55 GOOD THINGS ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA: Harman's Cabins: Lodgings for the Love of North Fork

CABINS - The story of Harman's North Fork Cabins could have ended in 1985.

That year, a devastating and deadly flood ripped through the valleys of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River in Grant County, killing 12 people. It also washed away all but one of the eight fishing cabins the Harman family had owned and rented since 1939.

Faced with the prospect of giving up or rebuilding, the Harman family opted for the latter. Within two years of the flood, the family was busy building new cabins along a scenic bend in the river near the community of Cabins.

"The 1985 flood was the best thing that ever happened to us," said Todd Harman, grandson of Fred Harman, who started the family business in 1939. "It made us change our model from being an old fishing camp to offering luxury cabin rentals. We would have stuck in that model for years, but the '85 flood forced us to change."

And change they did. Todd Harman and his cousin, Fred Roby, along with Todd's mother, Penny Harman, decided to revamp the business and upgrade everything as they rebuilt.