8 Creepy Abandoned Appalachian Counties — Why Were They Forgotten?

8 Creepy Abandoned Appalachian Counties — Why Were They Forgotten? From a West Virginia freight town that processed more cargo than Cincinnati and now has five permanent residents, to a North Carolina settlement that appears on 1914 maps and on no map printed after 1931 — Appalachia has been losing communities for over a century. Some were drowned by federal dams. Some were built by coal companies and abandoned the moment the seams ran out. Some disappeared in ways the official records still cannot cleanly explain. In this video, we count down 8 of the creepiest abandoned Appalachian counties and communities — and ask the question the tourist boards never do: why were these places allowed to vanish? What we cover: 1.Thurmond, WV — the most profitable town in the eastern US, now population 5 2.Loyston, TN — drowned by the TVA for $60 an acre 3.Widows Creek, AL — the federal letter that officially never existed 4.Sawmill Camp, KY — a company town with 47 graves and no surviving records 5.Olga, WV — the camp omitted from its own sale documents 6.Beech Creek, WV — the inspection report no one showed the families below the dam 7.Bentley, VA — built like a tool, discarded like one 8.A district in the North Carolina mountains that locals know but won't give directions to These are real places. Most can still be found. 🔔 Subscribe for more forgotten places the tourist boards skip over.