Originally written August 2012
Thurmond sits preserved, and a little proud, along the New River. The river, old and ironically named, blends water with old boulders and eases into Jurassic pause around the river’s elbow. A tipple, an Amtrak station and a string of buildings with flat impending facades stand under the care of the National Park Service. Rafters are the only souls around.
Yet, a small, unassuming stack of PO Boxes sits there in Thurmond; a half-dozen residents still call Thurmond home it turns out.
As a junction, it rivaled Cincinnati and Richmond. On from Richmond was the sea, and from Cincinnati was the Mississippi to the Gulf, by the way of the Ohio. That this small town buried deep in the Appalachians grew more important to the coal boom than those towns gives testament to just how much coal was being pulled from the mountains around it. Because of its location and the quantity of extracted coal, Thurmond functioned as both a mine town and a junction. From it, coal went on in glorious service of the industrial revolution both in the United States and abroad. Smoke stacks rose higher and higher from the round mountains of Fayette County and in the shadow of those dark plumes Thurmond became a thriving town.
Though it is now preserved, Thurmond is nothing West Virginia should be proud of. A popular town for gambling and drinking, its rough reputation spread throughout the state. In spite of its seclusion, it attracted that party crowd. Las Vegas, WV. If they sold magnets, refrigerators would adorn those “one-time coal-era” curios from there onto the ports of Virginia. Do not be mistaken, however, it was a full service town.
A photographer took a record, a dentist took a tooth and a lawyer took everything. And the detective agency never found out anything. Numerous businesses populated Main Street. How those trains must have shook up all their plans. More and more, they ran with diesel. More and more the roads led away. This would be the fate for many of the towns that now dotted the landscape of Southern West Virginia and beyond. Changes in technology made coal both easier to get and less in demand.
I have included pictures of the tipple and what’s left of Main Street. The tipple has not been restored, but the buildings along the street have been maintained and sport placards detailing the history of the town. The rail is still in service and the Amtrak station is fully functional.
Movement & Location 