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Route History for US 21 in West Virginia

• (under construction)
• In 1964
• US 21 entered Charleston from the north on what is now County Route 21.
• The route turned southeast on West Washington Street and followed US-60 east through Charleston.
• US 21 continued east on East Washington Street to the 35th Street Bridge. (Today there is a gap in Washington Street at Greenbrier Street so US-60 turns left on Greenbrier then follows Kanawha Boulevard to the bridge, but in 1964 both US 21 and US 60 followed East Washington Street to the bridge.)
• Leaving Charleston, US 21 followed US 60 east through Gauley Bridge, then turned right on what is now WV-16, heading south to Beckwith.
• US 21 continued on what is now WV-16 south through Fayetteville, Oak Hill, and Mt. Hope.
• On the north side of Beckley current WV-16 ends, but US 21 continued straight following what is now US 19 south.
• Still a bit north of Beckley, US 21 may have followed a road called "Old US-19" just after Cranberry Road, rather than the current US 19.
• The routing through Beckley is unclear. It may have followed the current US 19 (Eisenhower Drive) to the east of downtown. Alternatively, it may have followed what is now WV-16 (North Valley Drive) to the right through Sprague, and then current WV-210 (Kanawha Street) through downtown Beckley. In any case, US 21 followed the current US 19 south out of Beckley.
• US 21 was then multiplexed with US 19 south to Princeton, following the current US 19 alignment.
• Leaving Princeton, US 21 followed the current alignment of US 19 south to Bluefield. (There were different alignments earlier in US 21's history.)
• In Bluefield, US 21 turned left on US 52 south, and then turned right onto what is now WV-598 (West Cumberland Road and Washington Street). US 21 followed current WV-598 to the Virginia border.

External websites of interest:

• Some information about the history of US 21 in West Virginia can be found on H. B.'s Millenium Highway website.

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