Route #857

Somebody should write an ode to Route #857. It has to have been an Indian path to begin with and then was surely used by the early settlers to travel to and from the vicinity of Morgantown, WV and southern Fayette Co., PA. Can you picture the horse or horse and buggy going to Gans, or Fairchance, or Smithhfield, Haydentown, White House, or Uniontown along that route? It could be fall with the leaves falling about or winter with snow underfoot. Spring would be even better. Spring is beautiful anywhere but spring in Fayette County is the most beautiful of all. When my sisters and I come back to visit, we usually stay at the Ramada in Morgantown and then drive 857 to our places of childhood memory. We still have a few cousins sprinkled here and there. Route #857 will take you past Cheat Lake. I remember Mother saying, "Oh, it's up there by Cheat Lake," and I had no idea where Cheat Lake was located. (Wonder how Cheat River got it's name? I hope not for what it might suggest!) You could find Fletcher cemetery on that route if you were looking for the last resting place of some of your loved ones of long ago. Now what else is along 857. Please write and tell me.


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