Tag Archives: hinton west virginia

Blog Post, National Park Service, New River, Property Seizures, Scenic Byway

Disabled Coal Miner Says Park Service is Taking His Home

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“I was there the night she had the heart attack” (J.C. Kelley, American Coal Miner, New River, 2005)

This interview was conducted in 2005 on New River Road in Hinton, West Virginia.  According to sources there,  the National Park Service at first told the residents that they would fix the road and wanted permission to do so, but that mandate was changed by creating “scenic parkway,” focusing on “land acquisition options for resource protection.” The residents fought but many gave up. Some passed away during the process.  Years later, many of the homes taken away from the original owners to “preserve the beauty of the river” lie in disrepair and much of the property has been resold and subsequently redeveloped by others.

 

EXCERPT FROM THE INTERVIEW:

INTERVIEWER: What do you think is going to happen?

JC KELLEY: Well, you can’t fight city hall. They’ll eventually take it away from you because they got more time and money than we got. Just like uh, just like uh Doug Talbert says that we can wait ’til some of the people dies, and which they have.

INTERVIEWER: Have people gotten sick over this, has this been hard on people?

JC KELLEY: (TALKS OVER) Yes. I know of one lady that it killed. It killed one lady.

INTERVIEWER: Who was that?

JC KELLEY: Uh it killed uh, uh–

INTERVIEWER: Was that Mabel?

JC KELLEY: Mabel Flannigan’s the one it killed. I was there the night she had the heart attack when she seen the picture.

INTERVIEWER: What picture?

JC KELLEY: Of uh, the one they had computerized for her and had her home gone. Where it took her home away from her right up here. And she said that night that she would uh die in her house before she’d let them take it, and she, they had to force her to go to the doctor and to the store and stuff. She would not leave her home. And she died right there in her house.

INTERVIEWER: Wow.

JC KELLEY: I was there the night she had the heart attack. I was there the night she got sick.

Blog Post, New River, Property Seizures

New River – Virginia – Willing Sellers Are Not Always Willing

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Cindy and Tommy Mullens spent 12 years building their dream home on the New River in Hinton, West Virginia, only to be forced off when the National Park Service began seizing property along what was going to be a scenic byway.

After dozens of landowners relinquished their homes, many of the properties fell into disrepair.  We noted some that were fenced in, falling down and blighted. According to the residents, some of the land that was seized was sold to a lumber company by the Park Service and private homes with new owners were rebuilt on the areas that had originally  been confiscated.

The Mullens home on the New River, Circa 2005
The Mullens home on the New River, Circa 2005

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Properties managed by the National Park Service. After years of neglect, the homes are rotting along the Scenic Byway, New River, West Virginia.
Properties managed by the National Park Service. After years of neglect, the homes are rotting along the Scenic Byway, New River, West Virginia.
One of the properties on the New River after several years of National Park Service management.
One of the properties on the New River after several years of National Park Service management.
After the Park Service sold some of the confiscated land to a lumber company, new homes were constructed
After the Park Service sold some of the confiscated land to a lumber company, new homes were constructed

This is a short excerpt (1:30) from a longer interview with Cindy Mullens. To see the longer version of her unedited interview (questions were taken out to avoid distraction, but the interview is presented as it occurred in 2005).

And here’s the full interview with Cindy:

For more information, go to http://www.sustainingamerica.com