Friday, May 13, 2011

Life is old there

During some "off" time during the first day of the New River Birding and Nature Festival we wandered down a windy single-lane road to the long-forgotten railroad town of Thurmond, West Virginia.

You arrive in Thurmond by crossing the New River over a narrow bridge that doubles as a railroad bridge. It feels pretty old and rickety, but was perfectly safe. I held my breath most of the way across, just in case.

; )

A short walk from the railroad depot, lies Thurmond's old downtown, built right along the railroad tracks. Several old buildings, including a bank with an impressive facade, make up the old downtown.

According to the 2000 census, Thurmond has 7 residents. Back in Thurmond's heyday, more than 500 people lived here and the rail lines carried more than 97 thousand passengers a year, along with 3.5 million tons of freight (most of which was coal).

Making our way back to civilization, we found a small roadside waterfall that demanded a ritual toe-dunking.

: )

5 comments:

Mary said...

You're brilliant, Laura.

RG said...

... older than the hills.

(If you gonna make 100 stranger's photos, you better get a bit less shy!)

Beth in NYC said...

The National Parks guy told me 6 people live up the hill now. I wonder what happened to #7? Great photos, of course! :-)

NCmountainwoman said...

Great post on the railroad town. I loved the pictures, especially the bridge.

RuthieJ said...

I like those B&W photos....they go well with the story of Thurmond and what it used to be like.