The Wandering Cryptid

Coalwood was founded in 1902 by the Carter Coal Company who also built the offices, houses, churches and local company store all for the miners who lived in the town following the boom of industrialized coal in the aftermath of the civil war. At its peak Coalwood housed up to 2,00 people and was noted as one of the best coal towns in the United States in 1930. Coalwood High, later called Coalwood Elementary was built in the 1920’s. In 1985 the schools were merged, only to be closed one year later. The coal company houses were reportedly sold to the people who lived in them during the 1980s, making Coalwood one of the last and longest-lived coal company towns in the United States. In 1990, the last time it was counted as a separate town , Coalwood had a population of 900.

The school after it was abandoned had seemed to be all but completely forgotten, much like the town. While we drove down the empty streets many of the houses there had been partially destroyed, either by natural disaster or by years of neglect.

The school however was barley visible from the main road, only a set of concrete stairs covered in moss and foliage could be seen.

As we started the decent in the school you are greeted by the large opening arch of the school, where every morning kids would file through the halls. Now the doors have been destroyed by a fire and are now a open mouth in to the school.

While there we quickly found how dangerous this place was,. The morning of we had driven through some pretty serious storms that had softened much of the ground around the building. However the biggest danger was the third floor. The floor was cracking and falling in some spots, only held together by the roots and foliage that covered the surface. Andrew, who is the lightest of us went up there and reported that the ground felt ” Like walking on mattresses”. This is when it set in just how dangerous this building was.

This was an amazing place to see, and it may be the last time we see it as the building is so dangerous that it may fall in on itself in the near future.