WV 4 in North Central WV

[tollboothrob]

Anyone (H.B.?) know anything about historic termini of WV 4, specifically in the Buckhannon/Upshur County area? I've seen old maps signing WV 4 past its current northern terminus at WV 20 in Rock Cave, up WV 20 into and past Buckhannon. I've also seen it signed on old photos from Buckhannon, and secondary (fractional) routes that still read 4/xx well past the current terminus.

Just curious as to where it used to lead. Was it duplexed with WV 20, or did 20 replace it past Rock Cave? With all the people I know in the area, I should be able to just ask someone, but who really cares but us?

[NE2]

It followed WV 20, US 33, WV 28, and US 50 to Virginia. In the other direction, it used US 119 and US 60 to Huntington and most likely Kentucky.
1946 official map
I don't know why WV 4 extended like this; perhaps the state wanted a single diagonal number across the state from Winchester to Huntington. It certainly didn't exist that way in 1929.

[tollboothrob]

Thanks! A full answer, and old maps, a perfect time waster for the night shift! I notice on the 1946 map the back road I grew up on is shown. I wonder if it's the old alignment, as they rebuilt it at one point, the old alignment of which runs on the rear border of my property down there. Cool stuff, to me at least.

I just noticed the road is solid black, not black/white, so it must be the new one, since the old road wasn't paved. I didn't know it was done all the way back then. Do you have any other parts of the state from 1929, specifically the Upshur County area?

[NE2]

The site is a little hard to navigate, but here's Upshur County: http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/Midatlantic/WestVirginia/bluebook1929_055.html

Way northern Upshur in 1943: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-clarksburg-1943.jpg
and the rest in 1957: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-charleston-1957.jpg

[NE2]

One more source for more-detailed old topos (pre-route numbers): http://historical.mytopo.com/statemap.cfm?stateabr=WV

[froggie]

I have several old WV maps and took a look.  WV 4 was designated sometime between 1938 and 1941.  It does not appear on the 1938 map, but does on the 1941 map.  The full border-to-border route survived into the 1970s, but by 1972 had been truncated to Clendenin and Buckhannon.  The truncation from Buckhannon to Rock Cave appears to have happened sometime between 1973 and 1976.