The trails would help McDowell County directly, and Rahall was working on that, too. The conversation may have veered over to the proposed Hatfield–McCoy trail system. Its aim was to protect two major tributaries: It would create the Gauley River National Recreation Area north of the gorge and the Bluestone National Scenic River to its south.Ĭourtesy of Wildwater Unlimited Collection “Knox, you may have seen in the press where we’re working very hard to create this system of federally protected rivers and expand our whitewater rafting industry.” Rahall had written a bill to build on the New River Gorge National River that was established a decade earlier, in 1978. Then the visitor leaned forward to raise his topic. They would have talked about mine layoffs and other challenges Keystone faced. McConnell invited the congressman into his office. This visit with bank President Knox McConnell was routine, but Rahall also had an agenda. It operated out of a dusty contemporary building just a sidewalk’s distance from the two-lane through town. The bank wasn’t in one of those imposing 1800s stone railroad-town financial edifices. Keystone is strung narrow along the Norfolk Southern tracks in McDowell County coal country. In the spring of 1988, West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall stopped by the First National Bank of Keystone on a routine tour of his district. Photographed by Randall Sanger As we asked ourselves who has had the greatest impact on West Virginians in the year gone by, we kept coming back to one idea: Why not, instead of a “who,” a “what”? We believe the new national park designation is proving to be a game changer for the state, and we’ve chosen to honor the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve as our 2021 West Virginian of the Year. We’ve chosen to honor the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve as our 2021 West Virginian of the Year.
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