Day Six, My Trip Across the Mountains

For years now, I have traveled across the Allegheny Mountains to visit my parents. Whether it was flying in from the Gulf Coast and then crossing the hills or traveling from our home in Maryland, we've had a long, focused drive to get there. There was beautiful scenery and interesting things to see and do along the way, but because spending time with my parents was always more important than taking time out to see the sights we pressed forward without much stopping. But this year is different. With no more on our agenda than a family reunion on Saturday, Ward and I are going to traverse the state and see some of those things we have wanted to see for years now. And maybe find somethings to see that we didn't know about.

Day Six:
Moving, Mines, and Mental Hospitals

Today we moved our base from Beckley to Weston. It was another hot, dry day but most of our time was either spent in the car or touring indoor things.

Before leaving Beckley, we made one last stop at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. In 1953 the city of Beckley bought the abandoned Phillip mine and reopened it almost 10 years later as an exhibition mine to help to educate the public about coal mining. 

We took a tram down into the mine that was driven by Marvin, our tour guide. He was a retired miner and said that he had had just about every job in the mines except electrician and boss. Here is he is showing a bird cage that would house the canary that helped monitor air quality. When the bird died, you had about 15 minutes to find fresh air.

The mine was forced out of business in 1910 by bigger companies. We were seeing the mine as it operated in 1910 when it closed. However, they had newer machinery displayed for us to see along the way.

Outside the mine were representative buildings from a coal camp. Each one had been in a coal camp and moved to this area. And each building had a guide who had lived in a coal camp or had a relative who had lived in one. Everyone was very friendly and eager to tell what they knew about their particular area.

Each building had a guide, that is, except this one which was too small.  This was a bachelor's shanty meant for one person.

Inside of the bachelor shanty. Looks pretty nice because apparently his grandmother embroidered and crocheted things for the inside.

A little more information about the miner's shanty.

Coal has been an important part of West Virginia's history and continues today as an important part of the state's economy.  It has provided many jobs--but jobs that are dangerous with long term health effects. This exhibition mine gives a small glimpse into that.

After that stop, we headed north to our destination of Weston to tour the abandoned Weston State Hospital, formerly and now known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The hospital building was begun in 1861 before West Virginia became an independent state from Virginia in 1863. After the Civil War, it was completed and admitted its first patients 1864. Construction continued throughout the years.

The hospital operated until it closed 1994. It remained abandoned until it was bought by Joe Jordon in 2007. He has begun restoring it and is giving tours to help with the expenses. We had an excellent tour guide who went through what happened in different locations of the 1/4 mile long building and the changes of treatment for mental illness throughout the years. It was an informative tour about a very difficult subject.

Until next time...