Thurmond, West Virginia

More pictures of Queretaro coming soon!  Until then, let me catch everyone up. I retired from my job on 31 May and spent Jun-Sep prepping for the sale of my house.  I listed the house on 23 Sep and got an offer for asking price only three days later.  I closed the sell a month after that and then moved back to West Virginia where my mother currently lives.  Retirement is wonderful since it gives me more time to do what I love to do, travel!

Back to the present.  Yesterday, I decided to take a day trip to Thurmond, West Virginia, an abandoned mining town.  It's in the "New River Gorge National Park and Preserve" and has a population of only five people.  I met two of them, a husband-and-wife team, that were doing some repairs on the old Town Hall.  They were incredibly friendly and answered all my questions about the town and its history.  I hope to return there in the summer; it was frigid yesterday!  Anyway, here are a few pictures of the town and surrounding area:

1) This was the one-lane bridge we had to drive across to get to the town.  You can see the "New River" below.

2) A sign warned us not to drive beyond the railroad tracks, so the rest of the journey was to be by foot. The road runs up behind the town and to the homes of the five people who live there. 

3) Here's a shot of the town at its entrance with the tracks next to it.  FYI, Amtrak still passes through the town every day.

4) This was probably an impressive bank in its heyday.

5) I believe this is a mining tipple that used to load coal into the railroad cars.

6) A better view of the only way in and out.

Fun fact: This town was the filming location for the 1987 movie "Matewan" by John Sayles because it still has all the characteristics of an Appalachian mining town.