In reference to the letter from state Sen. Robbie Morris regarding the proposal to rename Spruce Knob:

Perhaps Delegate Elias Coop-Gonzalez and his followers should do some research on the abandoned town of Spruce, in Pocahontas County, and recognize the sacrifices and hard work of the 300 residents who lived and worked there.

There were no roads into Spruce, and the only access to the town was by rail. The West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company built a pulp mill that operated until 1925. The town boasted a hotel with 30 rooms, hot running water and, above all, electrical lighting. There was a locomotive shop, school house, company store and company owned row houses.

This was a mining and lumber town on the banks of the Shavers Fork River. Spruce trees were plentiful for harvest.

There are still a few of the ruins and train tracks at Spruce.

Let us remember and be thankful for the families that lived and worked there at the mills and mines at Spruce, Cass and many other communities in the Great State of West Virginia.

Bob Cowgill

Elkins