All Modern photos are by Okey L. King.

Playing: Orange Blossom Special.

Scenes Around Old Caldwell

.....This past Saturday Morning, while all the others were still in the house, I decided to take a walk to see if I could make some fall photos. I made several of the trees in the hollow and on the hillside just west of the house. Because of the Civil War, this hill is a part of history. On the hill at the extream right-hand corner of the photo, there is a Confederate gun implacement. At the end of the ridge, there is a trench. These features are some of what is left over from the Battle of Lewisburg. The Confederates dug in after their defeat, but the Federals never attacked. So the men from the South slipped off down through Monroe County.

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.....Perhaps because of the extream dry weather, the colors a very good this year. Even the oaks, instead of being drab, are a nice russet color. The yellow is a sumac tree. I have one of the largest I have seen in my yard. This is a scene from the Eastern Edge of our yard.

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.....Photo by Okey L. King

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.....To the immediate East of our place is another hollow. In this hollow stood the old Black Elementry School. There was once a large Black community on the ridge east of where we live. They were good neighbors, but they are long gone. Up the hollow from the old school site, there are woods. The following three photos were taken the evening before my Saturday walk. Jonathan, who is more trustworthy as a hunter than probably ninty-five percent of the adults who hunt, wanted to go hunting and I went with him with my camara. While we were seated against the hillside, I made this photo of him. Note: I just received a call from Jonathan and he said that he got his deer with his bow this evening. So, that finishes his bow hunting for the year.

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.....This was the scene in the trees that we were looking at. We were also surveying the leaves on the ground under the trees.

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.....It must be almost Halloween. Someone found this wierd old doll's head lying on the floor of the hollow and stuck in in a tree above the path. I would imagine that this is what is left of some doll that once belonged to a little black girl.

.....The photo below is the site where the Caldwell Depot used to stand. I had been looking for a photo of the old depot for a long time. I was blessed to recieve the first old photo from my friend Anna Defibaugh. It is a view looking down the tracks to the west. The second photo, which I recieved from my friend Jon, is looking east. The building to the left of the depot is still standing and is still in use. It has changed little if any. It was part of a gasoline bulk station. It is now used by a paving company. To the right of the second photo, beyond the stopped train, Howard Tunnel once stood. It was demolished before the year 1900. It was replaced by a large cut. I have looked for a photo of the tunnel, but I have had no luck. My wife learned to spell Caldwell from the depot sign. It looks as if the second photo was made from the train.

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.....Photo by Okey L. King

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...........Photo by Okey L. King

.....These two photos show the old almost hidden sidetracks used in the everyday work around the depot area. You might note the precison cutting of the rocks in the top photo, This work was done more than 110 years ago.
.....In the second photo as second set of tracks runs across the road from the first. They run beside the building that can be seen in the depot photo beyond the Boxcar. The boxcar is sitting on one of the sidings.

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.....Photo by Okey L. King

.....This is a few on late fall afternoon of the tracks above the town of Caldwell. The railway was carved out of the hillside above Howard Creek. At the curve in the background, there is no room to walk on either side of the tracks. An uptrain nearly scrapes the cliff while folks riding a down Amtrac can look straight down on the waters of Howard Creek.

Iron Mountain Railroad:


.....I chose the music for this page because the Boom Days of Caldwell were built around the old C&O Railway. In the 1870s, with the coming of the rails, industry began to boom. This is the site of the old Main Line Depot. It stood at an elevation of 1726 feet and was at the Western Entrance of the old Howards Tunnel which was removed before 1900. The only thing left to remind us of the tunnel is the road which is called "Tunnel Hill Road." Fancy ladies and gentlemen embarked and disembarked here coming to and fro from the big cities. Woolens from the Woolens Mill at Second Creek started there way to the market from here. So also did tools and implements from the large foundry that once stood just across the Greenbrier River. Items such as reaper parts were shipped all over the world from here. Horse drawn dreys loaded down with all kinds of goods and driven by sweating and swearing drivers came and went all day. As this was the old busines section of Caldwell, there were also some stores in the area.

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.....Log trains filled with logs from up in the mountains, going to the old St. Lawrence Mill at Ronceverte, came through the tunnel which is now a huge cut. Before these log trains entered the C&O, they came down the old Iron Mountain and Greenbrier Railroad which went out of existace many many years ago. Also, for many years, passenger trains coming from and going to many places sped along these same tracks. During World War II, guards were posted at the cut to defend it from attack. During those years, these tracks were vital. Coal trains still keeps the rails warm night and day. Amtrack comes through up and down about twice a week. Every once in awhile there is a freight or grain train.

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..............Photo curtesy of Robert Morgan

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........Phot curtesy of Robert Morgan

.....These two photos are from copies of two old post cards sent to me by Robert Morgan. They are of the Donaldson Logging Company Mill and of thier old shey engine at work. The post card label says, "Near Caldwell." I do not exactly where the logging operation was. But, it is typical of many of the operations in the area. The Donaldson Company had thier own logging railway

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.......Photo provided by Anna Defiaugh.

.....The North Caldwell Depot was on the Durbin Line. This branch of the old C&O began at Whicomb just a few miles up the Greembrier River from Ronceverte. During its hayday, its trains carried countless logs from the mountainsides of the Upper Greenbrier Valley to the mills at Ronceverte. Before this line was built, logs were floated down the river in the spring where they were caught by a boom that began at Caldwell.

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....This photo shows part of the area that was the site of some of the industry and was the site where fuel of differnt kinds was offloaded from the cars and stored for shipment though out the Greenbrier Area. These were here when I came to Caldwell, but they are now part of history. Not far from the old North Caldwell Station, shown above, stood the foundry that I mentioned above.

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...........Photo by Okey L. King

......This is another one of the buildings left over from the boomdays of Caldwell and is part of the old industrial complex. It is now owned by the Vances

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.....This section of Rt. 60 was once not the main road through Caldwell. The main road was the old James River and Kanawha Turnpike which followed the course of Howards Creek. The old road from this area joined the Pike just across the creek. In the photo, you will see the entrance to Mill Creek Road. Out this road just apiece stood the old Caldwell School. There is not much that happens at Caldwell anymore. Most folks here are unaware of the rich history.


I believe that this photo was made at Caldwell at the location of the old school which stood on Old Mill Road. I believe that it is Greenbrier Mountain that rises in the background. The last school at Caldwell stood in the middle of town above Route 60.

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......Caldwell School Kids about 1946. I've forgotten who produced this photo. I will try to find out and put their name here.


This 1960s era photo shoes the old Napier House and the school


............Photo by Okey L. King

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.....This is the Caldwell Pentecostal Church Building under construction.

CALDWELL PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH

.....This is the view looking west through Caldwell. At the right of the photo, just beyond the guradwrail, the Old James River Kanawha Turpike which later became Old Route Sixty, enters the modern Route Sixty. The old road was the first paved road in the area. At the right of the photo, out of the picture, is the Caldwell IPHC church building.

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.....This the church building as it appeared in 1950. The building now has a red brick finish.

.....Just up Howard Creek from the church is a famous local landmark: The Blue Hole. This spot has been called Caldwell's Cony Island. Folks once came here to swim, fish, and just to hang out. That seems to be a thing of the past. I have always like to fish from the rocks. .....
.....Photo by Okey L. King

.....At one time I would come to Blue Hole and swim here with my children when they were young. I stopped coming one warm summer day. I jumped off of the upper rock and, while I ws still in the air, I saw a huge copperhead swim by right where I was going to land. That was the last jump in the creek that I made.
.....You can see the Old James River Turnpike beyond the rocks as it passes though this narrow spot. Everything from farm wagons to stage coaches passed this rocks. Fancy folks, passing from one spa to another, looked out over these same rocks. Girls on their way to Camp Ann Bailey passed here and those who had been there before knew that they were almost there. I once helped to unload their luggage from the busses.

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............Photo by Okey L. King

.....Some youngs folks, including my grandson, are braving the icy waters. It will be way up into the summer before the waters warm a little. This can be a dangerous spot in normal conditions, but, with the water running high, Blue Hole can be deadly.

.................. ..................Photo by Okey L. King

.....Looking downstream from Blue Hole, this spot on Howard Creek has produceed quite a few fish for me. I would wade rom the Upper Bridge to the Church and with my flyrod. But, when the Interstate came, the company destroyd the upper reach. There was once a beautiful mill dam by the Upper Bridge, but the workers tore it out even though they didn't need to. This was before people got up in arms to save the enviornment and historical things and the dam didn't stand a chance. It was torn out before we knew what was happening. I wish that I had made a photo of the dam.

.....In addition to the business that it brought in, the railroad attracted many new families to the area. One group of families came from Carroll County, Virginia. These families included the Webbs, the Spences, the McGradeys, the Nestors, the Daltons, the Hubbards and perhaps a few more. Most of the famlies settled in the Glace Area in Northern Monroe County. That is about seven miles from Caldwell across the mountains. It is about sixteenmiles if you have to go by the road. These families intermarried with the pioneer families that came around the turn of the nineteenth Century or a little before then. In addition to West European families, famlies from Eastern and Southern Europe came to work on the railroad.

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...................Photo by Okey L. King

.....This is Elmhurst. It is probably the oldest structure in Caldwell. It was one ot the Caldwell Family houses and once was an inn on the Turnpike. It has served many functions over the years including being a nursing home. It is now a private residence.

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.....This is a view of Caldwell prior to the 1930s. It swows at least two features that are now gone. One is the covered bridge ib the foreground, and the other is the railway tressel over the river and the mouth of Monroe Draft. This was just about at the end of the boom days.

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Caldwell Bridge

......North Caldwell and Caldwell were connected by the Caldwell bridge. This was the third covered bridge that stood here. The first was burned down by the operators of the ferry who had been put out of business. The second was burned by Confederate troops after the battle of Lewisburg. This bridge was replaced by a metal bridge in the 1930s. I am not sure, but I believe that the covered bridge was the longest covered bridge in West Virginia. I am indebted my friend Jon for the The metal bridge was almost destroyed by the 1985 flood and was finally replaced. photo.

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........Photo by Okey L. King

.....I made this photo on October 1, 2010. Millions of board feet of lumber floated past this spot in the form of logs headed for the mill at Ronceverte. Now the river is a mecca for float trips.

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......This is a side view of the Caldwell Bridge looking toward Caldwell. Noticee the logs floating down the river.

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........Photo Curtesy of Curtis Persinger

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.......Photo Curtsey of Timothy Wykle

.....In the 1930s, the coverdbridge was replaced by a steel span. This Steel bridge stood un the late 1980s. It was nearly washed away by the 1985 Flood and was finally replaced.

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...................Photo curtesy of Donnie Adwell

.....The photo above shows the boom that ran from Ronceverte to Caldwell. It was used to catch the logs that had floated from upstream. It was owned by the St. Lawrence Boom and Lumber Company. The operator of the mill named the town Ronceverte which is the French version of Greenbrier.


Photo curtsey of Donnie Adwell

.....The beautful Greebvrier is not always placid. The River can change very quickly into a roaring monster. Because Caldwell is on a flood plain, floods have been a real part of the town's history.
.....In the early 1980's, thge water's of Howard Creek roared through town destroying homes and sending four feet of water into the IPHC Church. I didn't come to Caldwell untill the summer of 1959. But, I remember awaking one morning to see the Creek way out of its banks. I walked down Goat Hill to the Post Office that day from Casmp Ann Bailey..
.....I do not have a record of the floods that happened years ago, but the Greenbrier River experienced two 100 year floods within eleven years. The firest of these was in Novemeber of 1985. For Caldwell, it was more of a river flood. The creek had already come up and went back down by the time the floodwaters from the river arrived. As it was, the water was from hillside to hillside and over the river bridge. That wzs something I thought I would never see. If the Creek and the River had been up at the same time, it is hard to imagine what it may have been like. I believe that there was only one house south of Rt. 60 that didn't have water in it. The power station at Ronceverte was flooded so no one in the area had power.
,,,,,The second 100 year flood occured in the January of 1996. This is the flood in the photo above. This was more of a general flood with the major steams in the area turned into roaring lions. Second Creek did great damage. Down stream, on the Greenbrier, double-wide homes were piled on one another below Alderson. The old bridge at Caldwell had been replaced with one that stood taller above the water, so the water was not over the bridge this time. It is a beautiful river, but it will let you know that it can turn into a savage at anytime. The river has claimed lives even in placid times. The river demands respect or she will make you pay. It has been hard for the Power Company to learn this lesson. The station at Ronceverte was flooded again in 96 and again no one in the area had power.

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......................Photo by Okey L. King

.....Looking east through Caldwell, it would seem that not a lot has changed since I moved here in 1959. The Ashland Station is now gone and has been replaced by a thrift shop. The old fashion ESSO Station is gone. There is a convenience store inits place. There are no more mom and pop grocery stores. There once were at least three. There are not a lot of children anymore. Most of the changes are the invisible ones. The older generation that was here when I came is gone. The older generation is now my generation. Soon, we will also be gone.

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.....Photo by Okey L. King

.....Swooping down to the Upper Howard Creek Bridge and looking toward Sunrise Gap.

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.....Looking downstream from the Howard Creek Bridge, this the formeer siter of the old mill dam. It was a wonderful place to sit on the rocks and fish. Downstream from the dam was some of the best brown trout fishing in the state. You could wade downstream and never know that there was a highway in miles if you didn't hear the cars. The interstate builders ripped it all out without trying to save anything. It could have been saved and probably have been saved today.

...........Photo By Okey L. King

.....Looking upstream,this was once the site of the mill dam pool. Now, it is just shallow water and rocks.

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.....................Photo by Okey L. King

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.............Photo by Okey L. King

.....This is a coal train pulling the grade at the eastern end of Caldwell.

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.....This is my grandson Jonathan in a sunlit hollow above the railroad on the first day of hunting season. He has my 60 year-old Stevens model five. This is the first gun that I ever owned.

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..........Provided by Anna Defibaugh.

......This is the lower end of Monroe Draft as seen from the railroad many years ago...perhaps aroung 1900. Draft is a term that was once used for a valley or hollow. Sometimes it may used for a stream. I believe that it was during the winter of 1862-1863 that a unit of the Cofederate Army wintered in this valley. And, if I remembver correctly, one of the Adwell boys died here of typhoid during this time. Many roads like the one in Monroe Draft remained unpaved to the early 1950s. I know that this was true many in Mason County. This photo gives us a small glimpse of what it was like for those traveling to town back then. I appreciate Anna for these photos.

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........The following four photos are a gift from Joyce Morgan.

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.........Photo curtesy of Mary Dunleavy

.....This is Iris E. Surgeon Jackson standing in front of the Monroe Draft side of the Underpass in 1918. The main difference then was that the road was dirt or gravel. Behind, and two her right, is the opening of the pedestrian tunnel. You walk through this tunnel on a long wooden bridge over Monrow Draft Creek. Draft is a term that can mean either a valley or a stream.

.....This is Iris' immediate family as I have it at this time:


Descendants of James Edward Surgeon
																																	
	1  	James Edward Surgeon	b: April 15, 1875 in West Virginia																	Cemetery: 1910 Irish Corner, 1920, 1930 White Sulphur District													
.		+Alice E. Bennett	b: 1880										Father: Mathias Fry Bennett	Mother: Elizabeth Nancy Morgan																			
	2  	Iris E. Surgeon	b: 1900																														
...		+Arthur C. Jackson	b: December 22, 1890											Mother: Rebecca J. Jackson																		Census: 1900, 1910, Fort Spring, 1920 White Sulphur	Census: 1900, 1910, Fort Spring, 1920 White Sulphur
.	3  	Hellen L. Jackson	b: 1921																														
.	3  	John W. Jackson	b: 1922																														
.	3  	Evelyn L. Jackson	b: 1924																														
.	3  	Gladie M. Jackson	b: 1926																														
.	3  	Arthur C. Jackson	b: 1928																														
	2  	Alfred A. Surgeon	b: 1902																														
	2  	Mary P. Surgeon	b: 1905																														
	2  	Mary Pearl Surgeon	b: February 19, 1905	d: August 1973																												Census: 1930 Greenbrier White Sulphur	Census: 1930 Greenbrier White Sulphur
...		+Claude Andrew Wykle	b: March 15, 1904	d: September 17, 1976									Father: George Jackson Wykle	Mother: Millie Susan Mandanna Hamblin																		Census: 1930 Greenbrier White Sulphur	Census: 1930 Greenbrier White Sulphur
.	3  	Buck Wykle																															
.	3  	Anna Mae Wykle	b: Abt. 1926																														
.....		+Thomas Edward Sr. Guy																															
.	3  	Julia Wykle	b: Abt. 1928																														
.....		+Hayden																															
.	3  	Joe Wykle	b: Aft. 1930																														
.	3  	Luetta Wykle	b: Aft. 1930																														
.....		+Jamison																															
.		*2nd Husband of Luetta Wykle:																															
.....		+Billy Bryant																															
.	3  	Mary Wykle	b: Aft. 1930																														
.....		+Alfred Leo Morgan	b: May 16, 1926	d: November 25, 1999 in Lewisburg, WV									Father: Francis M. Morgan	Mother: Lelia S.																			
.	3  	Tom Wykle	b: Aft. 1930																														
.	3  	Dorothy Wykle	b: November 28, 1935	d: April 14, 2008	Burial: Adwell, Cemetery																												
.....		+Howard Buck Martin	b: July 18, 1928 in Ronceverte, WV	d: February 13, 2000	Burial: Adwell Cemetery		m: Abt. 1952						Father: Herman Mack Martin	Mother: Eva K. Lockhart																			
.	3  	Johnny Wykle	b: December 09, 1941	d: April 15, 1990 in Fairlee, WV																													
.	3  	Eugene Ronald Wykle	b: 1947																														
	2  	W. Clyde Surgeon	b: 1911																														
...		+Pearl Wykle	b: March 08, 1916 in Pence Springs	d: January 23, 2010	Burial: Greenbrier Memorial Gardens								Father: Henry Wilson Wykle	Mother: Lula (Louise) (Bessie) Grimes																			
.	3  	Willard Leon Surgeon																															
.....		+Loretta Hall	b: September 23, 1943	d: February 14, 2006	Burial: Adwell Cemetery								Father: John W. Hall	Mother: Catherine Howard
.....This is the Jackson side of the family: 


Descendants of James Andrew Jackson
																																	
	1  	James Andrew Jackson	b: April 1840	d: 1900 in Fort Spring								Military service: 26 VA IN (Edgars)  Co D									Source: birth records											Census: 1870. 1880 Irish Corner	Census: 1870. 1880 Irish Corner
.		+Elizabeth Ann Jackson	b: 1844	d: 1925																													
	2  	John E. Jackson	b: 1868	d: June 28, 1899																													
...		+Nancy J. Flack	b: 1871				m: September 12, 1889						Father: Harvey Flack	Mother: Virginia																			
.	3  	Arthur C. Jackson	b: December 22, 1890									Military service: Co D 153 Infantry World War I																				Census: 1900, 1910, Fort Spring, 1920, 1930 White Sulphur District	Census: 1900, 1910, Fort Spring, 1920, 1930 White Sulphur District
.....		+Iris E. Surgeon	b: 1900										Father: James Edward Surgeon	Mother: Alice E. Bennett																			
	2  	William Cephalis Jackson	b: February 1870																													Census: 1900 Fort Spring	Census: 1900 Fort Spring
...		+Susan Morgan	b: 1873	d: July 21, 1919																													
	2  	Rebecca J. Jackson	b: 1874																														
	2  	James H. Jackson	b: 1876																														
	2  	Ada M. Jackson	b: June 1883
.....The first photo is a very old one of the construction of the trestle at Caldwell spanning the mouth of Monroe Draft. The second photo show a training crossing the completed trestle. I am not sure what yeare the trestle was removed, but you can still see the abutments of the trtestle. The hollow on the back part of our property is still called Trestle Hollow. If you will notice in the photo, the underpass for the railroad is nearly complete. So, in this photo, the trestle was near the end of its days.

.....Just a few miles down the Greenbrier from Caldwell is the old town of Whicomb. Here the railroad crosses the Greenbrier on a bridge. It is also here that the Greenbrier Line splits off from the main line and heads up river to Durbin. I have a page with all of the old stops on this line. After a few miles upstream, this line is now the Greenbrier River Trail. The man walking up the track from Whicomb is a Morgan, but I have forgotten his first name.

The Greenbrier Division of the C&O Railroad:
Stops Alone the Line. Click on the puffing engine.

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............Photo by Okey L. King

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....................Photo by Okey L. King

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........Photo By Okey L. King

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One a high point of land, not far from Whicomb, once stood the Holliday-Lewis School. Years before this school, the Holliday School stood across a valley from the Holliday-Lewis School. This was near where the McClean Church now stands. My friend Oscar Morgan now has a log cabin where the Holliday-Lewis School once stood.

.....Thanks for visiting with us. God bless.