At Valley Falls

50 this morning, warming to 59 with steady rain showers and heavier rain in the afternoon. Cooling off now to the upper 40's. 

We had a road trip today, to pick up some things I won in an online auction. I am a real convert to the online format for auctions. I can look at the items and bid from my home, then go pick them up at the designated time. No long days in auction houses--especially during these COVID times when I would not go into one for any amount of cool things.

After pickup, I suggested to Larry that we drive a little further to a West Virginia state park I haven't seen in years: Valley Falls. It's in the center of our state, in Marion county, and like most parks a bit out of the way, along a curvy secondary road. The park boasts a series of beautiful low waterfalls on the Tygart River, and the area has a rich history dating from the early settlement by European pioneers in this region. The falls have had a variety of names: Evil Spirit Falls by the Native Americans, Hard Around Falls and Big Muddy Falls by later settlers, until it finally became known by its current name, Great Falls of the Tygart--Tygart being the surname of an early settler.

The first white man thought to have seen the falls is believed to have a Jonathan Nixon, in the late 1700's. In 1827, W.W. Fetterman came to the area and in 1837 built a "whip" or "whipsaw" mill to produce lumber used in most of the building in the area. What is a whip mill? Wikipedia had the best explanation I could find: "Prior to the invention of the sawmill, boards were rived (split) and planed, or more often sawn by two men with a whipsaw, using saddleblocks to hold the log, and a saw pit for the pitman who worked below. Sawing was slow, and required strong and hearty men. The topsawer had to be the stronger of the two because the saw was pulled in turn by each man, and the lower had the advantage of gravity. The topsawyer also had to guide the saw so that the board was of even thickness. This was often done by following a chalkline.

Early sawmills simply adapted the whipsaw to mechanical power, generally driven by a water wheel to speed up the process. The circular motion of the wheel was changed to back-and-forth motion of the saw blade by a connecting rod known as a pitman arm (thus introducing a term used in many mechanical applications)."

Mr. Fetterman hired an Englishman to cut and built the millrace, which must have been a prodigious task. The race is still in place, and is large and deep. 

This stack of stone is the only remaining piece of the original mill.

Here you can see part of the millrace. What a job that must have been, especially in those days of hand labor and limited tools.

In the 1852 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad came through, and there was a need for a hotel for overnight accommodations for travelers on their way to Wheeling and points West. 

Today, CSX trains still run through the park. We were lucky enough to be there to see it, although I'd have loved to have been up on the bridge when the train passed under. Next time.

Valley Falls boomed. There were over 100 homes built, and a variety of businesses sprang up: planing mills, feed and flour mills, a coffin factory, shoemaker, axe handle factory and many more. Soon there was a blacksmith, a Wells Fargo office. a post office and a ferry, as the town grew up on both sides of the river. The Fetterman family was involved in many of these endeavors, and apparently was quite successful.

The Civil War brought additional industry and activity to the area. A gunstock plant was built, and ice was cut from the river and stored in the easily available sawdust for summer use. But when the Fettermans heard that the Confederate army had taken Fairmont, they left, and never returned to Valley Falls. There is, however, a small community near Grafton, WV that bears the Fetterman name.

The location of the town, and its heavy involvement with the timber industry, let to its demise. Fire swept through the town in 1886. leveling many of the buildings. Two years later a devastating flood swept away much of the town yet again. Although the mill was repaired and continued in operation until 1905, the fate of the town was sealed, and it eventually dwindled away. The area was acquired by the West Virginia state park system beginning in 1964, and more land was added over the years until the park became its current 1000+ acres. It is a day use park now, with no overnight camping or facilities.

We ventured out on the rocks around the falls; the walking is easy if you're careful. The color of the water is such a gorgeous green.

My first visit to Valley Falls was an accidental one, back in 1973 or 74. My first husband, me and our little boys were on a road trip, exploring West Virginia, where we wanted very much to move. We needed a place to camp for the night, and turned up a road called Camp Towles. Thinking it was a campground, we drove back the narrow road until eventually we were on a very narrow gravel track alongside a river. As I learned later, we were just across the Tygart River from Valley Falls State Park. At the time, it was nearly dark, the place was lonely and deserted, so we just got out the sleeping bags and made camp right there, falling asleep to the sound of the falls. 

In the morning I was up early. The mist from the river gave an ethereal beauty to the place, and I wandered along the little road, picking a few raspberries to add to our breakfast and just enjoying the solitude. I looked down, and there in the gravel I found a beautiful, turned brass piece. I dug it out of the mud and polished it up. On the way home we stopped at Valley Falls State Park and learned the history of the place; I thought my brass piece must be a cabinet handle or something like that, from one of the long-ago homes og Valley Falls. I took it home and put it on our bookshelf, where it shone brightly and made me remember the place I'd found it whenever I looked at it.

A few weeks later, my brother Tom came to visit. He spotted my prized brass piece and said, "Sue, what in the world are you doing with a hash pipe??" Yes, I was that naive, I had no idea what the thing was. My brother took it home with him, and now I wonder exactly what he might have done with it. Or maybe it's better I don't know.

I look at Valley Falls today and try to imagine how it must have been back in those days, bustling with men and horses, trains and noise. It's quiet today, only the sound of the falls and the voices and laughter of visitors. I think, really, it's better this way. I leave you tonight with the music of the falls. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.