Carbide Camps set to close (West Virginia)

kv.neighbor.com ^ | Wednesday, May 6, 2015 | Clint Thomas, Metro Reporter

[Morgana]

The Union Carbide Hunting and Fishing Lodge campground on Blue Creek is facing extinction soon, after decades of being a choice, close-by, back-to-nature getaway location for generations of Union Carbide employees, their families and friends.

Those who still maintain campsites on the Elk River-area property have been given notice to vacate the premises no later than mid-August.

Jack Lesher of Clendenin is the treasurer for the Carbide Recreation Club, which has maintained the campground for approximately 25 years. He recounted the history of the facility and the recent notification of its impending closure.

“Back when Union Carbide ran a chemical company on the Kanawha River, they originated the Carbide Recreation Club for old Carbide employees,” said Lesher. “When Union Carbide left and moved to India, close to 25 years ago, they were closing the campground down for their employees. The members worked out a deal where the campers took over the lodge with a $1-a-year lease agreement from the landowners.

“For the past 25 years, we’ve run it as a nonprofit” with a board of directors and elected officials, he said.

“We have 90 campsites, and we generally keep them full, with a waiting list. We were able to furnish it with electricity, water, an outbuilding ... for $400 a year. That was bare bones, from year to year, but we able to run it ourselves.”