Preservation Thurmond Donate
New River Gorge National Park & Preserve · West Virginia



History
is being
torn down

The National Park Service plans to tear down historic structures in Thurmond, the last intact railroad boomtown in the New River Gorge, starting November 2026.

Preservation Thurmond is fighting to stop it.

Days until November demolition begins on Thurmond’s historic structures
—
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Who We Are

A town is not a museum exhibit. It's a place people still belong to.

Preservation Thurmond is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded to stop the demolition of Thurmond's historic structures and secure the town's long-term future through preservation, adaptive reuse, and economic development, not by fighting the National Park Service's mission, but by solving the problem it says it has: structures it can no longer afford to maintain.

What We're Doing

Three ways we're racing the clock

01

Legal & regulatory pressure

FOIA requests, Section 106 consultation, and legal action to hold NPS to its own preservation obligations.

02

A leasing pipeline

Connecting NPS with vetted private lessees ready to rehabilitate structures instead of losing them.

03

Political & public pressure

Engaging Congress, historical societies, and the public before the window to act closes.

04

Documentation

Compiling the public comment record and NPS's own files so the decision gets made in daylight.

What's At Stake

Four structures can still be saved through leasing

Under NPS's Finding of No Significant Impact, these structures will be demolished unless a viable lease proposal is received first.

Every Day Counts

Help us keep Thurmond standing

Your gift funds the legal work, the FOIA requests, and the outreach that's buying Thurmond time.

Give to Preservation Thurmond