Near Lansing in Fayette County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)

A Tale of Two Towns

Fayette and South Fayette

— New River Gorge National River —

A Tale of Two Towns Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 25, 2021

1. A Tale of Two Towns Marker

Inscription. On opposite sides of the New River, the twin mining towns of Fayette and South Fayette were established along the tracks of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The company town of Fayette provided miners with housing, a company store, a school, post office, churches, railroad depot, four saloons, and a hotel.

South Fayette was born out of efforts by C&O Railway to increase productivity. With little level land for a second railroad track, the company added a line on the other side of the river.

(sidebar)
People living in the gorge were always near railroad tracks. The sound and rhytmn of the coal trains were part of daily life.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources • Notable Places • Railroads & Streetcars.

Location. 38° 3.886′ N, 81° 4.628′ W. Marker is near Lansing, West Virginia, in Fayette County. Marker is on Fayette Station Road (County Route 82) 2.7 miles south of the Canyon Rim Visitors Center, on the right when traveling south. This section of the road and the bridge itself is one-way westbound. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lansing WV 25862, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. A Vital Link (here, next to this marker);

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Working In a Coal Mine (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Right for Safety and Equality (about 700 feet away); A Trip Back In Time (about 800 feet away); Natural Renewal (approx. 0.2 miles away); Townsend’s Ferry (approx. 0.2 miles away); Enduring Beauty (approx. 0.2 miles away); Growth of an Era (approx. 0.3 miles away).

More about this marker. This interpretive panel has a color photograph of the rebuilt Fayette Station Bridge, a black and white photograph of C&O steam locomotive No. 1629 pulling a coal train, and three more photographs captioned, “the old Fayette Station Bridge with the Blume Company Store on the left, 1907,” “Town of Fayette, circa 1900,” and “the two communities grew together over the years. Several community facilities were shared by both, including the post office.”

Regarding A Tale of Two Towns. Fayette and South Fayette no longer exist. They shared a railroad station and the stop was listed as “Fayette - South Fayette” on C&O passenger timetables, including the December 1925 timetable.

Also see . . .

Two markers on the Fayette Station Bridge image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 25, 2021

2. Two markers on the Fayette Station Bridge

This marker is the one nearest to the photographer.

Fayette and South Fayette - Abandoned. Article with photographs of abandoned structures. Excerpt:

Across the river was South Fayette, home to local railroad operations for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Prior to the completion of the Fayette Station Bridge, a ferry operated across the New River connecting Fayette and South Fayette between 1873 and 1889.

(Submitted on August 13, 2021.)

Additional commentary.
1. Passenger Service To Fayette and South Fayette in 1925
A December 1925 timetable for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway main line that ran from Newport News, Virginia, to Cincinnati, Ohio, showed a stop for Fayette-South Fayette between Sewell 7 rail miles east and Hawk’s Nest, 3 miles west. Charleston, the state capital, was 49 rail miles and an hour and 35 minutes west.

Ten passenger trains passed through Fayette Station every day but only 7 stopped to pick up or discharge passengers. Westbound they were C&O express train No. 3, The Fast Flying Virginian, at 10:28 AM; and two locals (trains that stop at all stations) from Hinton to Huntington WV at 8:20 AM and from Clifton Forge VA to Huntington at 3:05 PM. C&O’s other two express trains westbound passed in the night without stopping. The

Reconstructed Fayette Station Bridge, now the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 25, 2021

3. Reconstructed Fayette Station Bridge, now the Tunney Hunsaker Bridge

Bridge crosses the New River near the bottom of the gorge, at the level of the railroad tracks that parallel the river on either side.

express train that stopped carried coach and Pullman sleeper cars from New York and Washington to Louisville and to Cincinnati, and from Richmond to Louisville along with a dining car to feed all passengers.

Eastbound train No. 2 the returning F.F.V. express stopped at 8:38 PM; train no. 4, the Resort Special, at 4:24 PM; and two locals at 10:55 AM and 6:41 PM. A third eastbound express passed around 5:30 AM without stopping. The express trains carried coach and Pullman sleeper cars from Cincinnati to Washington, Cincinnati to Richmond, Louisville to New York, Louisville to Richmond, and Huntington to Richmond; and dining cars, of course.

C&O could get you from this small town west to Cincinnati Ohio in 5½ hours and Louisville Kentucky in 9. Today you can drive from where Fayette Station used to be to Cincinnati in 4½ hours so compared to 5½ by train that’s not bad, but I-64 makes a bee line to Louisville and you could get there in 5 hours by car today if you don’t stop. Eastbound you would be in Richmond in 11 hours and to the end of the line at Newport News in 14 hours. Through cars to Washington and to New York were cut off in Charlottesville Virginia and attached to waiting Southern Railway trains. The ride from Fayette Station to Washington was some 11 hours and to New York 17 hours.

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Submitted August 13, 2021, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 13, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 13, 2021, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 246 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 13, 2021, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.