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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 8

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 8	Dott Rd.	WV 10 near Springton	CR 6 near Wyoming County line	5

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Overview

County Route 8 is a minor road in northwest Mercer County, connecting the former coal camp of Wenonah (also called Dott) to the highway grid. It was built parallel to a branch of Righthand Fork and a now-abandoned branch of the Norfolk & Western Railway. The majority of the road is level and paved; however, the north extremity is twisting and unpaved.

History

The area served by CR 8 had no roads or permanent settlement until mining began at the turn of the century. Even after Wenonah was established, the camp initially connected to other towns and cities solely by rail, not by road. It wasn't until the early 1920s that the road that would become CR 8 finally appeared on maps!

CR 8 was commissioned in 1933, and routed upon this infrastructure. Its course has been unchanged since its inception.

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It seems incredulous that West Virginia would devote an entire highway number just to serve a single industry...yet that's precisely what was done in the 1930s with Mercer County CR 8.

Most residential buildings in Wenonah/Dott were demolished by the 1970s, and mining ceased at the midpoint of the decade. Today, the only hint that a community ever existed here is the name "Dott Road:" All the buildings and infrastructure that once stood are now gone.

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Fractional spur roads

Surprisingly, CR 8 has no numbered spurs.

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