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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 85

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 85	Pratter Hollow Rd.	Tazewell County, Virginia state line north of Falls Mills	dead end	insignificant

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Overview

Of the numeric anomalies on Mercer County's highway map, none is stranger than the case of CR 85. This short, stub-like road exists in a pocket on the Tazewell County border. It does not touch nor intersect with any West Virginia road. The only way to reach it is to drive through Virginia.

In the field, the road is unmarked, and there is no indication of the state line other than a seam in the pavement indicating differences in maintenance.

Even the numeric designation "85" is mired in mystery. The number is too high to be sequential. A state highway 85 once existed on both sides of the state border, and this would seem to be a homage to that...but WV/VA 85 was renumbered 102 by 1959. Moreover, neither CR 85 nor its continuation on the Virginia side (SR 681) touch the historic course of Highway 85: Virginia SR 643 is in the way.

CR 85 is roughly 700 metres long; the combined length with SR 681 is about 1.6 km.

History

Historic maps suggest that the Pratter Hollow Road was built around the turn of the century.

When CR 85 was formally commissioned is unknown. It does not appear on WVSRC/WVDH maps of the 1930s, 1940s, or 1970s...suggesting that the state may have been unaware of its existence.

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Fractional spur roads

Unsurprisingly given its short length, CR 85 has no numbered spurs.

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