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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

WV 24, US 219 and US 460

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Highway	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
US 460 (current alignment)	Tazewell County, Virginia state line south of Bluefield	Giles County, Virginia state line, Glen Lyn	43
US 460 (old alignment)	Tazewell County, Virginia state line, Bluefield	Giles County, Virginia state line, Glen Lyn	46
US 219 (historic)	US 19, Princeton	Giles County, Virginia state line, Glen Lyn	26

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Overview

WV 24, US 219, and US 460 are three highways whose history in Mercer County is quite literally entwined.

WV 24 was the first, and it appeared in the State Road Commission's original highway plan of 1922 as a road that started in Princeton and worked its way east. Though Route 24 passed out of the state at Glen Lyn, it actually re-entered West Virginia at Peterstown and functioned as a connection between Mercer County and Lewisburg, Marlinton, and points further northeast:

In 1926, the U.S. highway system was established. According to the numbering conventions of the AASHO, 3-digit highways function as spur roads of 2-digit "parents:" Ergo, US 219 was the second spur highway of US 19. In 1926, however, US 219 didn't extend south of Maryland, and it didn't actually touch US 19!

In 1934, US 219 was extended south through West Virginia, replacing WV 24 in its entirety and connecting with US 19 in Princeton as though it were always meant to be:

The AASHO wasn't quite done redrawing the highway map, though. In 1946 the organization took US 460, a short highway that connected to US 60 in Virginia's Tidewater region, and extended it all the way west to Missouri. In the process, Mercer County got a new highway to play with!

US 460 was originally a completely redundant highway in Mercer County, running as a concurrency with US 219 from Glen Lyn to Princeton and US 19 from Princeton to Bluefield. 460 though soon emerged as the more important transportation link, connecting Mercer County to Blacksburg and Roanoke to the east and such far-flung locales as St. Louis and Los Angeles (via US 66) to the west. US 460 would be prioritized for all highway widenings and improvements from this point on.

In 1965, U.S. President Johnson initiated the Appalachian Development Highway System as a Great Society program to alleviate poverty through economic development and break down the rural isolation that suffocated the region. West Virginia at the time was inhabited by a populace and government that recognized the collective societal benefits of public infrastructure as a Good Thing, so the project got the go-ahead.

In the 1970s, US 460's entire routing in Mercer County (save for small portions near Green Valley and Glen Lyn) was changed. The new road opened in phases between 1972 and 1978, and featured four lanes and a central divider. 460's course was separated from US 19 in Bluefield, as the latter road retained its earlier downtown alignment. Apart from the addition of traffic signals and a 1997 bypass of a curve south of Princeton, the highway has been unchanged since. Most of the bits and pieces of the old road are also still intact, and are numbered as US 19, WV 112, CR 19/33, WV 20, WV 104, CR 460/2, CR 460/1, CR 460/5, CR 35, and CR 460/6 from west to east.

But wait. Weren't there two highways that went this way?

When did US 219 disappear from Mercer County?

Most "official" sources say that US 219 was truncated to Rich Creek, Virginia in 1966, eliminating the redundant portion co-signed with US 460 and removing the highway from Mercer County in the bargain. This is borne out by evidence: The western leg of 219 disappeared from official West Virginia and Virginia highway maps by the first half of the 1970s.

When 219 in Mercer County ceased being signed in the field, though, is a murky matter. Since Corridor Q was already in the planning stages in 1966, it's plausible that the "219" signs were left in place on US 460 until the latter highway was transferred to its new alignment between 1972 and 1978. It's also plausible that WVDH may have peppered Mercer County with a "To 219" marker or two.

Making matters worse, US 219 made fleeting appearances as late as the 1990s on "casual" maps of dubious cartographic value. Here's one example, showing the local coverage and distribution areas for the GTE phone book:

At least by now, US 219 seems dead and buried in Mercer County. Its only visible traces are a plethora of 219-numerator county roads in the Princeton-Oakvale area, discussed further below.

Prehistory

The current "Corridor Q" route of US 460 was built as new construction between 1972 and 1978, with a few small newer and older bits and pieces. US 460's pre-1970s concurrency with US 19 west of Princeton was also built as new construction, albeit in the 1930s.

East of Princeton, US 219 and 460 originally followed a course that was a bit older...but not by much. Though some portions were in place by the 1880s, the majority of them don't appear to have been connected as a through road until WV 24 was commissioned in 1922.

US 219 and 460's eastern portion between Oakvale and Glen Lyn was originally paralleled by the tracks of the Virginian and Norfolk and Western railways. The two railways merged in 1959, leaving the company with redundant trackage. The West Virginia State Road Commission and Virginia Department of Highways bought a portion of this right-of-way, and the majority of US 460's current course between Kellysville, West Virginia and Narrows, Virginia was built directly over the Virginian railway grade...including the Hales Gap Tunnel, which was filled.

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Points of interest

Important as a transportation link that US 460 may be, it isn't exactly a road conducive to photography. Since Corridor Q bypasses Bluefield's and Princeton's commercial business districts, there isn't much in the way of old buildings or commercial architecture to see along the route. Nor is there much in the way of infrastructure to marvel at, other than miles and miles of concrete ribbons. Half of 460's former alignment (and a fifth of its present) is a concurrency with US 19, and most of the points of interest on this stretch are instead shown on the US 19 page.

All photos by the author, 2013 (except as otherwise noted):

A: Hey, it's Kmart! It's also one of the few commercial buildings on Corridor Q with direct access from the highway. This store opened to great fanfare in October 1993, replacing an archaic 1969-era store that had originally been built for W.T. Grant. In 2015, it closed...an unfortunate development, but an unsurprising one since Kmart Corporation (and Eddie Lampert's shell-corporation successors) have been in full-on liquidation mode for the last twentysome years.

B: Though not directly on US 460, the Mercer Mall northeast of Bluefield is plainly visible from the highway...and until the 1990s, its entrance road was one of only four intersections on the highway busy enough to command a traffic light. It was a happening place a mere...30 years ago or so.

The hilarious "Mall" signs over the entrances date back to Mercer's original 1980 construction, and are classics.

C: This historical photograph was taken by an unknown California photographer in 1958. It appeared on eBay in 2024.

This incredibly rare picture was taken south of Princeton, facing south, and shows the triple concurrency of US 19, US 21, and US 460 that existed from 1946 to 1976. Both the Texaco station and part of the hillside behind were obliterated by highway widening in the late 1960s. But squint, and you can still kind of get a feel for how it used to be...

This aerial shot depicts the same scene as the 1958 picture, and clearly shows how the hillside was sliced by a rock cut in the name of highway widening. The 3-km section of road between Green Valley and Princeton was one of the few portions of US 460 in Mercer County that were built up directly into Corridor Q status without realignment...though once the 1990s came around, the curve in the distance was bypassed anyway. (Princeton High School yearbook, 1967.)

In the foreground of the photo, a faint road bears away from the highway and runs off the right edge. This is actually the grade of the historic interurban streetcar line, which had ceased operations 20 years previous.

D: US 219 terminated at the south end of the circle that surrounds the Mercer County Courthouse...as seen here in this heavily-airbrushed early-1940s postcard picture. A cutout route marker for US 219 is clearly visible in the foreground, along with signs for WV 44 (later renumbered 20), US 19 (still extant through the intersection), and US 21 (truncated north of Wytheville in the 1970s). Guide signs give directions and distances to Athens, Roanoke, Beckley, and Charleston...though you'd have to splay yourself along no fewer than three roads to get there!