2009 archives, part 3

One of my favorite spots along the Ohio River shore is an old coal tipple that was used for a while in the 1970s but has long been out of service. As late as spring of this year, I think, some of the metal structure was still there, but I'm pretty sure it was removed this summer. Now the main things that are left are the deadmen where barges once were tied up.

Here are some pictures of how some of those structures looked before they were removed. I went for an artsy effect rather than my normal journalistic one.

Back in the 1970s, there were several coal tipples built along the river in my area. And there were several that were proposed and even permitted but were never built. Moving coal from the mine to the river by truck was a big deal, but I don't know if any coal-to-river tipples are in operation anymore from say, Parkersburg, W.Va., to Portsmouth, Ohio. I don't know of any active mines close enough to the river to make such a business feasible anymore, actually.