Thurmond, West Virginia, is sort of a ghost town. It’s a beautiful little place on the bank of the New River in southern West Virginia. There are still some homes there, but last I heard, there were only six residents up on the hill behind the main street. The main street consists of two railroad tracks and a narrow dirt road.
The movie Matewan, starring recent Oscar winner Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones, was filmed there. In the early 1900s, it was a boomtown because of coal and the railroad. The world’s longest poker game was played there.
Many of the buildings still stand, and it’s an intriguing place to visit. I like to go down there and take pictures each time I’m in West Virginia.