About a year ago, a new historical marker sign went up in front of the Tucker County Court House, in Parsons, West Virginia along U.S. Route 219. The sign commemorates an exceptional story in West Virginia history, when a brave African American school teacher stood up to her local school board and sued them for […]
Judy and Warren Ellison celebrated their 70th anniversary last year. Click play to listen to the radio story, or download the story for later. 89-year-old Warren Ellison has been farming in Monroe County since he returned home from World War II. Over lunch at the Ellison farm, Traveling 219’s Roxy Todd recorded Warren talking about […]
The small town of Richwood, West Virginia once had a booming lumber and coal economy, but since the 1980s most of the jobs in town have left the area, as have 42% of the population. Every dollar is needed here, and the town relies on its annual Feast of the Ramson to help rejuvenate the […]
Once again, we are proud to announce that the Traveling 219 project will be organizing another heritage tour in Pocahontas County this spring! If you are interested in visiting the beautiful Allegheny Mountains in the spring, you should join us for an afternoon tour of some of the county’s most scenic and historic places. We’ll […]
The John Wesley Methodist Church in Lewisburg was built in 1820 and continues to hold services. It is located on E. Foster Street and is one of the oldest brick churches in West Virginia. As was common at the time, the John Wesley Methodist Church was built with a second story slave gallery, and today […]
It’s earth day- and today many self-proclaimed ramp lovers in urban cities across the country are celebrating this third week of April and the height of ramp season. Thousands will sit down to a table for dinner, probably at a restaurant in Brooklyn or Chicago and eat their fill of ramps, which pair well with other seasonal spring vegetables like peas and asparagus and also grill very nicely.
They will feast on what many chefs and Appalachian foragers have known for generations-ramps are magical. Or if not that, then they are deliciously repulsive, aromatically stinky, little feisty green onions. If ever a vegetable merited an oxymoron, it’s ramps.
This recipe comes from an expert Salt Rising Bread baker Susan Brown, who grew up in Greenbrier County. Susan is working to research the history of Salt Rising Bread, along with another baker, Jenny Bardwell, who owns a bakery in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. Susan’s starter, or “raisin,” as she calls it, uses fewer ingredients than […]
photo by Mike Costello On Saturday, April 26th the town of Richwood, West Virginia will serve 2,000 pounds of wild ramps, along with bacon, potatoes, cornbread and sassafras tea. Richwood prides itself as being the “Ramp Capitol of the World”, and its Feast of the Ramson Festival is the oldest ongoing ramp celebration in the […]
in the monitor community near Pickaway, Monroe County on U.S. Route 219 by Dixie Lee Hoke-Webb The two-room Fairview School was located near Pickaway on US 219, about 3 miles south of the Greenbrier/ Monroe county line at Second Creek and about 5 ½ miles north of Union. This is the fourth building for Fairview […]
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].
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