Thurmond, WV: A Ghost Town That Lives on in Film

Two of the most illuminating and enjoyable parts of our visit to New River Gorge National Park were not hikes, but a drive and a walk. The drive wound us down into the namesake gorge via the historic Fayette Station Road, and the walk took us along the historic “main street” of downtown Thurmond, West Virginia.

Thurmond is not technically a ghost town, because four people apparently still live there. But most of the buildings along the still-active railroad tracks are empty, their facades giving only a sad hint at the bustling activity that once took place in this coal-driven train town.

The National Park Service took ownership of most of the buildings in 1995, though only the depot has been fully restored. It’s now used as a seasonal park visitor center and an Amtrak stop.

We peeked into the windows of the other four extant buildings facing the railroad tracks and tried to imagine their respective varied histories — the occupants shifting from banks to hotels to apartments to restaurants as the town’s fortunes waxed and waned.

We walked past empty lots where the enormous C&O engine house and water tanks and the grand Lafayette Hotel once stood. And we wondered, gazing at the gabled and boarded-up houses on the overgrown hill, if we might be imagining smoke wafting from the rear of a structure, as if someone might be cooking inside.

Also, a random child walked up to me and said “Hi, here’s a piece of coal” and handed me a piece of coal. So I carried it around with me and now it’s at home in a prop teacup from the TV show Ed. One more thing for the Swedish death cleaners to inevitably deal with!

But that’s not the end of the story of our experience with Thurmond.

A few weeks after we returned, Dan posted a carousel of his Thurmond photos on Instagram, to which he received a comment: “Looks like the Matewan film site.”

As it turns out, Matewan is a 1987 film written and directed by John Sayles, released the year before Eight Men Out and following a bunch of Bruce Springsteen videos.

The movie is available to watch for free on YouTube, and of course we had to do so. It’s worth a viewing for the cast list alone, including:

• Chris Cooper, in his first film role
• James Earl Jones
• David Straithairn
• Mary McDonnell
• Ken Jenkins, aka Dr. Kelso from Scrubs
• Kevin Tighe, aka your favorite smug, hardnosed military authority figure, aka Locke’s dad on Lost and Jason Segel’s dad on Freaks and Geeks
• Josh Mostel, aka Principal Max Anderson from Billy Madison
• Bob Gunton, aka the warden from Shawshank Redemption
• Will Oldham, aka Bonnie Prince Billy
• and the guy (Jace Alexander) who robs Cher in Clueless outside Circus Liquors and makes her ruin her totally important Alaia dress

In the film, you can clearly see Thurmond’s distinctive building facades in the background of many shots, including the Banker’s Club restaurant within the former National Bank. Scenes take place outside the depot, and Mary McDonnell’s character runs a boarding house in one of the now-abandoned homes on the hill.

Spoiler alert: the plot of Matewan is based on an actual incident that happened in the mining town of Matewan, West Virginia, two-and-a-half hours southwest of Thurmond (and which also has a fairly abandoned downtown preserved as a historic district).

But watching the movie was like traveling back in time once more on the streets of Thurmond. Even if the events didn’t happen there, they could have. And kudos to the National Park Service and John Sayles and his merry coterie of actors for making me care about a two hour-plus movie about coal mining union organizing.

Seriously, check it out. And if you’re passing through West Virginia, stop and spend a half hour strolling through Thurmond.