Thurmond
by
Located in the heart of
Thurmond
is unique.
Most ghost towns - and living towns for that matter - have a
Thurmond began in the 1870s when
Captain W. D. Thurmond surveyed land in the gorge for the Chesapeake & Ohio
(C&O) Railroad. Instead of money, he took acreage adjacent to the railroad
as pay. He felt strongly the area would serve as a valuable railroad junction
and envisioned his acreage serving as the nucleus for a future railroad
junction town. Coal and timber interests also eyed the route as a perfect place
for railroad branch lines to reach the river bottom.
Thurmond operated a ferry at the
confluence of Dunloup Creek with the
The Thurmonds
opened a store partnered with Charles and George Jones, as well as 30 or so
houses and cabins for folks to live in.
Thurmond quickly grew, and neighboring Glen Jean also expanded down into
the gorge. Since the Thurmonds
were strong advocates of clean living, vices settled on the Glen Jean side of
the line.
The boom began. A post office was established in the
Jones-Thurmond Store in 1888, followed in 1891, when the wooden Hotel Thurmond
and a railroad depot were built. The
hotel burned in 1899 and was rebuilt of brick, reopening in 1901, at the same
time as the 100-room Dunglen Hotel on the south side
of the river. When that hotel opened, it
included a bar that never closed, much to Captain Thurmond’s displeasure.
By 1898, 175 folks lived here and
the town had the following listed among its businesses: Adams Express office, two coal company
offices, three general stores, a Western Union telegraph office, a barber, two
dressmakers, hotel, jeweler, lawyer, photographer, railroad depot, restaurant,
saloon and a shoemaker. There was also a
constable and a justice of the peace.
In 1903, Thurmond incorporated, partially to
reap the benefits of incorporation, and partially to protect its own physical
interests from encroaching “civilization.”
The town of
Through the early 1900s, Thurmond
continued to grow. In 1903, the Armour Company built
a wholesale meat shipping office; the three-story, brick Mankin
building was built; the railroad depot burned, but was quickly rebuilt.
In
1908, the railroad bridge washed out when the
In 1914, the state of
By 1915, the washed-out railroad
bridge had been replaced, increasing access to the town. Until 1917, access to Thurmond was only by
rail or the river, when the road down from Glen Jean was completed
In
November, 1922, fire devastated the Glen Jean-side river bank business
district, including the Collins Cash Mercantile, Lykens Drugstore, Collins
Mortuary, the movie theater, Panas’ Shoe Shop and
some apartments. The area was not
rebuilt. This was the beginning of the
end for Thurmond. Even though the 1920s
were kind to the town, it began to fade.
The 1930s were most unkind to Thurmond, starting when the Dunglen Hotel burned.
Then in 1931, the National
Bank of Thurmond. In 1932, the Armour
Company pulled out. In 1935, the New
River Banking & Trust Company moved to Oak Hill. In 1938, the telephone company moved to
During the 1940s the
railroads switched from coal to more efficient and reliable diesel-powered
locomotives, so the need for service and repair yards declined. In 1958, Thurmond’s light went out, when the
last remaining steam locomotive in the New River Gorge made its last run. As Thurmond’s prosperity evaporated, the
physical toll also continued. In April, 1963, the Lafayette (Thurmond) Hotel
and the old Armour building burned. In 1984 the C&O Railroad closed its
offices in Thurmond and in 1993, the massive engine house burned. The Thurmond
Post Office finally
closed in 1995, but, the National Park Service restored the two-story railroad
depot for use as a visitor center/museum that same year.
Census figures share the graphic
story of Thurmond’s decline:
·
1910 - 315
·
1920 – 285
·
1930 – 462
·
1940 – 339
·
1950 – 219
·
1960 – 189
·
1970 – 86
·
1980 – 67
·
1990 – 39
·
2000 – 7
For ghost town trivia buffs AND
movie fans, the John Sayles movie “Matewan”, was
filmed in Thurmond, about 100 miles from the real coal town of
SO, what’s left?
The
huge, two-story railroad
depot has been restored; several three and
four-story rock
and brick buildings face the still
active tracks;
the vine covered coaling
tower and
a pile of wrecked railcars sit on a siding where the roundhouse and car barns
used to be; houses and a picturesque, white clapboard church sit up in the
trees. Many details such as faded wall signs and window
signs bring
back the feeling of a town once on the move.
Coal brought the trains - coal
powered the trains that gave Thurmond its life - lack of coal brought its
death. Today, only river-rafters and
curious ghost towners visit where thousands once
strolled. Plopped deep in the heart of
This was our Ghost Town of the Month for Jun/Jul 2008
This is one of the towns
featured in my newest book, GHOST
TOWNS: Yesterday & TodayTM.
LOCATION:
·
Latitude: 37.9615016
/ 37° 57’ 41” N
·
Longitude: -81.0823220
/ 81° 04’ 56” W
***************
Visit Ghost
Town USA’s West
Virginia Ghost Town
Pages
Also visit: Ghost
Town
Home
Page | Site Map | Ghost Town Listings
| On
the Road Again | Photo Gallery
| Treasure
Legends
CURRENT Ghost Town of the
Month | PAST Ghost Towns
of the Month
Ghost Towner's
Code of Ethics | Publications | Genealogy
| License Plate
Collecting
A few LINKS to outside webpages:
Ghost
Towns | Treasure
Hunting | License
Plate Collecting | Genealogy
THIS
PAGE
FIRST
POSTED: June 12, 2008
LAST
UPDATED: November 17, 2012
This website and all
information posted here-in is
copyright
© 1998-2015
by
Gary B Speck Publications
ALL rights reserved