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Southern Cultures 10.2 (2004) 84


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Hopes for John Henry Park

Today, the community of Talcott, West Virginia, bases its fledgling tourism industry on John Henry. "We really believe the contest with the steam drill happened here," says John "Bill" Dillon, a retired Talcott postmaster and local historian.

In 1972 the Hilldale-Talcott Ruritan Club placed a statue of John Henry along State Routes 3 and 12 on Big Bend Mountain. Now, the Summers County Commissioners hope to move the statue to a thirty-acre parcel they are negotiating to buy from the railroad with grant funds. The site includes the Great Bend Tunnel, which has not been used by the railroad since 1974. The community hopes to turn the Big Bend site into a park that will spur economic development for a struggling area. Donations for the project have come from, among others, Johnny Cash and the descendant of a foreman who oversaw tunnel construction.

Each July, the Talcott community hosts "John Henry Days." This year's festival takes place on July 9-11. For more information, call the Summers County Convention and Visitors Bureau at (304) 466-5420, or check out the group's web site at http://www.summerscvb.com.

Anyone who journeys to that part of West Virginia should definitely stop at the Summers County Visitor's Center in Hinton. Located in an old department store, the center features an array of railroad memorabilia and gifts. Along one wall is a seventy-five-foot-long replica of the Big Bend Tunnel construction site. This amazing classic of folk art includes almost one hundred figures, nearly a foot high, all hand-carved in the 1960s by the late Charlie Permeila of Lester, West Virginia.



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