Pocahontas County–To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Droop Mountain, park superintendent Mike Smith is planning something kind of crazy, and kind of incredible. He’s leading a memorial march into battle, along steep mountain trails and a federal highway. Make that four hikes, beginning with an 8 ½ mile hike from Hillsboro on […]
The Green Space Lewisburg, WV In the heart of downtown Lewisburg, WV, there is a small city park on Washington Street where bands play in the summer, and the community gathers year round. It is known as the Green Space, and it once was the sight of a favorite comic book store called the King […]
“In West Virginia, as in other parts of the United States, many rural families relied on sorghum molasses as a sweetener during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The flavor lies between black strap molasses and light caramel syrup and is far less sweet than honey.” Mark F. Sohn, -WV-encyclopedia Aja Saldana presents this […]
“Buckwheat is not a wheat, it’s a flower, like a blooming flower. The closest relative of buckwheat is rhubarb. When it’s growing, the straw is the color of rhubarb.” –Larry Mustain, the owner of Reed’s Mill, in Monroe County. Buckwheat grows across the Allegheny mountains in WV, most prominently in Preston County, where the annual […]
Come listen to history come alive! The Traveling 219 project and Appalachian Forest Heritage Area AmeriCorps are collaborating on a series of multimedia storytelling performances in June along Route 219! “Tall Shadows Passing By: Folktales and Music from these Hills” is a live performance event presented by Traveling 219. Over the course of an hour, we’ll be […]
In Williamsburg, WV, one of the oldest historical structures is hidden beneath a wooden barn, situated below cold knob mountain and the rolling farmland of the Greenbrier Valley. Fort McCoy, which was built around 1770. The historic community of Williamsburg is located about 11 miles west of US 219 and the town of Renick. Zoe […]
Another audio story in the Greenbrier Episcopal School series, featuring students from Birch Graves’ class. Here are Wyatt Bair, Bronwyn McMahan O’Shea, Alex Casto talking about the projects they researched for their social studies class: Shanklin’s Grand Theatre in Ronceverte, O’Shea’s All About Beauty in Lewisburg, and the Ginkgo Tree in Lewisburg. We’ll be posting […]
World War Two Veteran Sherman Beard remembers flying over Europe as a B-24 pilot in the last months of the war. Sherman was stationed in Foggia, Italy in 1945, where he flew 35 missions over Europe. Traveling 219 interviewed him recently about his experiences, and put this piece together in commemoration of Veterans Day. Sherman […]
6th Grader Uncovers Her Family’s History: Reid Dixon is a 6th grade student who researched her family’s homeplace, the historic Stuart Manor, located just outside of Lewisburg. The original buildings were built by Colonel John Stuart, who is known as the “founder and father of Greenbrier County”. Reid Dixon: “My home, Stuart Manor, was owned […]
The Traveling 219 Project teamed up with classes at the Greenbrier Episcopal School in Lewisburg this school year to bring local history and folklore into the classroom. Here is Elsa Howell and Zoe Hinkey, retelling the story of the Greenbrier Ghost, or the haunting of Elva Zona Heaster, which they researched and turned into cranky […]
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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