Henry Ford’s 1928 coal mining experiment was abandoned and became a park site

Hidden deep in a West Virginia gorge is an abandoned coal town with a surprising connection to Henry Ford. Nuttallburg was once a thriving mining community, its fortunes built on the rich coal and the railway that carried the fuel to distant customers. For decades, miners, railway workers and their families helped turn the isolated settlement into a busy industrial centre. Then Ford arrived. In the 1920s, his company took control of the mines as part of an ambitious attempt to secure the raw materials needed for his expanding industrial operations.But the plan exposed an unexpected weakness: owning the mine did not mean controlling the railway that transported its coal. Ford eventually sold his interests in 1928. Mining continued until 1958, after which Nuttallburg slowly disappeared beneath vegetation. Today, its surviving tipple, foundations and roads offer a rare glimpse into a coal town that once played a small but fascinating role in Ford’s industrial empire.How Nuttallburg turned a remote gorge into a thriving mining communityNuttallburg began taking shape in the late 19th century, when the demand for coal was transforming the New River Gorge. According to the National Park S...