Nuttallburg Historic Site

Nuttallburg is a preserved coal-mining town and industrial complex in the Keeneys Creek drainage of New River Gorge. The rust-red tipple, long conveyor, coke ovens, mine features and town foundations spread through the hollow. Come ready to get out and walk: this is a substantial historic site, not a quick roadside glance.

From Canyon Rim, follow US 19 and Lansing-Edmond Road (County Route 82) toward Winona, then Keeneys Creek Road (County Route 85/2) for about 4.1 miles to the parking area. The last stretch is narrow, winding and steep, partly gravel and mostly one lane; you may need to pull aside or back up to pass. Large vehicles and trailers are not advisable. There is a separate disabled-visitor parking area a little farther along, closer to the tipple. The main lot has a vault or composting toilet and interpretive information. No food service or potable water is listed, so plan for those before driving in.

The tipple and its conveyor are the most imposing structures, with coke ovens, the headhouse, a mine entrance and scattered town foundations around them. Interpretive signs help explain the site, though some of the remains are overgrown and not every visitor finds the displays detailed enough. The walk toward the headhouse adds a steep gravel descent and climb back. For a photo, frame the tipple with the old tracks below it; the rails lead your eye under the structure and show how the coal moved through the complex.

John Nuttall began buying land and building mine infrastructure here in 1870. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway reached the gorge in 1873, when Nuttallburg was ready to ship coal. The coal came from a seam hundreds of feet above the river corridor and went to industrial cities hundreds of miles away. Nuttallburg became the second mining town in the gorge to ship this smokeless coal.

In the 1920s, Henry Ford's Fordson Coal Company leased the mines to supply his steel mills. He improved the mine and town, but his plan depended on controlling the railroad that carried the coal. He could not buy or control it, and sold his interests in 1928.

Coal production ended in 1958, and trees and vines gradually covered empty buildings and foundations. The Nuttall family transferred the property to the National Park Service in 1998; it joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. A later preservation project cleared vegetation and stabilized structures, leaving the industrial works visible without rebuilding the town.