Existing comment:
Foster Falls Hotel
The park is now in the process of restoring this historic structure. Although it stands empty now; the past still lives within its walls. The Foster Falls Hotel once was the center piece to a small, thriving mining community.
In 1887, the Foster Falls Mining and Manufacturing Co. were responsible for the construction of this historic structure. The hotel served as a meeting hall, post office, commissary and boarding house for employees of the mining industry. In 1889, the mining operation was sold to the Virginia Iron Coal and Coke Co. although the operations had changed hands; the hotel remained as a center piece.
In 1919, when the VIC left operations at Foster Falls, the hotel was sold for one dollar to the Abingdon Presbytery and converted to a girl's industrial school. Industrial schools taught young ladies the art of home making, they were also given time for school subjects and bible studies. In 1938, a two story brick boy's cottage was built beside the original structure and became a coed orphanage. |