The Story of Spice Run

 

The Story of Spice Run: From Timber Boom to Trail-less Wilderness

A visual journey through the history of Spice Run, West Virginia, from a bustling industrial hub to a protected wilderness area.

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PHASE 1: THE NATURAL CANVAS (Pre-1900s)

A Rich, Virgin Forest

Part of the vast Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests, the Spice Run watershed was a rugged landscape of immense natural wealth.1 It was home to towering red spruce and colossal yellow poplar trees, some reaching nine feet in diameter.2 The area was named for the native "spicebush" (

Lindera benzoin) that still flourishes there today.4

Early Human Use

• Indigenous Hunting Ground: The Iroquois Confederacy considered the region a prized hunting ground.6

• Early Logging: Before the industrial boom, small, water-powered sawmills operated in the area. A man named Paul McNeel ran a mill on Spice Run, primarily cutting white pine, well before the 20th century.7

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PHASE 2: THE INDUSTRIAL BOOM (1910-1925)

The Catalyst: The C&O Railroad

The arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's Greenbrier Division (built 1899-1905) was the single most transformative event, enabling an unprecedented scale of industrial logging by providing direct access to national markets.4

The Spice Run Lumber Company: A 12-Year Frenzy

• Founded: 1910 4

• Operations: 1913–1925 4

• Timber Holdings: 15,000 acres of virgin forest 4

• Company Town: A large band sawmill and a community of approximately 50 houses were built on the banks of the Greenbrier River.4

• Massive Infrastructure:

• A railroad bridge with massive concrete piers was built across the Greenbrier River to access 8,000 acres of timber.4

• A 4.1-mile branch railroad was constructed over the challenging terrain of Droop Mountain to reach another 7,000-acre tract.4

• The End: By 1925, the timber was depleted. Following the "cut out and get out" model of the era, the company closed the mill, dismantled the railroad, and abandoned the town.4

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PHASE 3: THE AFTERMATH & REBIRTH (1925-2008)

• Ecological Devastation: The clear-cut landscape was left vulnerable. In the 1930s, catastrophic forest fires swept through, incinerating the thin mountain soil.12

• A Conservation Movement: In response to the destruction, the Monongahela National Forest was established in 1920. Former Spice Run Lumber Company lands were acquired by the federal government starting in 1936 for rehabilitation.3

• A New Path from Old Rails: As timber traffic declined, the C&O's Greenbrier Division ran its last train in 1978. In a landmark act of adaptive reuse, the state converted the abandoned rail corridor into the 78-mile Greenbrier River Trail in 1980.4

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PHASE 4: SPICE RUN TODAY (2009-Present)

A Designated Wilderness

In 2009, Congress officially designated 6,037 acres as the Spice Run Wilderness, affording it the highest level of federal protection.15

THEN	NOW
C&O Railway: An industrial artery for resource extraction.	Greenbrier River Trail: A recreational artery for hiking and biking.
Logging Railroads: A web of tracks built to clear-cut the forest.	"Trail-less" Wilderness: Managed to be intentionally wild, with no marked trails.

Echoes of the Past

The most dramatic ruins are the concrete bridge piers still standing in the Greenbrier River. Across the river, where the bustling town once stood, only a single one of the original 50 company houses remains.4 These remnants serve as a powerful link between the trail's modern recreational use and the intense industrial history that shaped the land.

Works cited

1. Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests - Wikipedia, accessed June 28, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian%E2%80%93Blue_Ridge_forests

2. Logging the Virgin Forests of West Virginia | MH3WV, accessed June 28, 2025, https://mh3wv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Logging-the-Virgin-Forests-of-West-Virginia-PATC.pdf

3. Chapter XI – West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company - Logging The Greenbrier Valley, accessed June 28, 2025, https://greenbriervalleylogging.net/chapter-eleven/

4. View PDF - Greenbrier River Trail, accessed June 28, 2025, https://www.greenbrierrivertrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GBRT-Signposts-Web.pdf

5. Spice Run Wilderness - Wikipedia, accessed June 28, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_Run_Wilderness

6. Pocahontas County, West Virginia - Wikipedia, accessed June 28, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas_County,_West_Virginia

7. Chapter II – Water Powered Sawmills – Logging The Greenbrier Valley, accessed June 28, 2025, https://greenbriervalleylogging.net/chapter-two/

8. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Division by shermancahal - MapHub, accessed June 28, 2025, https://maphub.net/shermancahal/chesapeake-ohio-railroad-greenbrier-division

9. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Division - Abandoned, accessed June 28, 2025, https://abandonedonline.net/location/chesapeake-ohio-railroad-greenbrier-division/

10. Spice Run Lumber Company 1913 - Charleston, West Virginia - Scripophily.com, accessed June 28, 2025, https://scripophily.net/spice-run-lumber-company-1913-charleston-west-virginia/

11. Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains/ICC valuations/Chesapeake and Ohio ..., accessed June 28, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Trains/ICC_valuations/Chesapeake_and_Ohio_Railway

12. Pocahontas County - e-WV, accessed June 28, 2025, https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1876

13. Monongahela National Forest - West Virginia Conservation Agency, accessed June 28, 2025, https://www.wvca.us/envirothon/pdf/dolly-sods%20eis.pdf

14. Greenbrier River Trail - West Virginia State Parks, accessed June 28, 2025, https://wvstateparks.com/park/greenbrier-river-trail/

15. Spice Run Wilderness, accessed June 28, 2025, https://wilderness.net/visit-wilderness/?ID=750

16. Wilderness - Monongahela National Forest, accessed June 28, 2025, http://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/monongahela/wilderness