave.	WV 20 near Glenwood	CR 20/26	insignificant
20/26	Frontier Pl.	CR 20/25	CR 20/27	insignificant
20/27	Rustic Hill Dr.	CR 20/25	dead end	insignificant
20/28	Rimcrest Ave.	CR 20/25	CR 20/25	insignificant	Loop
20/29	Timber Hill Dr.	WV 20 near Glenwood	dead end	insignificant
20/30	Carl Wade Rd.	WV 20, Melrose	dead end	insignificant
20/31	Don Morgan Dr.	WV 20 near Glenwood	CR 71/9, Glenwood	insignificant
20/32	Rolling Hills Dr.	WV 20 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/33	Petty Rd.	CR 20/31	dead end	insignificant
20/34	Shaker Ln.	WV 20 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/35	Bailey Hollow Rd.	WV 20, Melrose	dead end	2
20/36	Cypher Rd.	CR 20/35, Melrose	dead end	insignificant
20/37	Mary I. Johnson Rd.	WV 20 north of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/38	Dove Ln.	WV 20 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/39	Hope Ln.	WV 20 west of Princeton	Undercliff Ter.	insignificant
20/40	Kelly St.	WV 20 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/41	Kaye Dr.	CR 20/40 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/42	Kim St.	CR 20/40 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/43	Caperton Ln.	WV 20 north of Athens	dead end	insignificant
20/44	Hurst Subdivision Rd.	WV 20 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/45	Hillview St.	CR 20/44 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/46	Lowe Ln.	CR 20/44 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/47	Surratt St.	WV 20, Bluewell	dead end	insignificant
20/48	Gospel Tabernacle Rd.	WV 20 north of Athens	dead end	insignificant
20/49	Old Wagon Rd.	CR 20/48 north of Athens	dead end	insignificant
20/50	(unknown)
20/51	(unknown)
20/52	Periwinkle Rd.	WV 20 near Glenwood	dead end	insignificant
20/53	Fairgrounds Rd.	WV 20 north of Princeton	WV 20 north of Princeton	insignificant	Loop
20/54	Hunnicutt Ln.	WV 20 north of Princeton	itself (loops)	2
20/55	Frankie St.	WV 20, Bluewell	WV 20 & US 52, Bluewell	insignificant
20/56	Moo Cow Rd.	WV 20 near New Hope	dead end	insignificant
20/57	Wolf Run Rd.	CR 20/31	dead end	insignificant
20/58	Caudill Ct.	CR 20/31	dead end	insignificant
20/59	Larue Rd.	WV 20 near Glenwood	dead end	insignificant
20/60	Jays Ln.	WV 20, Melrose	dead end	insignificant
20/61	Kinsman Ct.	CR 20/60, Melrose	dead end	insignificant
20/62	Spray Ln.	CR 20/60, Melrose	dead end	insignificant
20/63	Windyoaks Dr.	WV 20 near New Hope	dead end	insignificant
20/64	Windyoaks Dr.	CR 20/63	dead end	insignificant
20/65	Pinehill Dr., Maple Dr., Caldwell St.	WV 20 (State St.), Athens	CR 7/5 west of Athens	insignificant
20/66	(unknown name)	CR 20/72, Coopers	CR 20/72, Coopers	insignificant	Loop
20/67	(unknown name)	CR 20/2, Coopers	dead end	insignificant
20/68	Ramey St.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/69	Prospect Ave.	CR 20/68, Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/70	Coopers Rd.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Coopers	CR 20/71	insignificant
20/71	(unknown name)	dead end south of CR 20/70	dead end	insignificant
20/72	(unknown name)	CR 20/9, Coopers	dead end	insignificant
20/73	Bluestone Ln.	CR 20/9, Coopers	CR 20/70, Coopers	insignificant
20/74	Renova St.	CR 20/5, Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/75	(unknown name)	CR 20/5, Bramwell	CR 20/75, Bramwell	insignificant
20/76	Simmons St.	dead end south of CR 20/75	dead end	insignificant
20/77	Reservoir Hollow Rd.	CR 20/20, Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/78	N. River St.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	CR 20/20, Bramwell	insignificant
20/79	S. River St.	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	CR 20/20, Bramwell	insignificant
20/80	(unknown)
20/81	(unknown name)	CR 120 (former WV 20), Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/82	Spring St.	CR 20/5, Bramwell	dead end	insignificant
20/83	2nd St.	CR 20/7, Princeton	CR 20/16, Princeton	insignificant
20/84	(unknown)
20/85	Altar Rd.	CR 20/47, Bluewell	dead end	insignificant
20/86	Teresa St.	CR 20/35, Melrose	dead end	insignificant
20/87	Scott Knob Rd.	WV 20 north of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/88	(unknown)
20/89	2nd Ave.	CR 20/16, Princeton	HARP 920, Princeton	insignificant
20/90	(unknown name)	CR 20/32 near Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/91	(unknown name)	CR 20/32 near Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/92	Fairview St.	WV 20 west of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
20/93	Sun Valley Rd.	WV 20 south of Lerona	dead end	insignificant	Formerly part of 44/5.

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