Brothers build replica of historic Gatliff

He stated simply that it was just a mining camp, but listening to him describe it, it was evident that it was more than just a camp – it was his home.

Phillip Lawson, one of the brothers who worked on the replica.

Phillip Lawson and his brother, Bobby Ray, have recreated the town of Gatliff as it stood before the early 1960s.

What started as placing miniature houses on a topographical map, has turned into a 12×4 foot replica of the town of Gatliff during the early 1900s to the early 1960s. It is complete with everything from cattle in the portal entrance of a mine to the old baseball field. The replica is full of history and memories Phillip Lawson made with his brothers, sister and friends.

The edge of the replica begins at Highway 904 and follows the old road that went through the town before connecting back in Highway 92.

The loadout station from the coal tipple.

Lawson’s sister, Glenna, started the project when she suggested Lawson place tiny houses on the places he remembered on a topographical map that he showed her. From there, she wanted her own map to start placing the miniature houses on. He said that with the maps, though, you couldn’t really see any of the detail.

After Glenna passed away a couple of years ago, her brothers picked up the project of recreating Gatliff in a three-dimensional way.

Ninety percent of the replica was created from the brothers’ memories.

The other ten percent came from photos Lawson’s older brother had of the town.

Putting those sources together, the brothers plotted out the replica, which is scaled to 1 inch representing 40 feet. He said even at that, the replica is still not completely accurate but it was as close as he could get it. He said it took him about a week to get it to scale, playing around with it trying to make it all fit.

Homes from historic Gatliff and a mine entrance.

“You can’t imagine, when we started doing this, things started coming back and people,” said Lawson. “There are so many people that we had forgotten about that it was just like a flood of emotion hit me.”

Lawson said that many of the people that he and his brothers grew up with have passed away. What is left of their childhood town has slowly evolved and changed into an almost unrecognizable place.

Listening to Lawson talk about the replica, one could imagine walking around the town during his childhood.

He told small anecdotes and laughed as he recalled the mischievous deeds of his youth, like swimming in the miners’ bathhouse. He was quick to point out which area represented the actual swimming hole where he and his friends would play.

With pride, Lawson pointed out the house on the mountain where he was born, followed by the houses he eventually moved into during his adolescence.

“Everything you see has history behind it,” said Lawson.

Swimming hole and miners’ bath house where Lawson used to play.

Lawson and his brother replicated not just the main buildings of the town, but also the individual features that made Gatliff home.

They included things like swings that hung from trees and the beehives and apple orchard of a man who lived near Lawson’s birthplace.

Each detail was hand painted or had been tirelessly searched for. The details of the replica were as precise as possible – down to which replica trains they used.

With each piece of the replica, Lawson reminisced about families, friends or places he knew growing up.   

Some of the features brought a smile to his face, like talking about how in his youth young men could take a girl to one specific restaurant, buy them a coke and hamburger, then take them to the theater next door to watch a movie and buy a soda and popcorn all for $1.

Other features brought looks of triumph and affection, like the story of how he and his brothers convinced his father to not reenter the coal mines after a rock fall killed his best friend’s father and injured his own.

The project was the culmination of approximately 3,600 hours of work. Lawson and his brother started the project in April 2019.

Trains and train switch that ran through town and the replica.

“It was more a pleasure than anything,” said Lawson. “It made you stop and think about people that you hadn’t thought about.”

Lawson tracked the progress of the project through a photo album. He took photos of the replica at each stage and would send copies of the photos to his friends.

He said one of the friends that he sends pictures to told him he gets homesick every time he looks at the photos.

In total, the replica contains 158 handmade and hand-painted houses, 158 outhouses and another 20 or more buildings, including sheds, churches, schools, and theaters.

“When I made 158 houses, I was sitting in there one day and I said ‘woah, I’ve got to build 158 outhouses,’” said Lawson. “One thing led to another.”

In additional to the handmade items, the replica includes 300 miniature people plus cattle, horses, livestock, trucks, powerline poles, and more.

Lawson said some of the pieces you just couldn’t find. He said pieces of the replica came from South Carolina, Tennessee, Corbin, and some he had to order online. Still yet, there were just things he couldn’t find.

He and his brother had to improvise on some of the features, such as additional railroad tracks which was made using rat wire.

Lawson said not everything is 100 percent accurate like there were a few more fences that were there that he didn’t put up, but he was afraid that it would overcrowd the replica and cause it to simply have too much.

The edge of the replica, which begins at Highway 904. In this portion of the replica, the baseball field, the school, a few homes, theaters and a restaurant are pictured.

The brothers built the replica from scratch starting with a plywood base and then framing the mountains in a similar fashion as framing a house. Overtop of the wooden structure, the brothers used screen wire to create the mountains before contouring and covering the slopes with paper mache and cheese cloth. From there, the duo painted the replica, placed the train tracks and then built the town.

The replica covers approximately 1.25 miles. The only way to remove the 12 by 4-foot replica from Lawson’s home is to remove its base and turn it sideways or to take out through a window in his home.

Though the replica is approximately 99 percent complete, Lawson said that he thinks the replica will probably keep evolving. Each time they do something else he said, it makes them think of something else they can add or do. Lawson said building the replica was like that old Johnny Cash song about building a Cadillac, “One Piece at a Time.”

Now that it is mostly complete, Lawson said, “I just really don’t know what I want to do with it.”

He said that he is looking for something to do with the project because he knows that he doesn’t have many years left, but he doesn’t want it to be destroyed.

After reminiscing on the history and memories of Gatliff, Lawson said, “If Gatliff was like this today, I would be living in Gatliff.”

Lawson said that there were some special people that he felt deserved credit for the replica other than just himself and his brother, Bobby Ray. George Lawson furnished the brothers with photos and information about Gatliff. Glenna Woods, his sister, provided the inspiration and got the project started, and Helen Goins was his other sister. Peggy Wilson helped with expenses. Mack Evans, Mack Arthur Monhollen, J.E. Hill, and Lloyd Blakely provided information about Gatliff. Nick Nelson and his great-granddaughter, Amanda Sands, helped the brothers with painting.