New River Gorge towns share a common history tied to the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia. Many were established because of the gorge itself, a geographical feature that impeded travel through the region. Others were established because of the economic boom that followed the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway‘s passage through the gorge in the late 1800s.
The City of Beckley, the largest municipality in the region, exemplifies the first category—a community that developed because of the difficulty of traversing the gorge. Its founder, Alfred Beckley, an engineer, understood that the gorge would force roadways to travel the tablelands to the south and west. He therefore established a community, Beckleyville, in a level upland through which roads were forced to run by the topography. The city today sits at the confluence of four expressways, including I-77 and I-64, confirming its founders’ predictions. Other towns developed along the early road system that avoided the gorge, including Ansted, Mount Hope, Gauley Bridge, Meadow Bridge, and Fayetteville.
The second category, towns established as a result of the development of the gorge, both as a source of coal and as a route for railroad transportation, included Prince, Hinton, Smithers, Thurmond, and Montgomery. All were strongly influenced by the completion of the railroad and the industrial prosperity it brought. At the same time, the aforementioned rural towns likewise grew with the gorge’s expansion.
New River Gorge Towns Today
Today, these New River Gorge towns have moved beyond dependence on industry and are sustained by the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve and by the region’s remote-work capacity, which is attracting new residents who prefer living in rural areas and small towns. Some New River Gorge towns, such as Summersville, were located some distance away but now share in the region’s bounty because of their association with the park and the regional tourism industry. Sometimes referred to colloqially as NRG Towns, these communities share a unique history.