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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 3

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 3	Eagle Crest Rd., Eads Mill Rd., Brush Creek Falls Rd.	US 19, Camp Creek	WV 20, Speedway	12

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Overview

County Route 3 is a road in northern Mercer County with three distinct segments.

The northernmost leg near Camp Creek is two-laned, and forms part of Eagle Crest Road together with CR 3/1.

The trunk then bears southwest along a one-lane course parallel to the West Virginia Turnpike, leading to the unincorporated community of Eads Mill (home to a lumber mill operation between the teens and 1930s), and Brush Creek Falls where Eads Mill Road continues as CR 14.

CR 3 then bears east atop a plateau, connecting to the community of Speedway north of Athens.

History

CR 3 was commissioned in 1933, and routed upon pre-existing infrastructure from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Its course has largely been unchanged since its inception; however, the construction of the West Virginia Turnpike in the 1950s caused a portion of the road near Camp Creek to be adjusted, leaving behind a stub numbered CR 3/8.

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The access point to Brush Creek Falls is on CR 3. (Photo by the author, 2013.)

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Fractional spur roads

Originally, CR 3 had two direct road connections to the town of Athens via fords or bridges over Laurel Creek. Both of these crossings were later abandoned, leaving CR 3/7 as a pair of stubs that no longer connect.

Road	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
3/1	Eagle Crest Rd.	CR 3, Camp Creek	CR 2	6	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south.
3/2	Ellison School Rd., Tyree Rd.	CR 3, Eads Mill	CR 2	7	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. South portion impassable.
3/3	White Oak Creek Rd.	CR 3 near Brush Creek Falls	CR 3/4 and 44/6	2	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south.
3/4	(unknown name)	CR 3	CR 3/3 and 44/6	2	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. Impassable.
3/5	Oxley Hollow Rd.	CR 3	dead end (originally through to former WV 44, Athens)	2	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south. Truncated and impassable. Originally connected to Athens via a severed portion, now CR 20/3.
3/6	Horton Ln.	CR 3 west of Speedway	dead end (originally through to CR 44/6)	2	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south.
3/7	Keatley Rd., Mt. Jackson Heights Rd.	CR 3 west of Speedway	CR 20/3 (former 3/5) north of Athens	3	Original 1930s road with numbers assigned from north to south.
3/8	Silver Streak Rd.	CR 3, Camp Creek	dead end	insignificant	Former alignment of CR 3, severed by 1950s Turnpike construction.
3/9	Old Oxley Rd.	CR 3/7 north of Athens	CR 20/3 (former 3/5)	insignificant

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