| John Henry Historical Park Driving Steadily Forward |
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The C&O Railroad built the Great Bend Tunnel in Talcott (Summers County), West Virginia in the early 1870s. At just over a mile through from portal to portal, the Great Bend Tunnel eliminated a 13-mile loop around the Big Bend Mountain greatly reducing railroad transportation costs. The most notable figure involved in the tunnel’s construction was a steel driving man named John Henry. John Henry became legendary after beating a steam-powered drill in a contest of man-versus-machine to see which could drill blasting holes faster into the hard red shale through which the tunnel was being constructed. The Great Bend Tunnel remained in service until 1974, when all east/west rail traffic was directed through the Big Bend Tunnel. On December 28, 1972, the Talcott/Hilldale Ruritan Club placed a statue of John Henry in a small park overlooking the Great Bend Tunnel. The 3/8-inch thick bronze statue stands about 8 feet tall and weighs approximately 2.5 tons. On July 13, 1996, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a 32-cent John Henry stamp as part of a series honoring America’s folk heroes: Casey at Bat, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Historians note that the legend of John Henry is the only one that can be traced back to an actual historical place, time frame and event. John Henry Days were established and are held annually on the second weekend of July. This spawned the idea in 1996 to establish a historical park to interpret the John Henry legend. In October 2004, Summers County was able to acquire just over 26 acres of land extending from the mouth of the now unused Great Bend Tunnel east along the active rail line to a crossing at the intersection of Barger Springs Road in Talcott. The Summers County Commission appointed park visionary Bill Dillon and WVU Extension Agent Rick Moorefield to guide the park’s development in December of that year. Dillon and Moorefield quickly assembled a steering committee comprised of local residents, public agency representatives and other interested individuals, and planning of the John Henry Historical Park began in January 2005. Since that time, the steering committee members have continued to move the project forward and are optimistic that the park may be ready to host its first visitors in late 2010 or early 2011. Anyone interested in working on the project is invited to attend the steering committee’s monthly meetings held on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Talcott Volunteer Fire Department, beginning at 1:00 p.m. For additional information on any aspect of the John Henry Historical Park’s development, contact WVU Extension/4-C EDA Summers County Agent, Rick Moorefield at rick.moorefield@mail.wvu.edu or (304) 466-7113. |