The Ghost Town of SEWELL, West Virginia

SEWELL

Fayette County, WV

Contributed to Ghost Town USA

by Larry Williams

LOCATION

Sewell, West Virginia is located within the boundaries of Babcock State Park. To get to Sewell, you have to go to Babcock. Once there, ask the rangers at the office for directions since it's about six or seven miles down a marginal dirt track going back into the park territory. Babcock State Park is easily accessible from Beckley and points south by following US 19 north. At the US Rt. 60 exit travel east 10 miles to State Rt. 41 South. Babcock's campground is two miles south of US 60 at Clifftop, while the main park entrance is two miles south of Clifftop.

STORY of SEWELL

All of my dates and times are assumptive, I have no reliable time line, but will do my best to paint the picture. Sewell started out some time around the turn of the century (1900-ish) as a coke processing point. Coal from the surrounding hills would be brought to Sewell and 'reduced' to coke, which was used in the production of steel in the north. Rather than bear the expense of shipping raw coal, reducing it to coke in Sewell was more efficient. Some time in the 1930's or 1940's, the quality and availability of the coal in the surrounding areas decreased and made Sewell unviable. When this happened, the people left, and today no one lives in Sewell.

What remains is a fun puzzle to reassemble. The generally passable dirt road leading to Sewell ends just 'outside' the town site. You can generally get there with two-wheel drive, but a four-wheel drive is highly recommended. Park your vehicle and walk down the path towards the New River. Initially you will probably see nothing, even if you are looking. And then, suddenly you will realize that all around you is the remnants of a fair-sized town. You'll start to recognize paths through the trees as roads; mounds of rubble as foundations. Once your eyes have adjusted it becomes even clearer. As you walk further in you'll see railroad track beds. The tracks are still there, they're just covered with undergrowth.

In what I suppose was the middle of town there are the walls of what looks like a simple, but beautiful brick church. On one end is a round window, the type found above some altars. However, this building is not a church. It's the old machine shop. It's the only brick building in town. The machine shop, to these folks was the most important building. Churches were made of wood, but the machine shop was built to last!

Just beyond the machine shop, about 30 yards back from a modern railroad track, is the line of coke ovens. There are around 70 or 80 of these. They're lined up parallel to the railroad track because it was from this track, that the coal was brought in. A smaller track, of narrower gauge, brought 'oven sized' loads from the trains to the ovens. This track still runs, for the most part, along the top of the ovens so that the coal could be dumped directly into the ovens.

Around town there are still remains of machinery, large and small rail cars, lifts and conveyors. On the other side of town is what appears to be a more 'residential area'. No dwellings remain, but some of the foundations and some ornamentation can still be seen. As you leave, look for the spring that supplied water to the town. It's still there, in the side of the hill and protected by small brick structure. The water still runs cold and pure. Leaning into the small opening and taking a drink seems to connect you to the past. You can almost hear the sounds of Sewell when she was alive.

I've seen other ghost towns, but this one remains my favorite. Alone, under the dense canopy of trees, you'll be able to walk the streets and piece Sewell back together.

Regards,

Larry Williams

12/31/2001

Sewell was featured as our Ghost Town of the Month for March 2004.

LOCATION:

· Latitude: 40.2203907 / 40° 13’ 13” N

· Longitude: -74.0120817 / 74° 00’ 43” W

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FIRST POSTED: March 01, 2002
LAST UPDATED: March 20, 2005