Topic: Finding John Henry
We took a road trip to a very small town named Talcott (pop. 613) nestled in the mountains of West Virginia. The town is in between the Greenbrier River and the railroad tracks that run under Big Bend Mountain made famous by the legendary John Henry.
We pulled into the parking lot of the town store and spoke with several ladies who told us to check out the store, it was full of interesting memorabilia. The walls were decorated with various tools used in the building of the C & O railroad and the Great Bend Tunnel where John Henry challenged the Burlieigh Steam Drill. Some say John Henry hammered spike rails but he actually hammered steel spikes into the mountain making holes so explosives could blast the rock. Some also say this event took place in Alabama not West Va. Either way, the man was real and it appears so was the event.
We walked into a small back room, a museum of sorts and the ladies from the parking lot were gathered for a meeting. We started asking questions about John Henry and they gave us literature, a window cling and a postcard plus told us how to get to the the tunnel and invited us back the 2nd weekend in July for the annual John Henry Days festival. In return we told them about Joe and The Ballad of John Henry.
Here's some history-
Construction of Great Bend Tunnel began in late 1869, working from both ends and from the top by 3 shafts, 2 shafts were 170 ft. deep and the 3rd was 365 ft. deep. Steam engines of 30 horsepower were used for hoisting out the debris. The shafts were completed in 1871 allowing work to proceed from 8 different directions. The workers, ex-slaves and Irish Immigrants, were paid $1.25 per day. It was extremely dangerous work because of the hard red shale that resisted drilling but crumbled when exposed to air and many workers (one in five) lost their lives. Unfortunately in the late 1800s a fire destroyed all the C & O records from that time period. John Henry was a big, muscular man around 6 ft. tall weighing about 200 lbs. He was well liked by all, loved to joke around, play the banjo and sing.
We'll never know if he died from exhaustion after the competition, died in a cave-in or from the fever going around the work camp or if he's buried in Pie Hollow Cemetery along with his wife Polly Ann in an unmarked grave, buried inside the mountain during a cave in or taken back "home" for a heroes burial.
The Great Bend Tunnel permanently closed in 1974. It has collapsed and flooded in some parts making it unsafe to explore. I took some pictures of it and of the statue that sits high above the tunnel on the mountaintop.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15456750@N … 981241889/
http://www.threeriverswv.com/legend-of-john-henry.php
http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/wv2.html
