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Thurmond is located on the main line of the Chesapeake Ohio railroad, about sixty miles east of Charleston It is at the junction of the main line and the Loup Creek branch of the Chesapeake Ohio railroad and in many respects is a most unique town. The business section lies crouched in the narrow confines between the river’s bank and the mountain, with the Chesapeake Ohio railroad for a street and a 500 foot mountain cliff for a back yard. The stranger that passes through will alight from his Pullman to see the “city” that produces three times as much business for the Chesapeake Ohio as Cincinnati and yet he will look in vain, for the “city” is not. No, Thurmond is not a city: it has no sky-scrapers nor mansions, no beautiful streets nor inviting parks, and not even a magnificent depot, yet when it comes to producing revenue, the Chesapeake Ohio railroad would not exchange Thurmond for three or four Cincinnatis , half a dozen Richmonds, or a score of Charlestons. In other words, Thurmond is “miles ahead” of any other station on the Chesapeake Ohio system as a revenue producer. This may seem increditable and may be said by some to be but a wild beast of a loyal Thurmondite, so to set aside any doubt as to the accuracy of the above statement we will give a few figures gleamed from the auditors’ report of the Chesapeake Ohio system. In the year 1910 Thurmond handled 4,283,641 tons of freight and the revenue from the same amounted to $4,824,911.49. It also handled 76,541 passengers, producing a revenue of $53,696. As compared with this the total revenue from Cincin nati, including that originating in the city and from connecting lines, amounted to $1,816,392.40. Rich mond produced less than $500,000, and Charleston produced $172,488.13. The earnings of the whole Chesapeake Ohio system for 1910 were $24,901, 199.77. Of this Thurmond produced nearly one fifth. The earnings of the Hinton division were $10,896,764.74, of which Thurmond produced about forty-five per cent. Twenty passenger trains arrive and depart from Thurmond each day, six of which are first class or fast trains; there are about 15 miles of track on the Thurmond yards; the round house employs 175 men in the shop, on the tracks, etc.; about twenty local engines and their crews make Thurmond their headquarters and go there for all repairs; the office force, of which Mr. L. C. Spangler is dead, consists of nine men, and of course “all trains stop at Thurmond;” therefore we see that Thurmond is preeminently a railroad town, and as such, it has a just claim to first place. We might call attention right here to the fact that Thurmond deserves a much better depot than it has, and we wonder how long the Chesapeake Ohio will compel the patrons of this office and the men who work in it to put up with the present unsani tary and unsightly building. In addition to the railroad business, Thurmond has two good banks, which are mentioned more in detail further over; two hotels, two dry goods stores, several groceries, a drug store, a jewelry store, a wholesale meat house, several coal agencies, a dentist and a doctor. There are a number of very nice residences in the town, a school house and a church. The people are congenial, hospitable and progressive and if Thurmond could just get those everlasting (?) mountains out of the way it would spread itself considerably. MAJOR P. H. KELLEY AND FAMILY ResIDENCE OF ALEX McNasp, McDoNato
Newspaper Details
Fayetteville Fayette Journal
Fayetteville, West Virginia, US
Thu, Nov 02, 1911
Page 67
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 21 Oct 2025
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