AQ BULLETIN 393, U. S$. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TaBLE 14.— Values or sale price per acre. 
1911, before 1912, after 
improve- improve- 
ment. ment. 
1911, before 1912, aiter 
improve- improve- 
ment. ment. 
$50 $380 $30 $40 
50 80 30 40 
20 42 40 75 
30 50 | 
20 40 | 
Table 14 shows the approximate land values of eight tracts im the 
Powell Valley along the roads before and after improvement and 
that these properties increased about $23 per acre, or about 70 per 
cent. If all of the improved farm land in the county within one-half 
mile of the improved roads increased in value at the same rate as the 
Powell Valley lands above referred to, the total mcrease would 
amount to $860,940. 
The foregoing examples, showing that there has been a decided 
increase in the value of lands along the improved roads, are in 
conflict with the record of assessed valuation. 
EFFECT OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT ON TRAFFIC. 
This county has an excellent home market at the various mining 
camps in the northern section of the county and in the adjacent 
county of Wise, but does not begin to supply the demands of those 
markets. 
The traffic on the road connecting Jonesville, the county seat, with 
Ben Hur, its railroad point, is about the heaviest in the county, and 
represents about nine-tenths of the total freight receipts for shipment 
over the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at Ben Hur. It consists 
principally of coal and supples hauled from the railroad station, 
and timber and other forest products hauled to the station for 
shipment. 
The Tri-State Road, which extends from Cumberland Gap toward 
Jonesville through Rose Hill, also has considerable traffic. The 
hauling consists principally of foodstuffs from farms in the fertile 
Powell Valley to the market in Cumberland Gap and Middlesboro, 
Ky. The macadamizing of this road has opened up a large area 
of the Powell Valley to the market in Middlesboro. Since this 
- road was completed there has been an increase of 25 per cent in the 
number of buggies sold by the wagon factory in Cumberland Gap and 
automobiles are being introduced into this section, which shows 
that the people are finding the improved roads of social as well 
as commercial benefit. 
The road which connects Pennington Gap, the principal town 
of the county, with the mining section at St. Charles is another 
one of the principally traveled roads. Since the improvement several 
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