“ The Midland Trail is more than a road ; it ’ s a virtual history book . Originally a crude pathway worn by buffalo and the early pioneers , it stretches from White Sulphur Springs westward to Kenova , zigzagging along rivers , over mountains and through lush valleys . Along the way it touches just about every aspect and time period of West Virginia ’ s story — coal mines and chemical plants , Civil War battlefields and historic churches , ancient Native American burial mounds and African-American slave quarters ” (" Highway to History ," by James E . Casto ).
In 2015 this storied road celebrated its 225th birthday marking the completion in 1790 of construction to its terminus at the head of navigable waters at Kelly ’ s Creek , which is the present-day Cedar Grove . As it gradually evolved from a buffalo path to a two-lane highway , it has been called by many names , such as the Buffalo Trail , the Lewis Trail , the Old Virginia State Road , the James River and Kanawha Turnpike , the Midland Trail , and , finally , U . S . Route 60 .
Steeped in history , many famous men and women traversed this historic trace through West Virginia . In 1774 , Colonel Andrew Lewis led a 1,200-man army from Lewisburg to Point Pleasant , where he defeated Chief Cornstalk . After this battle , the path became known as the Lewis Trail . George Washington traveled the trail as a surveyor and was instrumental in influencing the State of Virginia to turn the track into a usable road . Mary Draper Ingles walked portions of the trail as she made her dangerous and arduous escape from her captors of the Shawnee tribe . Daniel Boone hiked the trail as did many soldiers of both the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War . Booker T . Washington also walked the trail .
Though it was later supplanted for a time by the railroad as an important transportation route , the coming of the automobile breathed new life into the old road . By World War I the road had become part of the Midland Trail — a road spanning the continent from Washington , D . C ., to California , and road signs denoting the Midland Trail were posted in 1913 .
Finally , in the 1930s the Midland Trail was dubbed U . S . Route 60 and became the first paved and numbered road in West Virginia . ( Information above gleaned from " Highway to History : A Midland Trail Scrapbook " by James E . Casto ).
To spotlight this historic road , I ’ ve chosen to highlight some of the waterfalls that line U . S . 60 from just east of Gauley Bridge to Charlton Heights , W . Va . Some of these waterfalls , like Cathedral Falls , are well-known landmarks .
26 ❖ SOUTH ❖ JANUARY - FEBRUARY ' 22