Himlerville: Hungarian Cooperative Mining in Kentucky - The Filson ...

522 The Filson Club History Quarterly [October
bridge. After twenty-two months the bridge was completed at a
cost of $300,000. Because the bridge was constructed of steel
and concrete rather than wood, it was considered the best bridge
built across Tug River. The Norfork and Western Railroad laid
tracks across the bridge and on 21 May 1921 the first train
crossed into Martin County. The Huntington Herald Dispatch
in an eight-column, front-page story described the event in
dramatic fashion: "The gates of Martin County, Kentucky,
locked for countless ages, were thrown wide today, when a train
of two coaches, gaily bedecked and crowded with men, women
and children in holiday dress entered.''2e This special train,
which had Hewitt as the engineer and Himler as the fireman,
made history for eastern Kentucky. It was the first standard-
gauge train to travel on Martin County soil.
The arrival of the Norfork and Western special touched off a
celebration the likes of which Martin County residents had never
seen. When the train left Kermit a large crowd gathered on
nearby hills to cheer its departure. Himler poured on the coal
and Hewitt opened the throttle, and the train sped toward Ken-
tucky. As it neared the new bridge the crowd cheered madly,
anticipating the railroad's first venture into Martin County.
Most realized that the hopes of thousands of Appalachian and
Hungarian coal miners depended on this bridge. So far as resi-
dents of Himlerville were concerned, this bridge was the only
one in the world. After crossing it the train entered Warfield
but did not stop to take on the big crowd that had gathered to
board it before going on to Himlerville. Upon entering Himler-
ville the train, its whistle shrieking, was met by a blast from a
siren on the powerhouse at the Himler mine. The big moment
had arrived amid cheers and happy smiles. The train halted,
its passengers disembarked, and Frank Demjen, a Hungarian
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Haworth, "Huntinstonians," I.