The Piney Fork Trail will be a trail that extends from the village limits of Hopedale, Harrison County, Ohio to the unincorporated village of Piney Fork, Jefferson County, Ohio. The 5-mile-long crushed limestone trail will be built on the old LE&A Railroad corridor that travels along the Piney Fork stream corridor.
The trail will cross four historic steel girder bridges spanning the Piney Fork stream and will enter the heart of the Piney Fork community.
Piney Fork was once home to the largest underground mine in North America and was a thriving community. In 1920 there were more lights underground in the coal mine then all of London and Paris combined, and more “streets” underground then all of New York City.
The HEART of Appalachian Ohio project will build off the public-private partnerships that have already been established to see the completion of the trail and the revitalization of Piney Fork. The trail will serve as a connector and potentially main trunk of the Great American Rail Trail that extends from Washington DC to Washington State.
The Roosevelt Inn (Jefferson County)
In the unincorporated village of Piney Fork sits the Roosevelt Inn. The Roosevelt Inn was built in 1932 and the two owners were split politically and when it came to naming the bar, they wagered on the 1932 Presidential Election. If Republican Herbert Hoover it would be called the Hoover Inn and if Franklin Delano Roosevelt won, it would be the Roosevelt Inn. FDR won the contest, and the rest is history.
The Roosevelt Inn served as one of the main hubs of the mining community serving as a restaurant, inn, grocery store, bar, and barbershop.
In 1934, after robbing his last bank Pretty Boy Floyd hid here before leaving in the middle of the night on his way towards Wellsville, Ohio and his ultimate death.
The HEART of Appalachian Ohio Project will see the restoration of this abandoned building into a trailhead serving the contiguous Piney Fork Trail, an event space, and a museum.
The Rail Yard (Jefferson County)
At the current terminus of the Piney Fork Trail lays the 17- acre former railyard that is flanked by Piney Fork’s Main Street and the Piney Fork Stream Channel.
The HEART of Appalachian Ohio Project will see the remediation of this brownfield and development of a garden in the inspiration and design principles of Piet
Oudolf and Rick Darke.
By developing a site similar to New York City’s High Line project or Pittsburgh’s Carrie Blast Furnaces, the property will become a tourism destination.
The restoration of the site will elevate the property and begin the revitalize the area by highlighting the richness of Appalachian Ohio.
Additionally, sidewalks and streetlights will be added along Main Street to enhance and restore the village.
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