Lignite is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Botetourt County Botetourt County ( ) is a US county that lies in the Roanoke Region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the mountainous portion of the state, the county is bordered by two major ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mou ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States. A former

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

mining town owned by Allegheny Ore and Iron Company (which later became a subsidiary of

Lukens Steel Company Lukens Steel Company, located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, is the oldest steel mill in commission within the United States. In 1995, it was one of the three largest producers of plate steel and the largest domestic manufacturer of alloy-plate. ...

in 1907, it contained a

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

, churches, school, post office, and a main street theater. It was abandoned by the company in the 1920s after ore demands dropped, when higher grade iron ore was discovered in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

area, but some people continued to live in the houses until the 1950s. It has very few remains and is now a part of the

Jefferson National Forest The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is an administrative entity combining two U.S. National Forests into one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. The forests cover of land in the Appalachian Mountai ...

References

* http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/va/lignite.html * http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2EJJ * https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/magazine/february-2012/lost-town-of-lignite/ *Jones, Allie Sloss, Amid the Great Valley: Oriskany, Oriskany Press, 2002. *"New Life for a Long-Ago Town", New Castle Record, Mar. 29, 1995. Geography of Botetourt County, Virginia Ghost towns in Virginia {{BotetourtCountyVA-geo-stub