Black & White Sunday: Visiting Nuttalburg Again

A to Z Challenge: K is for Kaymore

Today is day 11 in our 26 day challenge of posting a letter a day for the next 26 days.  Its called the A to Z challenge.  

Today's letter is K and I have chosen to reshare a post I did several months ago on Kaymore Mines.  It was once a thriving mining community in Southern West Virginia along the New River.

Please visit this link and check out Kaymore Mines.  And below are a few pictures from that post.

Black & White Sunday: Old Coal Mine

Mischief Monday: Hiking around Thurmond, WV on Memorial Weekend

The weather in our area has been a bit unusual the past few days with unseasonable cool weather.  That makes for a hyper Collie wanting to get out and do some things.

Saturday I took advantage of the cooler temps and went to visit another old coal town in Southern West Virginia.  Thurmond was once a huge thriving coal town up until the 50's when it became a virtual ghost town.  Today the Depot has been restored and serves as a headquarters for the National Park Service which owns most of the area around Thurmond.  The main features of the town, the bank store front and coaling tower are still standing and some of the most photographed of the town.

Teach posing in the middle of our cool Panoramic Shot

Panoramic shot of the "Commercial District" Its actually not bent like that in real life, the panoramic feature of the camera did this.

Love the Blue Skies behind the Coaling Tower

Famous Bank Store Front.  Probably the most preserved.

I have to tell a story now from when I was younger, and I know some that read my blog will know all about this...LOL!  It was a tradition that anytime my family from Illinois (and Virginia) came into visit we had to make a visit to the New River George Bridge and Thurmond.  Why we went to Thurmond, I have no idea, but we did.  And ... it had to be at least 100 degrees to go down there.  My cousin, a photographer, wanted to get pictures of the store front of the bank and the coaling tower.  Well the rest of the family decided to wait in the car until he got the shots he want.  He got upset with us because we had the car running and red taillights were in the shot of the coaling tower ... because we had the car running since it was 100 degrees.  To this day this is a running joke in our family!  Wish I had the picture to share with you all that showed the tail lights!

Teach didn't find Thurmond very amusing and was rather bored with this venture so on our way back up the road from this coal town we stopped to hike the Rend Trail (formerly the Thurmond-Minden Trail) and stop at the falls along Dunloup Creek for some peaceful tranquility that a waterfall can offer.  There is a lot of pictures below ... enjoy!

Stopping to pose in front of the Train Bridge crossing the New River into Thurmond

The Old Post Office in Thurmond

Part of the "Commercial District"

Company Houses

I'm guessing this was the Supervisor's House

Looking back towards the Depot

Overlook along Rend trail with the New River Below

The New River below

Overlooking Thurmond's "Commercial District"

Thought it was cool that trains still use the tracks so wanted to show the train in front of the store fronts

Dunloup Creek

Aww....water...

Falls along Dunloup Creek

Sitting Pretty

It was a lot of fun getting out and enjoying the weather.  We passed some bikers and a few other hikers/dogs along the trail.  There were several people down in Thurmond meandering around the area.   While we were in town I wanted to go inside the Depot (no dogs allowed inside unless a service animal) so I tied Teach up to a park bench and had him down stay.  I am proud to say that he actually did stay down even when people came to pet him (I could see him from the window or I wouldn't have done this).  He's a very good dog and has come so far in our training.

Today, in honor of Memorial Day, I want to make a special mention to thank all that have served us past and present (humans and dogs).  And also remember all those loved ones that have passed before us (of course, humans and pets).  Happy Memorial Day everyone!!

Black and White Sunday: Visiting an Old Coal Town

Train Trestle leading into the town of Thurmond, WV

A trip back in time: Nuttallburg, WV

Friday we took a trip to the town of Nuttallburg.  Nuttallburg is situated along the New River in Fayette County.  This was quite the adventure and like going back in time.  I have since found out that my Grandparents on my mother's side resided in Nuttalburg for a few years living in a house located next to the Tipple.  I'm currently working on finding out more about that.  In the mean time here is a brief history with some pictures of our visit.  (And to keep it dog related Teach and Bo (Randy's parent's Beagle) accompanied us on the hike.

Area Map of Nuttalburg

As with most of the old coal towns in West Virginia, the mines in Nuttallburg began closing in the 1950s.  As the mines closed (Nuttallburg officially closed in 1958) the miners left town in search of jobs.  Nuttallburg became a ghost town and eventually was overtaken by an invasive plant called kudzu.  A few years ago a project was started to preserve what was left of the town.  According to the National Park Service the descendants of John Nuttall handed their property over to the park in 1998.   In 2005, Nuttallburg was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  As the kudzu was killed and removed, workers found the remains and traces of the town of Nuttallburg.

John Nuttall, the namesake of the town, was born in England  and after coming to America began opening coal mines.  Nuttallburg was the home to several different coal companies over the years, but perhaps the most historic company was Fordson Coal and owned by a man named Henry Ford.  Today in Nuttallburg you can see the remains of houses, the company store, buildings, coke ovens, churches, schools, roads, railroads, a suspension bridge, tipple, depot, and conveyor.  The town had a church and school for the white residents and a separate church and school for the black residents.

The main feature in the town is the rehabilitated tipple and conveyor.

There is also a well preserved row of coke ovens which were used to turn coal into a fuel called coke.

The pillars from the suspension pedestrian bridge that crossed the New River are also still standing.  The bridge was designed in 1899 by John Roebling, who also designed the Brooklyn Bridge, and connected Nuttallburg to South Nuttall.  It was closed for safety issues around the time the mine closed.

As with a lot of WV some people are around that are rude and yell obscenities at you when you try to stop for a picture.  So I took this pictures from this site:  http://www.mywvhome.com/1900s/nuttallburg.html.  It also gives a lot of history and pictures as well of the area.

 The remnants of a town called Seldom Seen can also be found about a half mile from Nuttallburg.  This was a community of Nuttallburg miners who built a "suburb" or sorts.

This is heading back to Town from Seldom Seen

Artifacts such as glass bottles, metal, and plastic can be found throughout the town.  If you should ever visit the town please don't mess with the artifacts as they are a part of the town.

The Company Store in any Coal Town was normally the central part the area.