This week's Throwback Thursday takes us back to September 2008, with a couple of button copy signs on US 22 eastbound on the Veteran's Memorial Bridge over the Ohio River in Weirton, West Virginia. US 22 has a quick jaunt through the northern West Virginia panhandle on the freeway portion of the US route between Steubenville, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism. Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns. Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s. Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center. When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond. It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley. Thu...

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