
The Ruins of Hanging Rock’s Iron Age
With the end of hunting season and the fall of the leaves, I embarked on a journey through state forests and wildlife management areas near my home to uncover the remnants of old pig iron furnaces.
With the end of hunting season and the fall of the leaves, I embarked on a journey through state forests and wildlife management areas near my home to uncover the remnants of old pig iron furnaces.
The Big Sandy River, bordering Kentucky and West Virginia, was once a bustling waterway with locks and dams to facilitate commerce. Its significance waned with the advent of railroads leading to the abandonment of most locks by 1947.
On a brisk, gray day, I set out to traverse the less-traveled paths of north-central West Virginia, a journey through time and history.
In early 2023, I ventured into the heart of West Virginia’s north-central region to capture the remnants of its once-thriving railroad industry.
The Covington Waterworks Bridge over the Licking River between Covington and Wilder, Kentucky has a peculiar backstory.
The Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad’s Rowland Branch stands as a testament to an era when railroads were the heartbeats of American towns. Stretching across 33 miles, this line linked Stanford on the L&N’s Lebanon Branch to Richmond, passing through Lancaster.
In September, a journey into the heart of northern West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania revealed the remnants of four pivotal iron furnaces, each bearing testimony to a bygone industrial era.
West Virginia, like many states in the U.S., has a rich history that is reflected in its infrastructure.
Fire lookout towers housed and protected individuals for wildfire search, but many have been decommissioned due to technology advancements, aircraft spotters, and budget constraints.
In the heart of Johnson County, Kentucky, lies Van Lear, a once bustling coal camp.
Nestled in the heart of Kingston, New York, Rondout Creek once hummed with the activity of a thriving maritime industry. Today, it stands as a tranquil haven and a living museum of history.
The rise of coal in Virginia in the early 1900s was propelled by the expansion of railroads and the increasing demand from industrializing cities. This era saw the development of many new coal mines in the Appalachian region, transforming local economies and shaping the landscape of communities in southwestern Virginia.
I joined Jeffrey Jakucyk on a photography excursion where we had the opportunity to explore the remains of the Miami & Erie Canal. Our journey took us from Cincinnati all the way to Miamisburg, Ohio.
The good old days of the community general store.
Many of the abandoned “beehive” coke ovens of the Davis Coal & Coke Company are still visible today in the company town of Coketon, West Virginia.
The Maybrook Line of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad provided a crucial east-west freight transportation route between Maybrook, New York, and Derby, Connecticut. After a fire damaged the Hudson River crossing, much of the line was abandoned. Portions of the Maybrook Line now serve as a rail-to-trail.
The Thorny Mountain Fire Tower within the Seneca State Forest in West Virginia is one of the few lookout towers that you can reserve and stay at!
Tater Knob Lookout Tower is an abandoned fire lookout tower in Bath County, Kentucky.
If you are traveling along the West Virginia Turnpike, you may have noticed the portals to Memorial Tunnel.
It might look peaceful today, but Briceville, Tennessee was central to the Coal Mine Wars of 1891-92.
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