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Kump Education Center is planning a fall series of lectures about the history of Elkins. The first speech on the geological history of Elkins by Dr. Jim VanGundy will be held on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Learning Lab at Kump Education Center.
Dr. VanGundy was a professor of geology on the Davis & Elkins College faculty. Since he retired, Dr. VanGundy has been traveling and writing about scenic West Virginia. The second ddition of his book, “The Nature and Scenery of the West Virginia Highlands: With a Motorist's Guide” is available now. His talk will help citizens understand the geological features of Elkins and how they were formed.
Since we moved back to Elkins, my husband has said it is confusing to know where you are in relation to the Tygart Valley River (TVR). He made me wonder why the TVR makes a loop around Ekins.
The TVR flows east under Scotts Ford bridge then goes east behind houses on Sylvester Drive, and next swings north along Barron Avenue, then flows under the 11th St. bridge near Kroger.
It next turns west beside River Street to flow under the Davis Avenue Bridge near Big Timber Brewery then goes west along Wilson Street through Elkins Industrial Park
next it curves around Riverbend Park, then west to Georgetown Road at the Flood Control spillway, where the TVR almost meets itself to nearly close the big loop.
Now I know that the Army Corps of Engineers created the Elkins flood-control system in the 1940s with the spillway making it possible for the TVR to bypass Elkins and avoid flooding in town, but I still wonder about the prehistoric geology that created the natural loop around the town.
Because of the geological history, the result was that Elkins became the center of the railroad system brought here by Henry G. Davis and Steven B. Elkins, because the TVR was the only river that cut a low path through the mountains to create a place where railroad tracks could get through beside a river to travel west. Elkins is also the only town nearby where the river makes a loop that could be used for a flood-control system like the one that was built here in the 1940s.
Water is a feast or famine sort of commodity; either we have too much or too little. As good as Elkins’ geological facts may have seemed to engineers, they have not solved all water and sewer problems for citizens in Elkins.
The 1930 drought almost prevented the first Forest Festival when the TVR was so dry that the town fathers drove their cars on the dry riverbed looking for natural springs. We have creek water and sewer pipes that run under houses, over lawns, and out of street drains. Some sink holes have been large enough to swallow whole cars. When water mains break, they can cause gas explosions.
As frustrating as these problems may be, they cannot all be blamed on government. Every generation has to work together and learn from history to solve problems using basic kindness and intelligence.