It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes ghost towns so eerie. Is it the slowly disintegrating ruins? The fragments of life that were left behind? The overgrown areas that nature has now reclaimed? In the case of Pocosin Mission, it's the little that remains of an abandoned community.
Pocosin Mission is slightly different from a true ghost town; it never was prosperous or booming in the traditional sense. But the life forces that once built cabins, fires, and even churches were strong enough to leave an impression on the land -- if only in spirit. Deep in the woods of Shenandoah National Park, you will find ruins of a community whose history is just dark enough to keep you up a little later at night.
The year was 1902. Episcopal priest Frederick W. Neve had a lofty vision of building one mission per 10 miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains. These "troubled" people, he believed, were in dire need of spiritual guidance. Florence and Marion Towles were sisters sent as missionaries to this foreign land: the eastern slopes of the Appalachia.
Reverend Neve designated this post "Far Pocosin," an Algonquin term for swampy land discovered deep in the wild country. This is where the sisters were sent to do their difficult and inspired work. The people that lived in this tiny community were impoverished and in need of food, clothing and medicine. Living in the mountains, these families were completely cut off from the rest of society.
The purpose of this first Far Pocosin structure was twofold: schoolhouse and church. It was here that everyone gathered for their religious instruction, which was a frustrating affair for the sisters. They approached their work with the utmost reverence, hoping to tame a people they saw as primitive. The sisters were shocked by wild and superstitious behaviors. They simultaneously admired the beauty and spirit of the people they met, and Florence noted that their children were "so full of possibilities."
This is all that remains of the modest cabin where Florence and Marion lived during their time in the woods. The kitchen hung off of the side of the cabin, and the walls were made of logs to ward off the freezing mountain air.
Nevertheless, the sun would set and the night air drew an unbearable chill. It was during these moments that the Towles sisters must have felt incredibly isolated. Florence recounted the dark nights where the sisters would huddle together for warmth, listening to sounds that made them uneasy: "the thunder of flying horses’ feet and the shouts and yells of drunken men wild with moonshine whiskey." We can only imagine what these tiny communities must have felt like for visitors that were not altogether welcome.
Where the mission buildings have eroded, a quiet solitude remains. This was no place of great crime or horror, and yet there is something disturbing about what went on here. Both the mountain people and the missionaries were viewed as "other," and eventually both were driven out of this wooded land. The mission continued only 20 years after the sisters left Pocosin Mission.
Visiting this site will confirm the presence of people that have long since disappeared.
Pocosin Mission is an accessible site to visit. The trail leading up to it is a fire road off Skyline Drive. For more information about the story and site, be sure to visit www.abandonedcountry.com
It stands to reason that the site of this ghost town will be completely reclaimed by the depths of the Shenandoah forest before long. You'll want to venture out there before it's too late. If you've already made the trip to Pocosin Mission, be sure to share your experience in the comments below.
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