Wrapping up our trip

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 

Today was our day to relax and chill before we start the trek home tomorrow. We decided to take a drive to Hinton - we had passed through this town on the way to Pipestem on Sunday. 

But first we drive to one of Pipestem's gift shops and the start of the tramway which heads down to the river. The gift shop is closed - it is only open certain days in the off season - and the tram is closed for the season. We decide to try the gift shop tomorrow before we leave - Vickie says it has great locally made items. 

It is warm and sunny today - another nice day.

View from the gift shop and restaurant. Forested mountains are everywhere - this is one area where there is a view. The tram goes down to the other lodge and the river. We've had great weather since we got here. Johnny and Vickie suggest having dinner in the other lodge which also has a great view apparently.

We are high up in the mountain - my ears popped one time going down to the main road. This is coal country - we had just seen a coal train yesterday or the day before. I wonder if these mountains were denuded of trees for lumber companies and/or strip-mined in the past. What happened to the mountain people who had lived and farmed in these mountains - are they still there - did they move into houses owned by the coal companies - did they move to another state looking for work? So many questions. 

Entrance to Pipestem State Park Resort - I make Johnny stop for a minute while I grabbed this picture. We have been turning right toward Athens and Princeton, but today we turn left to Hinton.

I remember having seen a lot of rather shabby/run down houses and mobile homes. I had thought that Hinton was a coal camp, but since coming home, I learned that it was a railroad center. The Hinton website - http://www.hintonwva.com/explore_hinton/history.php - describes it below.

"HISTORY

Had it not been for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company, Hinton would have had no reason to exist.  The aftermath of the Civil War had left the railroad in shambles, its goal to reach the Ohio River on the verge of collapse.  While struggling to obtain capital, in early 1869, then-president Gen. Williams C. Wickham,  recruited railroad capitalist Collis P. Huntington.  After making a tour of the whole line, Huntington, fresh from his work building the Central Pacific, became interested in the C & O as a link in a true coast-to-coast rail line ...

The tour took him through what would later become Hinton and Summers County.  At that time the territory was entirely in timber and farmland, owned by the Ballengee family and the Hinton family.  The Ballengee family located here first, before 1778, and owned all the land that would later become Hinton.  It wasn’t until 1835 that John Hinton (1788-1858) moved his family to the area of Hinton, a 175-acre tract that had been purchased from Henry and Rachel Ballengee and now known as Avis, after his second wife.  They were married on July 4, 1843.

When Huntington and Gen. Wickham reached Hinton’s Ferry they engaged two of John and Avis Hinton’s sons, William and Joe, and Parker Adkins to take them down the river for a view of the proposed route.  Evan Hinton, a half-brother, was among the few that knew the railroad would be following the river; and, with Virginia attorney, James Furgeson, the two went to Charleston in 1871 when the Legislature was in session and lobbied for the creation of the new county.  His argument and with some boundary line adjustments was successful and the new County of Summers was created on Feb. 27, 1871.  In 1871 about six families lived in the vicinity of what would become Hinton and only three houses existed in the Hinton/Avis/Bellepoint area.  These were the homes of the Isaac and George Ballengee family and John Hinton’s family.

On Nov. 6, 1871, the C & O Railroad bought the Isaac Ballengee estate at public auction for $3,600.  They sold what wasn’t needed by the railroad to the Central Land Co. for $12,000, owned by Collis P. Huntington, on Jan. 23, 1873.  He had the town laid off into town lots by civil engineer Bennett R. Dunn and began to sell lots for $250 to $300 each and slowly the town began to grow, with as many as 300 locating here in one year.

Even before Hinton’s incorporation, Huntington was busy making Hinton one of the railroad’s mainline division terminals where crews were made up.  It also made this the logical home for families of these crews working both directions on the railroad.  Machine shops were constructed and this furnished employment for many skilled workmen.  When a dispute erupted over the location of the courthouse, Huntington settled matters by having the C&O donate three acres for county purposes.  The offer was accepted and the courthouse was erected in 1875.

A building boom occurred between 1895 and 1907 which demonstrates the early prosperity of Hinton and its citizens.  Many of the buildings still stand in the National Hinton Historic District ...  It was during this period in 1892 that the C&O completed construction of the roundhouse with 17 engine stalls and a car repair shop that would hold 40 cars.  The roundhouse employed 370 men and the car shop 170.  These railroaders were building homes that today reflects the eclecticism of the Victorian era and the individual tastes of the original homeowners.

In 1907 the population of Hinton was about 6,000 and by 1925 Hinton and Avis together had grown to over 8,800.  On January 19, 1927, Hinton and Avis, along with the community of Foss (Bellepoint), an area of approximately five square miles, were consolidated and incorporated as the City of Hinton by the West Virginia state legislature.  By 1929 the city could boast of having eighteen miles of paved and improved streets and twenty-one miles of first-class sidewalks, that 70 percent of the working people in Hinton owned their homes, that the city had three national banks, two inter-city bus lines, two hospitals, ten wholesale firms, and seventy-five retail stores.

The coal fields kept the trains rolling and the economy of Hinton stable into the years following World War II, but the railroad was phasing out coal-fired locomotives and converting to diesel.  The trend toward private auto and airliners also marked a sharp decline in passenger service.  Hinton was entering the years of change.

The Bluestone Dam was completed in 1949 and along came the Bluestone Public Hunting and Fishing Area and Bluestone State Park.  This brought a resurgence into the Hinton economy and the focus turned to tourism as the railroad industry here faded into history.

(by) Fred Long"

 The New River flows alongside Hinton. I don't find any recent information, but in 2000 the median income was $20, 323 - that was 20 years ago but it sounds low to me. That same census reported that 27.6% of the population was below the poverty line. 

Johnny and Vickie tell me that they can see Hinton building itself back up with each visit.  With the river so close we are surprised that there are not more tourist concerns along the river like fishing, kayaking, boating - there seems to be some camping, but not in a big way. There are several state parks nearby - including Pipestem where we are staying - are they bringing in tourists? There are certainly some depressed areas, but there are also some very nice areas.

Again from the Hinton website - http://www.hintonwva.com/explore_hinton/history.php:

"Hinton is a “Railroad Town”, formed about 1871 with the tremendous building boom that occurred during the Gay ’90s period from 1890 to 1920.

The glory of the train days has come and gone, of course, leaving in its wake a community that today is rich in history and natural beauty. The downtown Historic District, officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 17, 1984, is an architectural gem waiting to be discovered.

Included in the Hinton Historic District are 200 buildings – churches, storefronts, and private residences displaying the varying architecture of American Gothic, Classical, High Victorian, American Four Square, and Greek Revival styles.

Surrounded by natural beauty Hinton is the gateway community to the New River Gorge National River, as well as Bluestone and Pipestem State Parks. These parks provide many opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Hinton has seen a past full of excitement and growth, and the present is full of enthusiasm and perseverance. A new day has begun for Hinton and Summers County with people visiting and enjoying, sharing our natural beauty, our history, our recreation, and our business and industrial growth."

We parked the car and took a short walk. The train mural above is on the side of a building - the building below forms an L shape with the building with the moral bordering the green area.

You can see the end of the mural on the left below. I believe that is St. Patrick's Catholic Church on the distance.

We stop into Boho at 306 2nd avenue - an eclectic shop that has been there for 2 years I think. We talk to the owner who tells us that a successful businessman from Hinton has invested in renovating 2nd Avenue which is in the Historic Area and is now looking for other business men to invest in Hinton. He says that he and his wife are making a living there and have bought a house two blocks away - they are working on renovating the house. 

Johnny is talking to the owner about Johnny's interest in modern antiques and is asking the fellow where he gets some of his stock. They exchange business cards. Meanwhile Vickie and I make a couple of purchases. We ask the owner to recommend a place to eat - he suggests Kirk's along the river. We head for Kirk's. He also suggests a place for the very best ice cream in the area. Since ice cream is a priority, we head over to a combo pharmacy, luncheonette, small shop. I had a small peach ic cream cone which was fabulous!

Some camping along the New River in the pictures above and below- I don't see any guest houses - there is a site where there was a motel on the way into Hinton - but we don't see any more. I did see two guest house in Hinton itself in old victorian Houses.

A view of Hinton from across the river.

We finally figure out that we are heading in the wrong direction and turn around. It turns out that we had passed Kirk's restaurant on the way into town. We place our orders and find a table on the deck outside overlooking the river. We can hear ducks quacking, a small boat passes - it is quiet and pleasant. There are a few customers at other tables. The waitress brings out our food. It was a lovely lunch.

We drive back into Hinton - last night Johnny had seen a house for sale for a ridiculously low price compared to Massachusetts - so we want to see it. There are houses in Hinton from $20, 000 to $110, 000 in downtown Hinton - there are some more expensive houses outside downtown - up to $300, 000. Quite a change from home!!

We stopped so I could get the above picture of the cobblestone streets in downtown Hinton. And I guess we know who they are supporting in the picture below!

We can see the Bluestone dam from this bridge - Johnny tells me that it is to control the floods coming down from the mountains during rainy spells.

After exploring Hinton, we head back to Pipestem to relax and pack up. We were going to go to the lodge for supper, but I knew Johnny and Vickie would rather go to the nearby BBQ joint so I suggest that we go to the lodge for breakfast instead. I only ordered some chicken wings from the BBQ because I still had Chinese left-overs from last night. Johnny went to get it - I pulled out the leftovers - we ate at the table and talked about Hinton. 

I packed up my things and took a shower so I wouldn't delay things in the morning. It was a relaxing last evening.