The Long Downturn: How American Blast Furnace Steelmaking Came Apart
Sherman Cahal
Weirton's 2024 shutdown was the final blow in a slow 60-year decline: how "mini" mills, legacy costs, and lost marketshare undid American blast furnace steel.
west virginia
Exploring Kenova: Where Steel, Mine Cars, and Insulators Once Stood
Sherman Cahal
A century ago, a stretch of riverfront in Kenova, West Virginia was home to a revolving door of industry, a steel company that collapsed within two years, a mine car manufacturer born from merger, and a spark plug maker turned insulator giant that survived two bankruptcies and a devastating fire....
New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond
Adam
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism. Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns. Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond...
Discovering Earnshaw: A Forgotten Community in Wetzel County
Sherman Cahal
While traveling late at night to a campsite in rural northern West Virginia, I did a double-take when I passed what looked like an abandoned general store and hotel.
The Steel Mills of the Wheeling District
Sherman Cahal
Explore the history of the Wheeling, West Virginia, iron and steel district, from its early nail mills to its long decline.
Tracing Wheeling’s Lost Railroad: the Wheeling Terminal Railway
Sherman Cahal
In 2016, I spent a day tracing the remnants of the former Wheeling Terminal Railway across the hills surrounding downtown Wheeling, West Virginia.
Tracing Northern West Virginia’s Early Iron Industry
Sherman Cahal
Travel into the snowy hills of northern West Virginia to document early three charcoal iron furnaces.
The Last Remnant of the Ravenswood, Spencer & Glenville Railway
Abandoned
The Ravenswood, Spencer & Glenville Railway, incorporated in 1886, once linked Ravenswood and Spencer, West Virginia.