Blackwater Falls & Smallest Church & P.O.

Stop two on our field trip was to Blackwater Falls in Tucker County, West Virginia. This visit was much different from my previous visits to the falls.
We haven't had much rain lately so this was the first time that I had seen it with such little water.
The photo below was taken of the falls about 4 years ago and after a heavy amount of rain. The force of all that water is just amazing!

Do you know why Blackwater Falls are black?

The forests surrounding the falls are full of hemlock and red spruce trees. When the needles as well as the sap of these trees drop and wash into the water ,where they decay, they create tannic acid. (Tannic acid is used to preserve animal hides.) I kind of like to think of it as a tea bag of preservatives.
Anyways it is the tannic acid that causes the rocks to be black in color.
Oh, and if you are wondering how high the falls are I can tell you that they are equal to a 5 story building.

On our way to our next destination we passed by a sign that read the smallest church and Post Office in the lower 48 states.
They sit beside one another in the little town of Silver Lake, WV.

The church is called "Our Lady of the Pines". It measures a whopping 24 feet by 12 feet and it says that it is always open and services are still held there. There was no one present when we passed through.

Just behind the church is the smallest Post Office. Again no one was there. I tried to get pictures of the inside of these buildings but they didn't turn out very good.

Inside the church

                                     Inside the Post Office

Next Stop : Top Kick's Military Museum