Fort Spring is an unincorporated community and town in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. It is situated along the Greenbrier River within the Greenbrier River Watershed. It was once a substantial portion of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway by way of the

Gravel Girtie Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

route from Hinton in

Summers County Summers County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,959. Its county seat is Hinton. The county was created by an act of the West Virginia Legislature on February 27, 1871, from pa ...

to Clifton Forge, Virginia. The name is derived from its main export; Mississippian limestone from

Snowflake Quarry A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, which falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. ...

sent to Clifton Forge. The main road going through the small town was once the original rail line, but was moved. Fort Spring was originally called "Mann's Ferry" and the community's current name refers to the old settler fort that has been lost to history. The rock cliff, or bluff, seen just prior to the primary two train tunnels when traveling eastward, was named 'Wilson's Bluff' due to a family settled there. Colonel John Stuart, who shipped Ice Age sloth bones ('' Megalonyx jeffersonii'') to Thomas Jefferson, noted the presence of saltpetre caves in the area. The area is a combination of

karst topography Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

, riparian floodplain and ancient riverbeds with limestone (karst) outcropping mixing with farmlands and deciduous forest. The only available drinking water is by drilled

wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

or transportation. Due to recent West Virginia tourism promotions, Fort Spring is a known spot for setting down kayaks and other types of boats for day trips to the nearby town of Alderson.

Sources

* Jones, William K. "The Karst Hydrology Atlas of West Virginia * Jones, William K. "Hydrology of Limestone Karst." 1973 * McCue, J. B., Lucke, and Woodward, H.P., 1939, WVGES * "Greenbrier County" 1939 United States Geological Survey * "What is this Thing, Thomas Jefferson?" Wilson, Marcia 2005 Unpublished Thesis

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Greenbrier County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Coal towns in West Virginia

See also

Sources

References