Hawks Nest Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

January 29, 1873: Chesapeake & Ohio Completed

On January 29, 1873, railroad officials gathered at Hawks Nest in Fayette County to drive the last spike on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The C&O, as it was known, connected the Ohio River with the Atlantic Ocean and gave birth to the modern coal and timber industries in southern West Virginia.

The southern West Virginia leg of the railroad was one of the great engineering feats of the late 19^th century. More than 7,000 men—including many African Americans—laid track through the New River Gorge and cut tunnels through the mountains between Hinton and Covington, Virginia. One of America’s most popular folk songs emerged from construction of the C&O’s Great Bend Tunnel in Summers County. It recounts how the “steel-drivin’ man” “John Henry” defeated a steam drill in a contest of man versus machine.

After its initial completion, the C&O kept expanding and connected West Virginia resources with markets in the Midwest and the Great Lakes. Thanks to its coal traffic, the C&O continued to thrive in the 20^th century while many other railroads failed. Today, the remaining C&O lines are part of CSX Transportation.

February 2, 1946: Author Hubert Skidmore Died

On February 2, 1946, novelist Hubert Skidmore died at age 36. In the late 1930s and early ’40s, the Webster County native wrote several novels featuring West Virginia settings.

A common theme was the endurance of mountain people in the face of adversity. His best-known book never reached the public during his lifetime. Hawk’s Nest is a fictionalized account of what has been described as America’s worst industrial accident.

It depicts the real-life plight of laborers who built the Hawks Nest Tunnel for Union Carbide during the Great Depression. While working on the Fayette County project, hundreds of men died from a debilitating lung disease known as silicosis. It later came to light that Union Carbide’s contractor knowingly exposed workers to deadly silica dust without taking proper precautions. The contractor then tried to cover up the deaths.

Doubleday printed Skidmore’s book in 1941 but never released it. In 1970, Richwood newspaperman Jim Comstock published the novel in his effort to reprint important West Virginia material. Then, in 2004, the University of Tennessee published Hawk’s Nest, bringing Skidmore a measure of literary popularity nearly 60 years after his death.

W.Va. State Park Lodges Offering Discounted Room Rates

Some West Virginia state parks are encouraging friends, families and meeting planners to use their facilities through a January promotion.

Officials say some of the state parks are offering discounted rates for lodging. Room rates are $50 for standard forest and mountain view rooms, including weekends.

State parks participating in the promotion are: Cacapon Resort, Chief Logan Lodge, Hawks Nest, North Bend, Pipestem Resort, Twin Falls Resort and Tygart Lake.

Reservations can be made by calling the participating parks in advance and asking for the WV50 rate promotion.

Blackwater Falls State Park also is offering discounted rates for certain times of the week for both January and February.