In an issue last year, we read about the Midland Trail in West Virginia and both commented that it would make for a fun trip. Taking less than five hours to get to its origin in Kenova on the Ohio state line and spanning 180 miles east to White Sulphur Springs, it would be the perfect Monday through Friday trip for us.
For over a year, the Midland Trail has come up in our travel discussions. Well, early tomorrow morning, Becky will be picking me up and we're heading to West Virginia! Once again I'll have the map on my lap, notes within reach, and the GPS on the dash as I navigate and Becky drives.
This route has an ancient beginning as a buffalo trail and was later used by Native Americans. In 1824, a private Virginia company upgraded the route into the James River and Kanawha River Turnpike. After 1873, the turnpike fell into disrepair because the C & O Railroad had been completed from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. The Midland Trail carried only local traffic during the era of fast and comfortable railway travel. In the 1930s, it was paved and reborn as a national highway. Today the Midland Trail is promoted as a tourist destination and historic travel route. The route represents the ‘‘Golden Age of the American Automobile.’’ |