Editing Thurmond, West Virginia (section)

==History==

Thurmond was incorporated in 1900 and was named for Captain W. D. Thurmond, who settled here in 1844. He received the 73-acre site in 1873 as payment for a surveying job.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/28thurmond/28facts1.htm|title=Thurmond: A Town Born from Coal Mines and Railroads {{!}} Reading 1|publisher =National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126155540/https://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/28thurmond/28facts1.htm|archive-date=January 26, 2020}}</ref> He served in the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] and died in 1910 at age 90.<ref>Janssen, Quinith and Fernbach, William (1984). ''West Virginia Place Names'', p. 78. Shepherdstown, West Virginia: J and F Enterprises.</ref> Thurmond [[post office]] was established in 1888 and discontinued in 1995.<ref>Helbock, Richard W. (2004). ''United States Post Offices, Volume VI - The Mid-Atlantic'', p. 242. Scappoose, Oregon: La Posta Publications.</ref> The community remained small until Thomas G McKell of [[Glen Jean, West Virginia|Glen Jean]] negotiated with the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] for a crossing at Dunloup Creek in 1892.<ref name="cgazette1">{{cite news|url=http://www.wvculture.org/History/businessandindustry/dunglen02.html|title=Dunglen Hotel Was Waldorf of the Mountains|last=Knight|first=Wallace E.|date=May 4, 1952|newspaper=Charleston Gazette|access-date=September 17, 2009}}</ref>

W. D. Thurmond banned alcohol from his lands, which comprised the originally incorporated portion of the town. The Dun Glen Hotel was just outside the incorporated portion. A district called "Ballyhack" or "Balahack" on the south side near the Dun Glen became notorious as Thurmond's [[red light district]].<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Thurmond Historic District|url=https://wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Thurmond-historic-district.pdf |date=September 15, 1983 |author=R. Eugene Harper|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

Two hotels were in the town; one was called the Lafayette (known locally as the "Lay-flat"), which was close to the railroad, and the 100-room Dun Glen, which opened in 1901, became a nationally known resort. It burned down in 1930.<ref name="bldgwv1"/> The Thurmond National Bank (owned by Thurmond) closed in 1931, and the New River Bank (owned by the McKells) moved to [[Oak Hill, West Virginia|Oak Hill]] in 1935.  The decline continued into the 1950s when locomotives changed from steam to diesel, which could travel much longer distances and did not need to stop for coal and water refilling at Thurmond. The second decline to hit Thurmond was in the late 1980s, when the National Park Service began purchasing homes and properties, voluntarily, with the promise of turning the Town into a living history museum.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 26, 2023 |title=Thurmond Walking Tour - New River Gorge National Park & Preserve |url=https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/historyculture/thurmond-walking-tour.htm |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=U.S. National Park Service |language=en}}</ref>