Newlyn (Rend Branch)
From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia
Newlyn was also the name of a mine located in the New River Gorge between Hawks Nest and Fayette Station. See: Newlyn (New River Gorge)
Newlyn was the name of a community located on the Rend Branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), about 1 mile up along Dunloup Creek from the New River Gorge. The Newlyn mine was apparently opened in the early-1900s, about the time of the building of the Rend Branch between South Side Junction and Minden which took place during 1901-1904. The Newlyn Coal Co., the company operating the mine, was incorporated in West Virginia in 1904.
A 1906 publication by the C&O listed the Newlyn Coal Co. as operating a mine located 1 mile from Thurmond. An advertisement in the publication listed the Newlyn Coal Co. as a shipper of New River coal from the Fire Creek seam, giving the company's post office address as Newlyn, W.Va. The company's officers listed as Edward Thomas, Pres.; E. W. Boyd, V.P.; and W. H. Thomas, Secretary/Treasuer.
The area of Newlyn is accessible from the Thurmond-Minden Trail (http://www.newriverwv.com/Recreation_Hiking_Trails_Thurmond_Minden_Trail.php). The Thurmond trailhead of the Thurmond-Minden trail is the area once occupied by the Newlyn coal loading plant and miners' homes.
