During a nice walk around the campgrounds last night and along the pond, we discovered that our campground is right next to Fort Randolph. One less place to have to go looking for today.Our campsite is so tiny, we have no place for our own chairs and fold-up tables. We were confined to the vehicle for the rest of the evening due to severe thunderstorms. Lots of damage by tornadoes just northwest of us in Ohio. This is a beautiful fresh morning after the storms of the night before.
Point Pleasant, WV
Point Pleasant is at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. George Washington gave it the name in 1770 calling it a ‘pleasant point’.
Point Pleasant (foreground) at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. Gallipolis, Ohio is in the background right. (PHOTO Wikipedia)
We had a lovely walk along the Ohio River. Point Pleasant is protected from the flooding Ohio by a flood wall. This wall has been decorated with beautiful murals depicting the history of the town.
The Collapse of the Silver Bridge
Point Pleasant is noted for the collapse of the Silver Bridge at 5 pm. December 5, 1967 that killed 47 people. The Bridge had been standing for over 40 years when suddenly an eye bolt holding one of the suspensions suddenly gave way and the entire Bridge collapsed. The Silver Bridge was the first Bridge to be painted with aluminum paint, providing its name. It was also the first Bridge to use the eye-bolt design.
The Mothman Museum has an extensive display and a video about this tragic episode. It was the worst Bridge disaster in US history at the time. The movie, ‘The Mothman Prophesies’ starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney details the collapse albeit with a few inaccuracies.
Tu-Endie-Wey State Park Memorial: The park commemorates the Battle of Point Pleasant also known as the Battle of Kanawha, fought between the settler militia of Virginia and the forces of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk on October 10, 1774. The Battle of Point Pleasant has been recognized as the first battle of the American Revolutionary War by the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. The name “Tu-Endie-Wei” refers to the Wyandot Indian phrase meaning “the point between two waters” in English.
Fort Randolph
Fort Randolph was an American Revolutionary War fort which stood at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, on the site of present-day Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA. Built in 1776 on the site of an earlier fort from Dunmore’s War, Fort Randolph is best remembered as the place where the famous Shawnee Chief Cornstalk was murdered in 1777. The fort withstood attack by American Indians in 1778 but was abandoned the next year. It was rebuilt in the 1780s after the renewal of hostilities between the United States and American Indians, but saw little action and was eventually abandoned once again.
The Mothman (Fallout 76)
Paranormal enthusiasts flock to Point Pleasant in search of Mothman, a creature said to be a harbinger of imminent disaster that inhabits an abandoned TNT factory from World War II. John Keel published a book in 1975 entitled The Mothman Prophecies, and a film inspired by the novel was released in January 2002. Later, another film, loosely based on the legend, was also released. The town is host to a Mothman Museum, and every year it holds a Mothman Festival that features tours, pageants, balls, films, music, and other events to celebrate what they consider “one of Point Pleasant’s largest tourist attractions.”
The Mothman Museum
The Mothman Prophesies (movie)
For Fallout 76 players
This is actually what brought us here because Point Pleasant is quite a bit off our route. The Mothman is one of the major creatures in the game with its own group of followers called ‘cultists’. The mothman, referred to as the Bright One and God by cultists, is a cryptid creature found in Appalachia. It has a museum dedicated to its mythology and is worshiped by the Cult of the Mothman.
Point Pleasant is home to own of the more fun themed calendar events in the game. Encounters with the Fallout 76 Mothman while exoring the game are random. I have come across him several times.
Back alley scene that I just liked.
After leaving the Kanawha River on our way to Summersville we drove along the banks of the Gauley River into the Gauley River National Recreation Area. Is there a Gauley Mine?
Summersville Lake
Summersville Lake is a reservoir located in the US state of West Virginia. The lake is formed by a rock-fill dam (Summersville Dam) on the Gauley River, south of Summersville in Nicholas County. It is the largest lake in West Virginia, with 2,700 acres (1,100 ha) of water and over 60 miles (97 km) of shoreline at the summer pool water level. Its maximum depth is 327 feet.
The lake was constructed between 1960 and 1966 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in order to control flooding in an 803-square-mile (2,080 km2) watershed along the Gauley River and the Kanawha River. At 390 feet (120 m) tall, 2,280 feet (690 m) long, and containing 12,000,000 cubic yards (9,200,000 m3) of dirt and rock, the dam itself is the second-largest rock-fill dam in the Eastern United States.
The damming of the lake flooded the town of Gad.
Summersville Lake in Fallout 76
Summersville Lake in the game is in its dry stage. In real life the US Army Corps of Engineers empty the Lake for dam maintenance. I have a camp in the game on the eastern shore just south of Summersville in view of New Gad. Now I know why it’s dry.
Summersville Lighthouse
The Summersville Lake Lighthouse was erected overlooking Summersville Lake in Mount Nebo, West Virginia on October 17, 2012. Standing 104 feet tall with a top elevation of 2,164 feet above sea level, the 77,000 lb. structure was a cylindrical tower (actually from a wind tower)constructed entirely of 1/2 inch thick steel. With a base diameter of 12 feet receding to 8 feet at the top, visitors can climb 122 steps to reach a 360 degree gallery deck offering unparallel views of Summersville Lake and the Gauley River National Recreation Area.
A Lighthouse in the Mountains: https://summersvillelakeretreat.com/summersville-lake-lighthouse.html
Honestly, it all started over a joke. Back in 2009, an interesting fellow from Ontario, Canada by the name of Rick Butler had spent the summer as one of of the guests at the Summersville Lake Retreat while working as part of the crew erecting wind towers at Beech Ridge, a wind farm project in neighboring Greenbrier County, West Virginia. As luck would have it, we were located near the transportation route that the tower components traveled to reach their destination. On more than one occasion, we had marveled at their size as they passed by, just one blade stretched over half the length of a football field! Because of our unique location above the cliffs overlooking Summersville Lake, one evening we offhandedly ribbed Rick that if he would be kind enough to divert one of the tower sections in our direction, that we would keep it and disguise it as a Lighthouse, to which he replied with a classic deadpan expression on his face, “Funny that you say that Mate, we just lost one over the hill.” As it turned out, torrential rains had recently undermined the crib blocks supporting one of the newly delivered tower sections, and it had indeed rolled 75’ down an adjacent hillside, (leveling several medium sized trees in the process), deeming it unsuitable for wind production.
The Summersville Lighthouse in Fallout 76
The Lighthouse event in FO 76 also includes the Mothman. The event requires the gamer to collect biolumimescence from 50 radiated fireflies and light the Lighthouse in a defined period of time. That includes the time it takes to climb the Lighthouse steps. Once the Lighthouse is activated (this is an evening event) the Mothman appears to impart his wisdom. Very cool.
Carnifex Ferry Battleground
Apparently we aren’t finished with the Civil War yet.
Summersville Lake Resort and view from our campsite.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
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