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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 11

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 11 (north leg)	Lamar Rd., Giatto Rd., Crane Creek Rd.	CR 1, Lamar	WV 71, Montcalm	20
CR 11 (south leg)	Old Bramwell Rd., Warden Ave.	CR 20/8, Bluewell	US 19 (Bluefield Ave.), Bluefield	8
CR 11 (pre-1970s)	All of the above	CR 1, Lamar	US 52, Bluewell	34

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Overview

County Route 11 is a road in western Mercer County. Its current configuration consists of two discontinuous segments.

The north segment covers a broad swath of former coal mining areas with names like Godfrey and Weyanoke, running from the Wyoming County line south through the Lefthand Fork and Crane Creek valleys. South of its intersection with CR 13 in McComas, the highway is improved to near-primary standards with two lanes and a centre line.

The south segment of CR 11 runs from Brush Fork to Bluefield by way of the Old Bramwell Road. This segment is also two-laned, and happens to be a former U.S. highway.

History

CR 11 was commissioned in 1933, and routed upon pre-existing infrastructure from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The configuration of the highway has changed several times since.

In its earliest years, CR 11 extended south from Montcalm to a terminus at US 52 in Bluewell (then called Dolph), an estimated length of 25 kilometres.

In about 1938, US 52 was moved to a newly-constructed alignment between Dolph and Bluefield, crossing over the recently-completed Easley Bridge. The old alignment was reclassified as an extension of CR 11...and for the next four decades, CR 11 would narrowly edge out CR 1 as the longest secondary highway in Mercer County.

At some point in the late 1940s or early 1950s, a one-kilometre segment of CR 11 west of Montcalm was moved to a new parallel alignment. The old alignment became a looped extension of CR 11/6.

Finally in 1977, WV 71 was realigned to follow CR 11's course between Montcalm and Bluewell. This resulted in the middle portion of CR 11 vanishing from the map, leaving the north and south legs bisected by a 6 kilometre gap.

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The former McComas Methodist Church, easily the most recognizable landmark on CR 11's north leg...albeit one since demolished. (Photo by the author, 2013.)

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Fractional spur roads

Road	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
11/1	Peters Gap Rd.	CR 11, Lamar	CR 11 west of Giatto	6	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. Incorporates a portion of former CR 11/3.
11/2	Council Rd., Cemetery Hill Rd.	CR 10/11, Giatto	CR 71/3 west of Rock	6	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. Does not actually touch CR 11, unless CR 10/11 was originally treated as a CR 11 spur.
11/3 (old)	(unknown name)	CR 11 west of Giatto	McDowell County line near Wyoming County line	7	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. Middle segment abandoned by 1945; east leg now part of CR 11/1, west leg now CR 13/1 and CR 13/2.
11/4	Browning Lambert Mountain Rd.	CR 71/3; originally CR 11 west of Giatto	CR 11, Montcalm	6	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. North portion abandoned and impassable.
11/5	Duhring Rd.?	CR 11, McComas	CR 11/6	7	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. North portion impassable.
11/6	Buttermilk Junction Rd., Happy Hollow Rd., Taylor Ridge Rd.	CR 11, Montcalm	CR 15/1 west of Duhring	5	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. Incorporates a former alignment of CR 11.
11/7	Skating Rink Hollow Rd.	WV 71 (former CR 11), Lorton Lick	CR 71/5 south of Sandlick	2	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south.
11/8	(unknown)
11/9	Godfrey Hollow Rd.	CR 11 near Godfrey	dead end	insignificant
11/10	Methodist Hill Rd.	CR 11, Montcalm	CR 15, Duhring	2	Former alignment of CR 15, bypassed by 1945.
11/11	(unknown)
11/12	Windmill Hill Rd.	WV 71 (former CR 11), Bluewell	dead end	insignificant
11/13	Bluewell Ave.	CR 11, Bluewell	dead end	insignificant
11/14	Tank Hollow Rd.	CR 11/7, Lorton Lick	dead end	insignificant
11/15	Mannering Rd.	CR 11, McComas	dead end	insignificant
11/16	(unknown)
11/17	Ball Dairy Rd.	CR 11 north of Bluefield	dead end	insignificant
11/18	School St.	CR 11 north of Bluefield		insignificant
11/19	Midway St., S. Upshur St.	CR 11 north of Bluefield	CR 11 north of Bluefield	insignificant
11/20	Sheppet St.	CR 11, Bluewell	dead end	insignificant

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