West Virginia: Urban Exploring in Summers County
DAY
FOUR
Urban
Exploring in Summers County
After breakfast and before heading out to urban explore in
the area, we wanted to check out the Law Cemetery. Because it rained the night before, we
decided to see this tiny forest cemetery in the day. The cemetery is tucked deep in the thick
forests of Pipestem. We parked next to
Cabin 5 to take the path next to it.
This cabin is reported to be haunted and we wanted to stay in it. Unfortunately, it was already booked. The path was small in width, and took us
about 15 minutes to get to the cemetery.
The grounds were surrounded with a newly constructed wood fence. The old wood fence was still lying on the
ground outside the perimeter. Some of
the Law Family members are buried in this cemetery along with a few
others. We took some pictures and headed
back to the car.
One of the things we wanted to do while staying at Pipestem
was to go urban exploring. We wanted to
find remarkable places in our second Abandoned Places book which would be
perfect for the Appalachian Edition. We
saw many vacant buildings tucked in secluded places along the highway, but were
not easy to access. We did see a
schoolhouse and decided it would be worth the stop. We were careful of the tall grass and
shrubbery because of the ticks hiding in them.
We did not see a “No Trespassing” sign, but were still cautious as you should always be. The chipping red
paint, broken windows with green vines growing all over the structure, made for
wonderful pictures. We found an old
record player for Sharon to touch and take a reading on. We peeked inside the windows, and saw lots of
school equipment thrown around in a big garbage heap. That was the first place we found for our
book.
Next, we cruised around the town of Hinton for more empty
places to photograph. We hit pay dirt
and found many abandoned structures.
After taking many photos of these places, we came across a row of burnt
townhouses. We noticed that 10
apartments were gutted and destroyed by fire.
These apartments were known as Brick Row and where 10
families once lived. They were built in
1905 for railroad officials to live in with their families. In February of 2013, a young man was caught
torching another structure and was arrested.
He admitted to lighting the fire to the townhouses and was charged with
two counts of first degree arson.
Sharon and I were immediately drawn to the structure. As we walked closer to the building, we could
smell the charred remains. Inside, you
can see that each place was three stories with a child’s bed barely hanging
from the third floor and burnt dishes still in the cupboards. Outside, are remains of a baby stroller and
children’s toys. Although the situation
was a sad and tragic one, we still saw the beauty in what was still there.
At the end of town and hanging over the edge was a small
yellow house. It is located right before
the bridge leaving Hinton. From the
front, it looked tiny with a second story on top. But when you see it from the side, you notice
the house is at the periphery of a hill with the railroad below. I bet it felt out of the ordinary living
there.
The last place in the area was located along the highway
back to Pipestem from Hinton. Sharon
referred to it as “The Hatchers”. It was
a massive building with broken windows and vines growing throughout the outside
and inside of the structure. We did not
venture inside, but choose to take pictures of the outside and some through the
windows. I couldn’t find any information
on this place. It looked like it may
have been a fish factory, a store, or some sort of business. Whatever it used to be, it was a miraculous
place to photograph. *Note: We got word from Sharon’s sister
that this building is going to be torn down.
That trip was magical and sometimes hilarious - when I got us lost on some back roads and the tram broke down. I've been going to Pipestem my entire life. It is so full of deer since hunting is not allowed. If you stay in a cabin, throw corn cobs out back. They go nuts.
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