lovesoldplaces00
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Hi all!
I'm new here, & have enjoyed browsing through the site
- some great stories & pictures! I am definitely a beginner at this, but I love the stories behind abandoned buildings, sites, & houses - why people left? where are they now? etc.
Anyway, the following pictures are of an abandoned coal mine near Fayetteville, West Virginia. I'm a British Ex Pat, and we go to WV to escape the heat and get our fill of mountains in before heading back home to flat, hot central NC. WV is not a common tourist destinations for non-Americans, but there are thousands of these coal mines around, plenty of possibilities! The New River Valley area is stunning, and the white water rafting is out of this world. Anyway.
Abbreviated from Wikipedia: The town once had about 50 houses, but lacked other amenities such as churches, banks, saloons, town hall, etc. It had a pair of segregated schools, a pool, ball field and some shops. The town was abandoned by 1952, and a fire destroyed most of the buildings by 1960. A nearby suburb still remains.
directly from Wikipedia: "The mine was connected to the town by a single-track incline which lifted workers and equipment up a 1,000-foot (300 m) slope at a thirty-degree incline. Coal was moved along a similar double-track incline, which lowered coal to the processing plant and the coke ovens, with the cars or monitors moving in opposite directions and partially counterbalancing each other. Both inclines operated until 1962. Initial operations included 120 coking ovens, which were increased to 202 ovens during World War I. All of the beehive ovens closed in the 1930s, as they had become obsolete.[4]"
Ok, on to the photos...sorry for the not so great quality, I was working with a point and shoot in really bad light. Anyway hopefully they at least inspire some people to look further into West Virginia - there is more to it than John Denver's song!
railroad track...pretty sure it's still in use.
first sight of the mine
safety first!
down at the bottom of the mine (800 steps)
Stunning Valley, even in terrible weather....
I'm new here, & have enjoyed browsing through the site
- some great stories & pictures! I am definitely a beginner at this, but I love the stories behind abandoned buildings, sites, & houses - why people left? where are they now? etc.Anyway, the following pictures are of an abandoned coal mine near Fayetteville, West Virginia. I'm a British Ex Pat, and we go to WV to escape the heat and get our fill of mountains in before heading back home to flat, hot central NC. WV is not a common tourist destinations for non-Americans, but there are thousands of these coal mines around, plenty of possibilities! The New River Valley area is stunning, and the white water rafting is out of this world. Anyway.
Abbreviated from Wikipedia: The town once had about 50 houses, but lacked other amenities such as churches, banks, saloons, town hall, etc. It had a pair of segregated schools, a pool, ball field and some shops. The town was abandoned by 1952, and a fire destroyed most of the buildings by 1960. A nearby suburb still remains.
directly from Wikipedia: "The mine was connected to the town by a single-track incline which lifted workers and equipment up a 1,000-foot (300 m) slope at a thirty-degree incline. Coal was moved along a similar double-track incline, which lowered coal to the processing plant and the coke ovens, with the cars or monitors moving in opposite directions and partially counterbalancing each other. Both inclines operated until 1962. Initial operations included 120 coking ovens, which were increased to 202 ovens during World War I. All of the beehive ovens closed in the 1930s, as they had become obsolete.[4]"
Ok, on to the photos...sorry for the not so great quality, I was working with a point and shoot in really bad light. Anyway hopefully they at least inspire some people to look further into West Virginia - there is more to it than John Denver's song!
railroad track...pretty sure it's still in use.
first sight of the mine
safety first!
down at the bottom of the mine (800 steps)
Stunning Valley, even in terrible weather....
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