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[hbelkins]

I'm trying to figure out the old routing of US 50 between Parkersburg and Clarksburg in West Virginia.

It's pretty intuitive between Ellenboro and Salem. Starting out in Ellenboro, go east on CR 50/39 (Washington Avenue/Lamberton Road), Myles Avenue/Northwest Burnpike in Pennsboro, then CR 50/40, becoming CR 50/30 (Sunnyside Road), then a short concurrency with existing US 50 to cross a stream, then CR 50/30 again to Main Street in West Union, then continuing as CR 50/30 as Smithton Road, until an intersection with existing US 50. It looks like there are a few cutoff loops until reaching CR 50/27, then another concurrency with existing US 50, then CR 50/28 (Main Street in Salem) which merges back into US 50 continuing on to the east.

Does anyone have an idea for the routing between the I-77 interchange at Parkersburg and the WV 16 interchange at Ellenboro? Also, how about from Salem eastward to and through Clarksburg to the Bridgeport area?

[NE2]

I'll tell you if you show me your vax card.

[froggie]

Here's what I've been able to discern between Parkersburg and Ellenboro, both from 1937 county level maps and historic aerial imagery.  List goes from west to east:

Wood County:
- 7th St out of Parkersburg (existing WV 618)
- Northwestern Dr near the US 50/WV 618 interchange
- Existing US 50 through its interchange with I-77
- Possibly some of CR 50/43 (Cloverleaf Rd, a southern frontage road east of I-77)
- CR 50/38 (Red Hill Rd)
- CR 50/37 (Murphytown Rd)
- CR 50/20 (Foothill Rd)
- CR 50/36 (Montgomery Hill Rd)
- CR 50/9
- CR 50/31 (Dallison Rd)
- A little bit of CR 50/39 at CR 50/35
- CR 50/40 (Bunker Rd)
- CR 50/41 (Deerwalk Rd)
     - An even older alignment in Deerwalk follows CR 50/32 and Ayers Ln.
- Rolling Rock Rd on the north side of Mountwood Park Lake
- Part of the southern frontage road east of CR 20/Borland Springs Rd
- CR 50/42 (Quarry Run Rd)

Ritchie County:
- CR 50/32 (Burning Springs Mine Rd)
- CR 50/69 (Sand Hill Rd)
- What Google Maps labels as "Mason Dr" and its driveway extension (WVDOT map calls it CR 50/70)
- A little bit of the road immediate opposite Mason Dr (unsigned CR 50/46)
- Some of CR 50/33
- CR 50/36 and CR 50/34 (Glendale Rd)
- WV 16

I'll post more later once I get home.

[froggie]

Continuing on:

What you state from Ellenboro through Greenwood is generally correct.  The way the maps line up, it's possible US 50 followed what is now CR 50/43 through Toll Gate (the currently existing road since the railroad bridge on CR 50/40 no longer exists).  A likely routing through Greenwood is along CR 36/Duckworth Rd, then CR 50/31 on the south side of Corridor D...could not find aerial imagery to confirm this but the 1962 topographic map lines up with this routing.

Between the two CR 50/30 junctions, old 50 ran slightly north of Corridor D near the creek crossing...you can see remnants of the routing in the wide expanse of grass between modern 50 and the business.

WVDOT GIS data indicates that old US 50 took Marie St through West Union instead of Main St.

Continuing east of the Smithton Rd segment of CR 50/30:

- CR 50/34 and some of the road along the rail trail
- Some of CR 50/35 (Sherwood Forest Rd) and CR 15 (Long Run Rd)
- As best as I can tell, 1950s-era US 50 did not use CR 50/24 (Antioch Rd), but stayed just south of it.  Nor did it use CR 50/23 (Sisk Ln).  It's possible that these were part of US 50's 1930s alignment then later smoothed out by the 1950s.  In the vicinity of CR 50/23, today's westbound lanes are where the 1957 alignment was.
- CR 50/27
- Toll House Rd east of CR 9
- CR 50/28 (W Main St, as noted by HB)
- CR 50/73 (E Main St in Salem)
- Some of the extension of E Main St east of the half-interchange
- A short bit of dead-end road west of CR 50/3
- Some of the south frontage road that is opposite CR 50/7 (Flinderation Rd)
- The old road went over the top of Brandy Gap Tunnel #2 (an old B&O rail line, later CSX before abandonment).  I believe the old alignment followed what looks like a very long driveway off of Pine Valley Dr (CR 50/57) that serves the Enon Cemetery.
- CR 11 into Wolf Summit
- Raceland Dr in Wolf Summit
- CR 50/39 (Sun Valley Rd)
- A short bit of WV 98
- CR 50/40
- CR 9 (Wilsonburg Rd)
- S 28th St (from a point east of Junkins Ave)
- W Pike St, then a Pike St/Main St 1-way couplet through downtown Clarksburg
- It is unclear where the 1-way couplet ended.  It was either at Monticello Ave or at Oak St.
- East of downtown, US 50 followed East Pike St, which pre I-79 tied directly into existing US 50 just east of I-79 and on into Bridgeport.

[hbelkins]

I'll try to plot some of that information out.

I'm interested in driving the old route after I finish with the new US 35 alignment on a trip I hope to make after Thanksgiving, but I'm not particularly desirous of driving a bunch of dead-end spurs and backtracking. I'm wanting to do pretty much a continuous trip straight through, most likely west to east (using WV 2 to get to Parkersburg from Pt. Pleasant). It's doubtful that I would start the trip at the potential southern extent (somewhere in Tennessee, North Carolina, or southwestern Virginia) and then go to Clarksburg and work west.

Google does a really poor job of marking the county route numbers, I've noticed.

[Dirt Roads]

If you are willing to zig-zag your way around the old Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike route, then you certainly need to get the local maps:
https://transportation.wv.gov/SDMT/GIS/MAPS/Pages/WVMapGISSelect.aspx

Note that some of the old US-50 routing in these counties veered off the path of the old Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, but you will get close enough.  I'm descended from originally settlers of Wood, (Wirt), Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison and (Lewis) counties.

[Mapmikey]

the 1938 Official has the one-way couplet in Clarksburg using Oak St to get back to Pike St.

The WV 1 page attempts to identify the 1926 routing of US 50...

[Dirt Roads]

the 1938 Official has the one-way couplet in Clarksburg using Oak St to get back to Pike St.

The WV 1 page attempts to identify the 1926 routing of US 50...

We were taught in West Virginia History Class that WV Route 1 was the old Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike.  Much later in life do I find out that WV-1 became US-50 over its entire length.  They are nearly the same west of Clarksburg, but the history fact book had this all wrong.  Wish I could find a copy. 

[Avalanchez71]

I'll tell you if you show me your vax card.

That is pretty neat notwithstanding the shot card request.

[Bitmapped]

the 1938 Official has the one-way couplet in Clarksburg using Oak St to get back to Pike St.

The WV 1 page attempts to identify the 1926 routing of US 50...

We were taught in West Virginia History Class that WV Route 1 was the old Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike.  Much later in life do I find out that WV-1 became US-50 over its entire length.  They are nearly the same west of Clarksburg, but the history fact book had this all wrong.  Wish I could find a copy. 

The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike didn't go near Clarksburg. It passed through Weston.

[Dirt Roads]

the 1938 Official has the one-way couplet in Clarksburg using Oak St to get back to Pike St.

The WV 1 page attempts to identify the 1926 routing of US 50...

We were taught in West Virginia History Class that WV Route 1 was the old Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike.  Much later in life do I find out that WV-1 became US-50 over its entire length.  They are nearly the same west of Clarksburg, but the history fact book had this all wrong.  Wish I could find a copy. 

The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike didn't go near Clarksburg. It passed through Weston.

Oops.  I saw Elkins, Buckhannon and Weston on the map and kept thinking Elkins, Philippi and Clarksburg.  I've travelled WV-47 a bunch of times and