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CALHOUN'S $30 MILLION 'WEST FORK LAKE' NEVER HAPPENED - Almost Had It Doesn't Count |
| (05/09/2026) |
| WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN? By Bob Weaver It was first on the table as a depression-era project and surfaced again in the 1970s - Calhoun's West Fork Lake. Likely a million dollars was spent on studying the project, meaning several million in today's economy. The damming of the West Fork of the Little Kanawha River two miles above Creston would have created a huge body of water likely extending to Arnoldsburg, and up all the tributaries of the river. The flood control-recreation project was one of three proposed, the others being the Gilmer County Leading Creek dam and the Burnsville dam. Burnsville was built. A congressional press release in 1972 said, "If all goes well, the (West Fork) facility could be completed by 1977 or 1978." The estimated cost of the West Fork Lake was $30.6 million, with $700,000 spend on one study. In the Village of Hur, hilltop residents would have had waterfront property on Rowels Run, and if built, would likely be fishing off their docks in the 21st Century. All the press releases and pre-construction planning for naught. What's left is thoughts of what life might have been in Sunny Cal if such a project had been developed. Calhoun would have become one of the state's major recreational areas. Permanently put on hold was two major highways that would have opened up Calhoun County. For naught, the Blue-Gray Highway (US 33) and the Little Kanawha Parkway. There was a 40 year effort. Telltales say that a straight like shot for I-79 was through Calhoun, with some local opposition. Perhaps it could come to pass, the bypassing could be a blessing, still living in a huge green forest with quiet its greatest natural resource. |
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