SAFETY FIRST

OK, so what about Safety First?? in coal mining, there are endless reminders (GOOD REMINDERS) about safety being first. What about exploring the coal towns?? Yes, safety should also come first. Is it safe to explore coal towns? YES. Is it safe to explore abandoned buildings and see our culture and history?....YES, BUT there are conditions.....A few places remind us how safety is bound and tied in the harshest of ways to finding and exploring 

In Gary WV, the middle school is slowly decaying but lets us know, there was energy and great strength. Gary was home to the largest processing plant on the earth. To date (2021) the towers that held the conveyor belts still stand...and yes, you feel tiny. PLEASE do comment below. Clicking on any image will show you its full size.

Again, the words....Safety First. These words are carved into the stone hand cut shops at Gary. Of note, the sign reads: "No persons allowed in carpenter shop with out safety shoes and hat during working hours."

As I explored more, I found the Gary Middle school, and I got that reminder about safety....though a bit more implicit than before. One step...

Outside, its very obvious what a grand building this was in the day

I want to be very clear, that yes, these are abandoned or long idled places, but all of us can learn. In fact, look below and all folks do what I did as a child, we look around. 

KEEP LOOKING

 Sometimes, Things do Disappear

Not so many years ago, I was in McDowell County, and stopped at Caretta WV. Caretta had what I called a tipple or what others name, a processing plant. Then one day, it was all torn down. Luckily, I stopped and saw what I could. Its good to know someone had been there, but I wonder how fast they had to go? Click on each image for a full size picture. Please do leave comments..

I do not thrive on the abandoned. I want to know what was there? How hard did they work? 

How many people went through the doors?

I bet the day was busy and so much had to be done. This side shot of the tipple looked good to me and let me know, folks worked hard.

How many arguments did they have about the shift change??

Across the road, the coal passed on a belt

 Old and Modern....in a long gone place

One of the greatest thrills is finding something old and something modern in long gone places. Think about it, you are driving along in a far off place in West Virginia and you see BOTH the old technology for coal and the very modern architecture that honestly, should not be there....Truth is, in order to show wealth and power, BOTH the old and new combined in a coal town.

The OLD

Processing coal meant loading the coal and later on sorting it. In the OLD, we see people literally built coal chutes with hewn trees ands sheet metal. This was in Whitby, and has only recently gone away:

My son had come along and I could not believe how lucky I was

The chute was massive, the sheet metal had been stripped, and I finally saw how hard they worked, and how intelligent you had to be just to load the coal, much less process it.

AND you still had to get the trains in, with their power, they moved the coal. This was near Bowyer Hollow in Whitby again......IF you look, you will find it

CAUTION

Its tempting to see the old, and think we know its meaning. They saw luck in symbols below. These were tricky because I did not grow up at that time

The symbols then were for luck. HOWEVER, today, its a curioso. This was a power station in Raleigh West Virginia. It was again built to show wealth, power and permanence. Now, as a relic, some folks just sit and stare.

The NEW

As I drove further south, I did find the new, the modern. Vivian West Virginia,  there I saw art deco letterings and post classical structures.

I ALMOST missed the lettering, but as I looked behind the trees, I saw the school below. This is isnt unique or random. This is how you show power. You build the highest quality you can, and many years later, its still beautiful 

YES, I did go inside, BUT thats another blog entry..stay tuned. Please do feel free to leave comments.

 GET TO WEST VIRGINIA!!

When I post in my blog, and many see coal towns, I have this idea that so many people want their mythos to be correct. They want dumb coal miners, coal smudged faces, and of course, dead industrial towns......Sorry, this is not your place. Coal is on your hands. Its part of you

The towns and places are unique, filled with power memories and compassion, niot dead, not cold, not toxic. I walk through them.

Sometimes, I get lucky. I was in Deep Water and saw a Virginian Rail bridge, I had thought them to be extinct. I was gladly wrong. They were one of largest and first to move our coal

In Quinnimont, I saw very old and strange snow movers...I was glad and was reminded of just how much there was to wonder of

We see the art of Tom Acosta in Welch WV. Ed points to himself in the mural. Art and the appreciation of how it beautifies us, is present.

And even in cities named War, the post office is in the middle of  where we all gather to talk

BUT the surprise is that no matter where you look, you can see art and shape everywhere.

 STILL Getting Around Charleston WV

I thought I would post a few more pics of Charleston and the immediate area. Yes, I do have some more interior pics of out Capitol building, however, the churches of Charleston, still showed some beautiful images. Below was captured at the Sacred Heart Church. All images will enlarge if you click on them. PLEASE leave comments about what you have seen.

Mary and Temptation.

Our Lord, again near Sacred Heart Church

The variety of faith in Charleston allows the multiple spiers of each building to contribute to the city scape.

As promised, I also captured a few more detailed shots inside of our Capitol building, but I will also leave you with some extra shots. I will be adding more data about these pics, but I thought you might want to see the items below.

One of the wings at the Capitol building

Detail to side entrance

Detail of the wonderful marble. I will update what the symbols mean at a later time

Outside statue on Capitol grounds. I just like this statue, well rendered and of course our state flag

District 17 UMWA Headquarters, yes, its down the road from the Capitol building

My favorite statue on the Capitol grounds

 The Charleston WV Capitol Building....amazing

When you drive through West Virginia, everybody talks about the dome. They mean the WV state Capitol  building in Kanawha County. As I have said in earlier blog posts, this building is piled floor to ceiling with symbols of power, wealth, prosperity and wisdom. The dome is so bright, so golden that really, everyone stops and just looks. BUT, I am sorry to say, they often miss the meaning and themes on their own state dome. This blog entry will be updated often, however, if you want to know all about the West Virginia State Capitol building and yes, our dome, I STRONGLY suggest reading "Cass Gilbert's West Virginia State Capitol, Hardcover by Wilkins, Ann Thomas" about the designer (Cass Gilbert) of this building and what he intended to show us. Below is a quick tour, more info will be provided soon. Our state Capitol building was open for business on June 20, 1932. Please do leave comments. NOTE:  (Click on image for larger view) 

So you see the above, from across the Kanawha River in the Charleston University Parking Lot. Fun stuff. However, to know the history of the dome you need to get closer. (Click on image for larger view)

WHO was Cass Gilbert

Cass Gilbert designed our state capitol building. His works include, The United States Supreme Court Building, The Arkansas State Capitol building, the Minnesota State Capitol building, the US Department of Commerce HQ etc, etc. In other words, he is a big deal. NOTE, the image of Cass Gilbert is copyright free

The Eagle below sits atop our dome. The eagle, is almost 5 feet tall, but our Capitol building is just over 292 feet.