Spencer Beery, a talented musician who plays multiple instruments, is in Birch Graves’ 6th grade class at Greenbrier Episcopal School in Lewisburg. Spencer and his mother drove up US 219 to Renick where Spencer interviewed a local bluegrass legend, Richard Hefner. In addition to interviewing Richard, Spencer put together this great video for his social […]
West Virginia’s Anna Jarvis is recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day. Her birthplace in Taylor County is located along Us 119, and the local community there celebrates her family each year at the annual Mother’s Day Festival. Jarvis established the first Mother’s Day celebration to honor the work of her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis. Anna Reeves […]
Over 75 years ago, President Roosevelt put unemployed Americans to work to uncover the stories and history of American communities. Today, over 75 feet of material that they collected rests in the archives of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection at West Virginia University’s Library, located in Morgantown. For the last two years, the […]
Common chicory (Cichorium intybus) adorns the graveled roadsides from July to November. Its spreading, azure blue ray flower heads, profusely scattered along its stems, affirm its Mediterranean ancestry, as does the flower’s siesta-like closing in the afternoons. Similar to its cousin endive (Cichorium endivia), chicory’s slightly bitter lance-shaped to oblong toothed leaves are used fresh […]
The project “Traveling 219: a Trip Through History on the Seneca Trail” has for the past two and a half years worked to tell the stories of the people and places along US 219 in West Virginia. We have written newspaper articles, produced audio stories for WV Public Radio, and developed this website. All along, […]
Today, the National Radio Observatory in Green Bank, WV stands a great chance of being shut down. Many local residents and visitors to the area are contemplating the possible effects that this change would have for Pocahontas County. Much of the reason that the radio observatory at Green Bank exists in rural West Virginia is […]
Soda pop, postcards and historic photographs—just the things the roadside wanderer might seek—for sale at Sharp’s Country Store in Slatyfork. The store first opened in 1884 and has been run by the Sharp family for generations. Sharp’s also carries homespun wool blankets by JoAnn Gardner, whose great grandmother used to deliver her wool products to […]
Just outside of Elkins, along the Laurel Mountain Ridge, the first snowfall covered the trees, and ice coated the historic, and lovely mountain. The landscape of Laurel Mountain was changed this winter as four new windmills were installed just before one of the first snows. Americorps volunteer and photographer, Terry Hackney, visited the AES windmill […]
“During the Depression years, when every morsel of food was needed, the government encouraged citizens to raise and save as much food as possible to feed their families and neighbors through the hard times. The folks in the southern end of Pocahontas County were given the means to preserve that food when a government-funded cannery was […]
The McNeel Mill at Mill Point, which is being restored today by local resident Matt Tate, 150 years after it was first constructed in this once bustling little West Virginia mountain town. If you’ve driven U.S. Route 219 through Mill Point,you’ve probably seen the old McNeel Mill, which has stood down on Stamping Creek since […]
Click the map to download a high-resolution copy of the Traveling 219 map, or pick up a hard copy at one of many locations along U.S. Route 219. You may also view our interactive map of Traveling 219 stories [HERE].
Follow us