By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
In the spring of 2010, as Joann and I were returning from North Carolina, I took the opportunity to plan the route past a couple of the highlights in West Virginia. Don’t get me wrong, we do want to spend a lot more time there, but I’ll need to do a lot more research before then.
One of the places that we did manage to visit was the historic town of Thurmond. Thurmond is in the New River Gorge, which is one of the most important natural areas in West Virginia.
Thurmond was a flourishing town, mostly due to the C&O Railway. At its height in the 1930s, the population of Thurmond was nearly 500. In 2013, the population was 5. It is the smallest incorporated town in West Virginia.
We laughed about how small the town hall was, but now, knowing that the town only has 5 residents, we know that little building is big enough.
Thurmond has a small row of remaining main street buildings, but it never had a main street. The railroad tracks ran just a couple of feet outside those buildings. At that point, the gorge is very narrow, and there was no room for tracks and a road. Just the tracks.
To enter Thurmond, you must cross a one-lane bridge. This one-lane vehicle bridge and the railroad bridge are side by side. Joann was a little reluctant to cross, wondering what might be happening on the other side. I wasn’t driving so I, of course, was telling her to just drive over it.
The first building you see is the restored depot. Today, it is a Park Service visitor center for the New River Gorge National River. It was built in 1904 to replace an earlier building that burned in 1903. It was enlarged in 1914, and was restored in 1995 by the park service.
The depot is also an Amtrak flag stop. Amtrak passes through three times per week, but only stops if there are passengers ticketed to or from the station. In the early years, 15 passenger trains per day passed through Thurmond, and it served 95,000 passengers per year.
The depot originally had three waiting rooms. One for white women, one for white men, and one for African Americans. It also housed a clerk’s office, trainmaster’s office, yardmaster’s office, car distributor’s office, and telegrapher’s cabin. The projecting bay served as a signal tower.
Many of the railroad buildings are gone now, but the coaling tower and sand house still stands as a testament to the coal that travelled through town. More freight used to pass through Thurmond than through Cincinnati, Ohio.
A few of the other main street buildings have been stabilized by the National Park Service and display signs about historic Thurman in the windows. One of those buildings is the former National Bank of Thurmond. It was built in 1917 and housed a jewelry company until 1922.
The National Bank of Thurmond acquired the building and renovated the front into what you see today. Originally, the building had cast iron storefronts, but the bank remodeled their half into a limestone façade.
The original plan was to renovate the buildings to be used for tourists, but no money was available, so only the depot was completely remodeled. The other buildings were stabilized or removed if they were past stabilizing or didn’t contribute to the historic district.
We hope to return to West Virginia, and if we do, we will probably return to the Thurmond area. If you find yourself in West Virginia, be sure to enjoy the natural beauty and small historic towns.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Showing posts with label small town. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small town. Show all posts
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Small Town America
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
Years ago, in the early days of our backroads photography, Ruth and I spent all of our time meandering on country roads as far away from the city as we could get. We even tended to avoid small towns, especially after spending “a week in Burlington one day,” which I’ll explain in a minute. This story will feature photos from various small towns we have photographed (none of which are from Burlington because we were so busy trying to find our way out of town that we didn't stop to take any pictures).
There are three reasons for us to venture into town. The first reason is to find a restroom. We often joke about how much easier men have it in that department. The second is to fill the car up with gas. The third reason, and this only applies in the winter or when there is a long-lasting torrential downpour, is to get something to eat. Most times, we have lunch in a park, eating food out of our cooler.
Anyway, we headed into the town of Burlington, Wisconsin one day, probably to find a restroom. When we were ready to leave town, we tried to find a particular highway that would take us back out into the country. But we ended up going around and around and couldn’t find our way out of town.
Burlington, by the way, had a population of maybe 10,000 people, so you would think it would have been easy to find our way. But there are several things that complicated the situation. The Fox River runs through the center of town and there is a star pattern of highways that all converge near the river. And, if my memory serves me right, there were one-way streets that prevented us from going in the direction we thought we should go.
After passing the same ice cream stand several times, we decided to soothe our frustrations with a cool ice cream treat and try to figure out what to do next. One thought that crossed our minds was that we should have tried harder to find a country park with a restroom. Looking back on it now, it’s very funny to us, but it wasn’t funny then.
Now that we have “Irwin,” our trusty GPS companion, we make it a point to travel through the small towns. Often, we’re in search of any historical gems that have been taken care of over the years. Small towns have netted us some great subjects, such as old-fashioned theaters, hardware stores, general stores, feed mills, Coca Cola and Bull Durham signs, soda fountains, bank buildings with burglar alarms, etc.
One thing we try to do, if possible, is to explore small towns at the break of day when there are few parked cars in front of these old subjects and we can take advantage of the best lighting of the day. It is also, unfortunately, a good time to be viewed suspiciously by the police, especially when I am crouched or even lying in the street trying to get the angle I need for the best photograph.
Thankfully, we don’t arouse suspicion too often, and we end up with some very nice small town images. Last fall at first light on a Sunday morning, we explored the town square of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Baraboo is the home of the Ringling Brothers Circus and the historic Al. Ringling Theater, which has been described as “America’s Prettiest Playhouse.” This theater has been painstakingly restored, along with the “Mighty Barton Organ,” featuring 597 pipes, plus drums, bells, bird calls, and thunder.
Next time you take a road trip, wander off the main highway and check out a small town or two. You never know what treasures you’ll find if you take the time to look around.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Years ago, in the early days of our backroads photography, Ruth and I spent all of our time meandering on country roads as far away from the city as we could get. We even tended to avoid small towns, especially after spending “a week in Burlington one day,” which I’ll explain in a minute. This story will feature photos from various small towns we have photographed (none of which are from Burlington because we were so busy trying to find our way out of town that we didn't stop to take any pictures).
There are three reasons for us to venture into town. The first reason is to find a restroom. We often joke about how much easier men have it in that department. The second is to fill the car up with gas. The third reason, and this only applies in the winter or when there is a long-lasting torrential downpour, is to get something to eat. Most times, we have lunch in a park, eating food out of our cooler.
Anyway, we headed into the town of Burlington, Wisconsin one day, probably to find a restroom. When we were ready to leave town, we tried to find a particular highway that would take us back out into the country. But we ended up going around and around and couldn’t find our way out of town.
Burlington, by the way, had a population of maybe 10,000 people, so you would think it would have been easy to find our way. But there are several things that complicated the situation. The Fox River runs through the center of town and there is a star pattern of highways that all converge near the river. And, if my memory serves me right, there were one-way streets that prevented us from going in the direction we thought we should go.
After passing the same ice cream stand several times, we decided to soothe our frustrations with a cool ice cream treat and try to figure out what to do next. One thought that crossed our minds was that we should have tried harder to find a country park with a restroom. Looking back on it now, it’s very funny to us, but it wasn’t funny then.
Now that we have “Irwin,” our trusty GPS companion, we make it a point to travel through the small towns. Often, we’re in search of any historical gems that have been taken care of over the years. Small towns have netted us some great subjects, such as old-fashioned theaters, hardware stores, general stores, feed mills, Coca Cola and Bull Durham signs, soda fountains, bank buildings with burglar alarms, etc.
One thing we try to do, if possible, is to explore small towns at the break of day when there are few parked cars in front of these old subjects and we can take advantage of the best lighting of the day. It is also, unfortunately, a good time to be viewed suspiciously by the police, especially when I am crouched or even lying in the street trying to get the angle I need for the best photograph.
Thankfully, we don’t arouse suspicion too often, and we end up with some very nice small town images. Last fall at first light on a Sunday morning, we explored the town square of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Baraboo is the home of the Ringling Brothers Circus and the historic Al. Ringling Theater, which has been described as “America’s Prettiest Playhouse.” This theater has been painstakingly restored, along with the “Mighty Barton Organ,” featuring 597 pipes, plus drums, bells, bird calls, and thunder.
Next time you take a road trip, wander off the main highway and check out a small town or two. You never know what treasures you’ll find if you take the time to look around.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
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