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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 1

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 1	Flat Top Rd., Egeria Rd., Clarks Gap Rd.	US 19 south of Flat Top	CR 11, Lamar	33

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Overview

Mercer County's secondary highways are numbered off in roughly geographic order, with the lowest numbers in the north and the highest numbers in the south.

With that rule in mind, it comes as little surprise that the highway with the lowest number of all is the one that fastidiously grips the county line. County Route 1 begins near Mercer County's northern extremity and rides the ridge of Flat Top Mountain southwest to Clark Gap and the former coal camp of Lamar. The area it passes through is sparsely populated but quite scenic, with many portions of the route flanked by tall trees and plunging hills.

At 33 kilometres, CR 1 is the longest secondary road in Mercer County. The road also occasionally treads into Raleigh and Wyoming Counties; however, WVDOT regards the entire road to be in Mercer County for maintenance purposes.

History

CR 1 was commissioned in 1933, and routed upon pre-existing infrastructure from the late nineteenth century. Its course has been unchanged since its inception.

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A school bus parked at the intersection of CR 1 and WV 10, touching the edge of the county it's from. (Photo by the author, 2013.)

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Fractional spur roads

Road	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
1/1	Bob Vines Rd.	CR 1 west of Flat Top	Raleigh County line, continues as CR 48/4	insignificant	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from east to west. Unmarked and impassable in Mercer County.
1/2	Camp Creek Trail Rd.	CR 1 west of Flat Top	Camp Creek State Forest limits (originally through to former CR 19/5, now Park Road 802).	6	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from east to west. North portion has been completely realigned since 1945, eliminating now-gone Mill Branch crossing. South portion now designated Park Road 803; impassable through Camp Creek State Forest.
1/3	Odd Rd.	CR 1 near Barn	Raleigh County line, continues as CR 48/1	insignificant	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from east to west.
1/4	Egeria Rd.	CR 1 near Barn	Raleigh County line, continues as CR 33	insignificant	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from east to west.
1/5	Camp Creek Trail Rd.	CR 1 north of Egeria	Camp Creek State Forest limits (originally through to former CR 1/2, now Park Road 803).	6	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from east to west. East portion now designated Park Road 804; impassable through Camp Creek State Forest.
1/6	(unknown)
1/7	Camp Creek Rd.	CR 1/5	Camp Creek State Forest limits	insignificant	Continues as Park Road 802. Formerly part of CR 19/5.

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