WV US 19 - Original Route

[Alps]

Before Corridor L, especially in the vicinity of the New River Gorge Bridge, what was the old route of US 19 from Beckley on up?  I am of the impression it followed 16 as far as Fayetteville, but then what?  Did it stay on WV 16 up to WV 4?  If so, why was it routed so far east when Corridor L was built?  Thanks.

[rickmastfan67]

(NOTE: I could be wrong since I have no access to older WV maps.)

I acually think WV-41 was the original route for US-19 to Summersville.  I remember reading somewhere that US-21 originally used the WV-16/61 routing up to Oak Hill.  In fact, the Oak Hill Bypass was originally built for US-21 and not US-19.

[froggie]

If I remember, I'll look it up when I get home.  I have several older WV maps in the collection.

[Alps]

Thanks - though WV 41 is certainly plausible given that it leaves and comes back to 19.

[CanesFan27]

(NOTE: I could be wrong since I have no access to older WV maps.)

I acually think WV-41 was the original route for US-19 to Summersville.  I remember reading somewhere that US-21 originally used the WV-16/61 routing up to Oak Hill.  In fact, the Oak Hill Bypass was originally built for US-21 and not US-19.

You are correct.  US 19 followed WV 41 from Beckley to just south of Summersville.  US 21 did follow WV 16-61 from Beckley to Fayetteville via Oak Hill.  The Oak Hill Bypass for US 19 was originally built as a US 21 bypass and not Corridor L/US 19.

I have a shell of a corridor l history page written.  Just haven't touched it in over a year.

[froggie]

It should be noted that the routing along today's WV 41 is a post-WW2 routing.  Prior to WW2, US 19 followed today's WV 16 from Beckley up to Belva (duplexed with US 21 as far as Gauley Bridge, where US 21 then duplexed with US 60 over to Charleston), and then followed today's WV 39 over to Summersville.

[agentsteel53]

somewhere around Summersville there is an old 19 alignment (not too old, just older than the four-lane, so maybe 1970s) with not only a shell of an AMC dealer (think Gremlin) but someone's house proudly flying a 48-star US flag!

[CanesFan27]

somewhere around Summersville there is an old 19 alignment (not too old, just older than the four-lane, so maybe 1970s) with not only a shell of an AMC dealer (think Gremlin) but someone's house proudly flying a 48-star US flag!

Was it north or south of Summersville...I want to say that's south of it near Summersville Lake

[bugo]

somewhere around Summersville there is an old 19 alignment (not too old, just older than the four-lane, so maybe 1970s) with not only a shell of an AMC dealer (think Gremlin) but someone's house proudly flying a 48-star US flag!

Sorry man, but when I think AMC I think Rebel Machine, SC/Rambler, Hornet SC 360, Ambassador, etc.  I try to pretend the Gremlin and Pacer never existed.

[Alps]

How about the old AMC Eagle brand?

[dave19]

somewhere around Summersville there is an old 19 alignment (not too old, just older than the four-lane, so maybe 1970s) with not only a shell of an AMC dealer (think Gremlin) but someone's house proudly flying a 48-star US flag!

Just south of Sutton on old Route 19, there is another old garage (in poor shape) with an AMC dealer sign on it.

[hbelkins]

Bumping this...

I'm trying to figure out the route that US 21 took through Beckley. As mentioned above, US 19 (once routed away from Gauley Bridge) followed WV 41 to Summersville.

Given the way that Eisenhower Drive (US 19) and Robert C. Byrd Drive (the US 19/WV 16 concurrency) are built up now, it's hard to tell exactly where US 21 may have split from US 19 and what route it may have taken. It's also obvious that the route of WV 16 from the Turnpike interchange through Beckley to the commercial area along US 19 (much of which isn't even in the Beckley city limits) is of more modern construction.

Also, there's a short segment of WV 41 that runs from US 19 to WV 210 that is not obvious as having been part of any US route.

Depending on where US 19 and US 21 split, it's possible that neither US route ran through downtown Beckley. US 19 certainly doesn't.

And also as mentioned above, the Oak Hill bypass was originally signed as US 21. I have an older WV official map (early 1970s) that shows the New River Gorge bridge under construction and the segments of Corridor L that were open at the time labeled as US 21.

Also curious about WV 61. There's a "Y" split, common at a lot of intersections in WV, where WV 61 now ends at WV 41. It almost appears that the connection from WV 61 south to WV 41 south (and vice versa) was the through route.

That "Y" intersection at Chimney Corner, where WV 16 (former US 21) and US 60 meet, certainly indicates that old US 21 was the through route.

[Avalanchez71]

So why isn't the Beckley By-Pass a numbered route?  Is it a municipal route?

[alecscradle]

I'm not sure why you guys are saying that US 19/21 didn't go through Beckley and was previously routed on WV 41.  After a quick google search I found the 1933 Atlas which shows US 19/21 going from Beckley to Fayetteville, then running along current WV 16 to Gauley Bridge and US 21 goes along US 60, while US 19 goes to Summersville on the current WV 16/39 Route.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/32767/West+Virginia+State+Atlas+1933/

[wphiii]

I'm not sure why you guys are saying that US 19/21 didn't go through Beckley and was previously routed on WV 41.  After a quick google search I found the 1933 Atlas which shows US 19/21 going from Beckley to Fayetteville, then running along current WV 16 to Gauley Bridge and US 21 goes along US 60, while US 19 goes to Summersville on the current WV 16/39 Route.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/32767/West+Virginia+State+Atlas+1933/

Someone did point that out:

It should be noted that the routing along today's WV 41 is a post-WW2 routing.  Prior to WW2, US 19 followed today's WV 16 from Beckley up to Belva (duplexed with US 21 as far as Gauley Bridge, where US 21 then duplexed with US 60 over to Charleston), and then followed today's WV 39 over to Summersville.

[Bitmapped]

The 1933 and 1946 State Road Commission maps I have show US 19 and US 21 multiplexed the entire length of Raleigh County. They used the route of present day WV 16 north of the Eisenhower Drive/Robert C. Byrd Drive split in Beckley, and the current routing of US 19 south of there. US 19 was moved to follow WV 41 sometime between 1946 and 1961.

The 1946 map shows a US 19A following WV 210 and WV 16.

The 1933 and 1946 maps show WV 41 on its current alignment in Raleigh County. WV 61 shows up on its current route by 1946.

[Bitmapped]

So why isn't the Beckley By-Pass a numbered route?  Is it a municipal route?

Internally, WVDOH considers it to be Bypass US 19 right now. When it is complete and ties back into Robert C. Byrd Drive, the mainline US 19 designation is supposed to get moved onto it.

[hbelkins]

I'm not sure why you guys are saying that US 19/21 didn't go through Beckley and was previously routed on WV 41.  After a quick google search I found the 1933 Atlas which shows US 19/21 going from Beckley to Fayetteville, then running along current WV 16 to Gauley Bridge and US 21 goes along US 60, while US 19 goes to Summersville on the current WV 16/39 Route.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/32767/West+Virginia+State+Atlas+1933/

Not DOWNTOWN Beckley. US 19 never enters the downtown area, and it's probable that the path that Eisenhower Drive/Robert C. Byrd Drive takes to get from the WV 3 and WV 210 intersections to where US 19 joins Corridor L was extremely rural 30 or 40 years ago. Most of the commercial development north of where WV 41 north splits is relatively new.

[Mapmikey]

I'm not sure why you guys are saying that US 19/21 didn't go through Beckley and was previously routed on WV 41.  After a quick google search I found the 1933 Atlas which shows US 19/21 going from Beckley to Fayetteville, then running along current WV 16 to Gauley Bridge and US 21 goes along US 60, while US 19 goes to Summersville on the current WV 16/39 Route.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/32767/West+Virginia+State+Atlas+1933/

Not DOWNTOWN Beckley. US 19 never enters the downtown area, and it's probable that the path that Eisenhower Drive/Robert C. Byrd Drive takes to get from the WV 3 and WV 210 intersections to where US 19 joins Corridor L was extremely rural 30 or 40 years ago. Most of the commercial development north of where WV 41 north splits is relatively new.

US 19-21 followed WV 210 originally which does go downtown.

[VTGoose]

US 19-21 followed WV 210 originally which does go downtown.

Based on a 1932 topo map, U.S. routes 19 and 21 did come into Beckley from Glen Morgan up S. Kanawha St., today's WV 210, to Main St. in downtown and a junction with WV 16 (which reached that point via Neville St. to Heber St. to Main St. Both routes continued on N. Kanawha St. to Sprague, Skelton, Cranberry, Prosperity, and eventually Mt. Hope on what is today Robert C. Byrd Dr.

A 1929 topo map, which has later undated revisons, shows U.S. 19 coming into Beckley up S. Kanawha St., to take a right on Johnstown Rd. (today's WV 41) to head northeast to Johnstown (marked as "Johnstown School" on a 1913 topo map and the site of Pinecrest Sanitarium on a 1989 topo). From there, the road turned north on the same road as exists today until it reached where present-day U.S. 19 continues north, the old route followed WV 41 (which still exists) through Warden and Lanark to Batoff Creek and a junction with WV 61. U.S. 21 remained on the same alignment, along with WV 16, heading toward Mt. Hope, Oak Hill, and beyond.