The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1922-05-25
TUCKER And PRESTON
COUNTY ROAD NEEDS
Nearby West Virginia Territory
Known as Switzerland of
America"

The people of Davis, Thomas and
surrounding sections are intensely in.
terested in the selection of the new
| Parsons road and the elimination of
four and one-half miles of mud road
between the end of the new cement
road and the Maryland line, near Oak
! land.
Before West Virginia voted to spend
fifty million dollars on good roads,
Fairfax District, in Tucker county, W.
Va, in which these towns are
located, bonded itself for one hun
bred thousand dollars to build nine
miles of sixteen-foot cement road, as
| fine as any in the State. This road
begins at Davis, runs through Thorn
as, over the mountain and ends in
the four and one-half miles of mud
road. Nine months of the year this
stretch of mud is impossible, and the
other three is very rough and dan
gerous. This situation has held back
the development of the entire section
and has minimized the advantages of
the new cement road as ingress and
egress to the section from without
is blocked most of the year by this
four and one-haif miles of mud.
This section has been aptly named
'The Switzerland of America" as the
scenery is magnificent and contains
many views which even surpass the
Rocky Mountains in grandeur and
ruggedness. If connected up with the
Maryland line it would soon become
the summer playground and health
resort of the large cities of the east
as it is within easy motoring distance
of these large cities and the summer
climate has no equal in America.
When motoring in this section on a
hot day, and upon reaching Red
House the windshield will become
clouded with moisture and heavy
clothes will be required for comfort
1t is a natural sanitarium for the
thousands of babies who are afflicted
with stomach trouble and who die
by thousands in the hot summers in
the eastern cities. Here the germ
which causes the trouble cannot live.
People cannot appreciate the wild
rugged scenery of this section unless
they see it with their own eyes. The
gorge between Parsons and Thomas
is equal to anything along the Denver
and Rio Grande road between Denver
and Salt Lake City, which scenery is
famed the world over When auto
lists reach the top of the mountain
they look for miles and miles over q
country which looks as if it had set
tied while still boiling, and the views
at every turn of the road are magnif-
cent and awe-inspiring.
Near Davis is the beautiful Black
water Falls, and just over the noun
tain is Canaan Valley, which is only
surpassed by the Grand Canyon of
Arizona. Here is section, within a
days motoring of the east, which is
filled with health-giving ozone and
thrills the beholder with the wonder
of creation in its most tempestuous
moods.
Once this four and one-half miles
of mud is capped and the people of
the east learn of its health giving at
tributes, it will attract tourists who
seek health and pleasure. Thomas
people have at last awakened to the
necessity of bridging the gap in the
road and at a meeting of the Mer-
chants Association of Thomas it was
decided to make strenuous efforts to
have the new road built from Parsons
connecting at Thomas, and also to en-
deavor to eliminate this four and one
half mile gap at the Maryland line
south of Oakland.