I've been going to West Virginia all my life. After all, it is the first state to the west of Virginia. When I was a child, we'd visit various state parks in the mountains of West Virginia. One of them was Lost River State Park and among the home movies that my dad took was a scene showing the place where the river became "lost." There was a sign there that said "Lost River Sinks" and I looked for it about 10 years ago and didn't find it. However, I recently learned from a post on Facebook that the current sign says "Lost and Found." (Thank you, Friends of Lost River State Park.) With this bit of information, I was able to find the exact location on Historical Marker Database.
Here the Lost River disappears under Sandy Ridge. Two miles away on the other side of the mountain the stream is “found” again as the headwaters of the Cacapon River. This stream has the Indian name for “Medicine Waters.”
This spot is along the "old" route 55 and at this point you can see the new superhighway overhead, WV 55 which is also US 48. The new road is part of West Virginia's Corridor H, and to further confuse motorists, signs indicate it is the "Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System." Senator Byrd served for many years and had enough influence in the U.S. government to get this multi-million dollar highway funded. Although some called it a "road to nowhere," it is a beautiful and impressive road. And it does go somewhere, of course, although the places it goes so far are not well known outside of West Virginia.  |
| Corridor H as seen from the Marker |
Sharing with Signs Signs and Look Up, Look Down
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| Corridor H Seen from a Parking Spot Closer to Baker |
Oddly enough, Corridor H works!
ReplyDeleteLovely countryside.
Beautiful photos and interesting history about the river.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun stuff to learn, and your illustrations are excellent.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to be found!
ReplyDeleteLovely post. Love reading about such curiosities along the road.
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Very interesting. I need you to be my tour guide when I go to West Virginia or even to Virginia
ReplyDeleteWe have a bridge here that is officially called The Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, but no-one would know what you were talking about if you used that name. It is simply 'the Skyway' or 'Burlington Skyway'. Love the Lost River Sinks story.
ReplyDeleteOdd and fascinating. Love the design of the sign.
ReplyDeleteI love those overhead shots of Corridor H
ReplyDeleteThat is fascinating that you found what you were looking for by using Facebook. Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteI love going to lose river. I hate that stupid highway they built. It takes away from the beauty.
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