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Author Archive: Roxy

Roxy Todd has been working with the 219 Project since October, 2011, when she began working as a VISTA volunteer. Prior to this project, Roxy has worked as a teacher, a massage therapist, and a farm worker. She graduated from Warren Wilson College in 2005. In 2006 she wrote and directed a rock opera with Patrick Seick called "Osama Baby", and she has just finished writing her first novel, "The Girl in the Glass".

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Mill Point

Mill Point

May 2, 2012 |

Mill Point was “formerly called Cackleytown. The present name is derived from the fact that the place was a pioneer milling point with two flour mills located on Stamping Creek” . – the West Virginia Encyclopedia, written by Jim Comstock.

“The Old McNeel Mill (R), on the bank of Stamping Creek, was built by Isaac McNeel about 1868 and still operates, driven by an overshot wheel. Stephen Sewell, an early settler, camped near by in a cave in 1750 after his quarrel with Jacob Marlin.” – 1941, the West Virginia Writers’ Project.

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Gaudineer Knob Virgin Spruce Forest

Gaudineer Knob Virgin Spruce Forest

May 2, 2012 |

With the smell of spruce in the air, travelers can walk beneath the shadows of these vast trees and imagine these forests as they once stood But the story behind this forest of virgin timber is just as incredible as the enchantment of its beauty–the trees here were spared the lumberman’s axe due to a surveying error.

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Pickaway

Pickaway

May 2, 2012 |

Pickaway and its surrounding area was long inhabited by the Seneca tribe of Native Americans, and their main pathway through the mountains was roughly the same route that 219 follows today. Pickaway was also known as “Pickaway Plains”, and though the exact origin of the name is not fully clear, the Picqua tribe of Native Americans was one way or another most probably the source of this unique name.

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Second Creek

Second Creek

January 4, 2012 |

“This is our Bloody Butcher Corn, it’s all different colors, see? It’s red, yellow and purple.”

Reed’s Mill has been grinding an heirloom variety of corn called Bloody Butcher, grown locally and from the same seeds that have been ground at the mill for generations. Possibly, all the way back to when the mill first opened around 1791.
Click here to have a listen….

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Parsons

Parsons

January 4, 2012 |

A bright red, brick courthouse stands at the center of Parsons. Since 1893 Parsons has been the county seat of Tucker County.

Back then, armed guards took the county records from St. George to Parsons, and though no fighting took place, the men of St. George had planned to defend the county seat with their lives.
Click to hear the story of Doyle Kisner, of Parsons….

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Thomas

Thomas

January 4, 2012 |

“US 219 by-passes the center of the city, which lies (L) across a small shallow stream, the North Fork of the Blackwater River.”- West Virginia Writers’ Project.
Many characters are remembered to have left their mark upon these slanted streets, especially during the years when Thomas was a busy coal town and trading center for surrounding mines.
Click to here to hear stories of Thomas…

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Youghiogheny Forest Colony

Youghiogheny Forest Colony

December 17, 2011 |

It’s the year 1935. The Hemlock forest near Aurora is full of laughter and music. Through the snowy trees a cabin is aglow, with about 12 people gathered inside. This was the Youghiogheny Forest Colony. Most visitors would pass by this site without knowing it, and truthfully one probably wouldn’t be able to find the original hand-built cabins without a local guide.

click here to have a listen…

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