Community and Culture in the New River Gorge

Entries on This Tour

The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel arch bridge spanning 3,030 feet long over the New River Gorge in Fayetteville, West Virginia. The bridge’s arch is 1,700 feet long. The New River Gorge Bridge was the world's longest single-span arch bridge until 2003 — it is now the third largest of its type. The New River Gorge Bridge was constructed concurrently with Corridor L, now known as U.S. Route 19. Both the bridge and the road were developed by the Appalachian Development Highway System to make the area more accessible and to provide economic development in Fayette County. Construction on the bridge began in 1974 and opening day was celebrated on October 22nd, 1977. Today, people travel from all over the world to view the New River Gorge Bridge and take part in activities in the area that were made accessible by the installation of the bridge.

2. Carter G. Woodson and Black Coal Miners in Nuttallburg, West Virginia

This is the approximate location of a small canteen that served African American coal miners in Nuttalburg. The location is historically significant for many reasons, including its formative influence on Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a West Virginia miner known today as "The Father of Black History" for his work establishing what is now Black History Month, The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the Journal of African American History. At the age of seventeen, Carter G. Woodson moved to Nuttallburg with his brothers to earn money for schooling. He worked several years at Nuttallburg and the nearby Kaymoor mine, and it was here where Oliver Jones, the operator of a small canteen that served the needs of Black coal miners made young Woods a deal. Mr. Jones had amassed many books and subscribed to African American newspapers such as the Chicago Defender, but his reading skills and those of most of his patrons were less substantial than Woodson's mastery of the written word. As a result, the owner offered his food to Woodson in exchange for reading the latest news to the miners along with works from his library which included books on Black history, art, and culture. Woodson referred to Jone's small establishment as a tearoom that was also a veritable reading room, and he credited his experiences here as furthering his interest in the study and teaching of Black history. After graduating high school and teaching in Huntington, Woodson earned a Bachelor of Literature degree from Berea College, partly through coursework at the University of Chicago. Woodson later returned to the southern coalfields of West Virginia for a short time, teaching school in the town of Winona. Woodson went on to become the second African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard University and became one of the most influential scholars of the 20th century.

3. Red Ash Island

Red Ash Island is a small piece of sometimes water-isolated land in the New River. The island is home to a cemetery which is indicative of two of the most present dangers in a coal camp: disease and mining disasters. The area is the resting place for the victims of the smallpox epidemic of the late 1800s, miners who died as a result of mining disasters in the early twentieth century, and deaths associated with the 1917 influenza pandemic. In addition to more macabre uses, the island was also home to a baseball diamond, several swimming holes, and community events. Today, Red Ash Island is a relatively hidden spot for hikers and whitewater rafters to explore the graves which hold so much history of the area.

4. Dun Glen Hotel (1901-1930)

The Dun Glen Hotel (sometimes spelled Dunglen or Dunglenn) was one of the two hotels located near Thurmond, WV. Thomas G. McKell was given 12,500 acres in Fayette County, WV when he married Miss Jean Dun of Chillicothe, OH by her father as a wedding present. Here, he erected the Dunglen Hotel at the turn of the twentieth century. The hotel and Thurmond had their fates inextricably linked: the economy in Thurmond drew people in and the hotel provided them reason to stay, even if only for a brief time. With the hotel’s reputation for good times — often to the point of excess — it was not difficult to attract local and national visitors who dubbed the attraction, “Dodge City of the East.” The area’s largest coal mine transaction, and the world’s longest continuous poker game at fourteen years, both occurred in Dun Glen Hotel. Despite its reputation and impact on the community, the building was only extant for twenty-nine years. In 1930, it burned to the ground and was never rebuilt. Over the next few decades, Thurmond followed ruinous suit and quietly subsided into a ghost town.

5. Oak Hill Railroad Depot

In the same year that the town of Oak Hill was incorporated, the White Oak Railway Company established a depot to serve as a checkpoint and weigh station for the White Oak Coal Company. It is the oldest building in Oak Hill. This depot doubled as a passenger station until after World War II, and enabled the economic development of Oak Hill, which soon became the social and commercial center of Fayette County. The depot was operated by Norfolk & Southern Railroad from 1957 to 1983, when the station was shut down. After decades without a permanent occupant, a local grocery opened in the depot in 2015 in an attempt to revitalize and repurpose the historic structure.

6. Siltex Mine Portal and Memorial

On Saturday, July 23, 1966, disaster rocked the sleepy village of Mount Hope when an explosion occurred in Siltex Mine. Siltex (sometimes spelled Siltix) was operated on the edge of town by the New River Company, which was based in Mount Hope. A number of factors led to the explosion. Poor ventilation led to the accumulation of methane and other gases and standard space segmenting practices had not been followed. The foreman was the only person in the mine equipped with a flame safety lamp that should have been issued to every miner. Finally, all electric equipment in the area of the explosion was improperly contained and maintained. An errant spark from one of these electronics is what ultimately catalyzed the explosion. Seven miners in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were killed and two were severely injured. Thirty-nine other miners escaped relatively unharmed, though many of them were forced to barricade themselves in the mine until ventilation could be reestablished. According to state and federal reports, the accident was unequivocally the result of extreme negligence on the part of the New River Company, though the company refused to accept responsibility for the tragedy. The Siltex mine continued to operate until 1984, when the entrance was sealed. The memories of miners who lost their lives in the 1966 disasters still live on as surviving relatives and community members honor their lives at a yearly memorial service.

7. Camp Prince Army Station (1950-1957)

Camp Prince, the previous home of 1428th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company, was established on September 16, 1950. Locally known as "Army Camp," this landmark lies on the banks of the New River near McCreery, WV. In this particular section of the New River, the water flow direction changes from west, north, then east, all within one kilometer. This location was selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers due to the ease of access by railway as well as the traitorous terrain that closely resembled that of Korea and control of water flow by the Bluestone Dam. Camp Prince was used as a testing and training site for equipment to be used by the Army during the Korean War, as well as training sites for West Virginia National Guard and units alike until late 1959. The camp has since been turned over to the National Park Service and is currently being used as a recreational spot in the New River Gorge National Park.

8. McKendree Hospital

McKendree Hospital was one of three turn of the twentieth century hospitals established by the West Virginia State Legislature to provide free healthcare to coal miners. The town of McKendree was selected to host the hospital due to its location on the Chesapeake and Ohio main line and because coal magnate Joseph Beury donated several acres of land. The building was completed in 1901 and immediately began admitting patients. Most patients were miners involved in serious accidents on the job, though other patients were also admitted. Demand for the hospital’s services quickly outstripped capacity, so to compensate, McKendree established a nursing program. The nursing program was a huge success and was widely regarded as one of the best in the area. The hospital remained in use and expanded throughout the 1920s and 30s, before the decline of the coal industry led the facility to be closed in 1941. It soon reopened as a elderly care center for Black West Virginians. Following integration in 1956, the building was completely abandoned. Since then, the buildings have been torn down and the site left to nature. The National Park Service manages the area, which is accessible via the unmaintained Route 25.

9. Layland Mine Disaster (1915)

The Layland Mine Explosion on March 2, 1915 is recorded as the worst mining disaster in Fayette County history. A total of 112 men died from the explosion. During the first few days after the incident, 53 men were found to have survived the blast. The explosion of the mine shocked many in the area as it was believed that the Layland Mine was one of the safest in West Virginia at the time. Coal continued to be gathered from the Layland Mine until the 1980s, when the mine closed and as a result, Layland’s economy suffered. A 2014 memorial was erected in Layland to remember the miners who lost their lives. Organizers and fundraisers for the memorial believed that the Layland disaster was being forgotten and commemoration was necessary, so that the tragic history would not be lost.

10. Prince Station

The town of Prince was established in 1870 by brothers William and James Prince. Rather than being a mining town like most other settlements in the New River area, Prince instead provided goods and served as a travel hub for miners and passengers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The first Prince Station was constructed in 1880 and rebuilt in 1917 following a fire. The current Art Moderne station was completed in 1946. It was envisioned as a prototype for a more modern rail system that would stretch from Washington, D.C. to Cincinnati, Ohio. Though this rail route never came to fruition, Prince Station is still one of its best surviving proofs of concept. Despite a station agent no longer staffing the building, Prince Station is still operational and is used several times a week by passenger trains.

11. Sandstone School

Sandstone School operated on this site from 1925 until 1994. The official name of the educational institution was Green Sulphur District High School, though the emblematic sandstone construction and instruction of more than high school students led to the colloquial name. The building remained unaltered for a majority of the twentieth century, though facilities such as a vocational agriculture building, a gymnasium, and sports fields were added to the grounds. The first class graduated in 1929 and between then and 1971, nine hundred students received a high school diploma at Sandstone School. Due to education restructuring in 1971, the school only taught elementary classes. In 1994, the Sandstone School was consolidated with other local area schools.Sandstone School remained extant until the early 2000s, when the land was repurposed for the National Park Service’s Sandstone Visitor Center in the New River Gorge. The Sandstone Visitor Center continues the educational legacy of the Sandstone School through a variety of interpretive displays and programs. The community of Sandstone School alumni also maintain the heritage of the institution. Known as “The Hornets” for their mascot, alumni frequently hold class reunions, fundraisers, and other cultural events. The site of the Sandstone School is an important reminder of the daily lives that played out in the New River Gorge alongside the more frequently discussed economic activities.

12. Camp Brookside

Camp Brookside was built in 1947 as a summer camp for the children of employees at the Electro Metallurgical Company in Charleston. Built on a thirty-two acre island in the New River, the camp features six cabins built around a central administration building. In addition to these buildings, there are also support and activity structures. Camp Brookside was an enormous cultural success with the hundreds of children aged five to fifteen who attended. The camp operated until the early 1990s, though in later years it was rented to company employees, rather than serving as an overnight camp. In 1993, the National Park Service purchased the entire site. A major influx of federal funding allowed for restoration of the entire camp in recent years. Now, the site is once again home to a summer camp through the Camp Brookside Environmental Education Center.

13. Trump-Lilly Farm

The Trump-Lilly Farm is a quintessential example of subsistence farming in West Virginia. The farm is named for two families that occupied the homestead between 1888 and the latter half of the twentieth century. Life was difficult on the farm. The families grew crops, raised animals, hunted local game, and foraged whatever they could. Almost all of the buildings erected to serve the farm are still standing in their original condition, a contrast to many other farm buildings in Appalachia, which were demolished or modernized. This property is now owned by the National Park Service, which has stabilized and preserved the buildings and grounds as a space to visit and see what frontier life was like.

This Tour is a Thematic Tour or Heritage Trail.

Community and Culture in the New River Gorge

Created by Iain MacKay on June 21st 2021, 7:06:29 pm.

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For many, the New River Gorge is synonymous with twentieth century industry and many interpretations of the area reflect this through statistics and broad overviews of economic factors. While it is true that industry is a crucial component to understanding the area, the gorge’s legacy and culture is richer than detached numbers. In this tour, sites of grief such as cemeteries, hospitals, and mine disaster memorials, are juxtaposed with sites of joy, such as summer camps, schools, and leisure palaces. Though the dates and kinds of tours in this entry are diverse, the entries all contribute to a robust understanding of life in the New River Gorge, which is characterized by the experiences of individuals and communities far beyond how they directly relate or contribute to labor and industry.

Entries on This Tour

Community and Culture in the New River Gorge

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