A Peek into Summers County’s Past: Riverside Rest Spring

RIVERSIDE REST W.Va. (Hinton News) – Forgive the current crude photograph, but when I was a child, you could see the nice early stone work around the spring that is piped down the mountain. If you look closely, you can see one of the large flat stones that was used to form the bench section. And you can see a little of the V-Joint or what is more commonly referred to as “beveled ridge” or also called “breaked joint” stone work popular during the 1910s through 1920s.

While growing up, I was always intrigued by this spring. But I never knew what its purpose was or why it was built. The “locals” would keep it cleaned around for the stone to show, and so you could stop and get the fresh spring water.

I have vivid memories of stopping with my mom and Grandma Bea Thompson and getting several gallon jugs of water to take to my Great Grandma Bridget Thomas when we would go visit her on Muddy Creek Mountain. She had gotten used to drinking it when she lived in one of the nearby houses in the 1940s. I can attest to just how good the water was.

I briefly mentioned this location in my story on the Riverside Rest map on April 10, 2023, I will go into a little more detail. Fast forward two decades from when I was a child, and I was riding with my Grandfather Bernard Thompson and my friend and Summers County Historian, the late John Kesler. We passed by this spot, ironically on our way to Ronceverte, to buy some antique Model A Ford car parts.

John asked me if I knew what that stone area was built for. I said, “No I don’t.” He proceeded to explain it to me. In the early 1900s in the days of Model Ts through the advent of the Model A, drivers had to be able to get water to put in their radiator. West Virginia had such mountainous terrain that cars were prone to overheating while trying to traverse the rugged terrain.

So the state placed these stone stopping points throughout the state where there was a natural spring alongside the road. Especially in areas such as Riverside Rest, where this one is, so drivers could easily pull off the road to get water for their radiator. I am not sure of other stone structures around the state, such as this one. But granddad and John both said they could remember them in several spots in their younger years.

Structures such as these are hidden now and nearly forgotten about. Which is why it is important to document locations like these and tell what they were constructed for, so future generations will know. If you tell a teenager now that “back in the day” you had to stop and put water in your car, many of them would have no idea what you were talking about.