Before white pioneers settled these mountains, the road that is today US Route 219 was a major pathway used by different Indian nations and was known as the Seneca Trail. Historic museums in Beverly, Marlinton, Lewisburg and Union tell of the unsettled memories of Civil War battles fought along these hills, the historic healing springs that once brought thousands of wealthy tourists to this region, and the logging camps that made communities along the new railroad lines flourish briefly at the dawn of the 20th century.
A grapevine clipping from the home of Pearl S. Buck, a world renowned author with West Virginia roots, just arrived in Michigan and soon will be planted at a high school literary garden. It began as an idea last summer. Jennifer McQuillan teaches literature at West Bloomfield High School in Michigan, and she wanted to […]
By Gibbs Kinderman Local weekly papers are a continuing tradition in many small WV counties – almost 50 of them still survive in this era of mass media and on-line news. Monroe County is one of the most tradition-oriented in West Virginia, and its paper, the Monroe Watchman, has come out each week for over […]
Now here’s something you don’t hear about everyday: A chicken that lays wooden eggs. It’s a tall tale told by a man named Johnny Hill, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Gibbs Kinderman brings us this archived recording of Johnny Hill’s magical story about some very peculiar hens. The above photo of the chickens was taken […]
This article is by guest contributor Jeffrey Kanode The land is gentle and the road is narrow which leads up to the little town of Greenville, on state road 122, off of US 219. In the center of town, beside the Greenville Post Office and across from a redbrick building which used to house the […]
by Matt Wilson Silver Lake is a small community located in the southeastern part of Preston County near the West Virginia-Maryland border. The community is named for a man-made lake of the same name, which is located within a private campground in the community. Built in 1928, the lake is retained by a small concrete […]
By Gibbs Kinderman: The “Traveling 219” project was inspired by the New Deal Federal Writers Project and the Guides to the States it produced. Nobel Prize winning writer John Steinbeck, who was a struggling young author when he was hired to work for the Writers’ Project, was also a big fan of these amazing books. […]
“Nobody in Pocahontas County has the slightest doubt but what the name of Cal Price will live on forever after he dies, that is if you can find anybody who believes he will die,” fellow journalist Jim Comstock wrote in 1953. “Most Pocahontasites think of him just living on and on like the trees of the forest.” Price was the editor of the Pocahontas Times for over 50 years, and his name indeed lives on.
You can zoom in and out of this map and click & drag it to move around and explore it. Click on the different colored markers for more information on that particular civil war site. Timeline of Events in West Virginia during the Civil War along or near U.S. Route 219. 1861: June 3, […]
Bear hunting is a long running tradition in the mountains along US 219. It started more than 200 years ago, when the farmers began running sheep on their hill farms and the native black bear discovered a new food source. In the old days the mountains rang with the baying of dogs on a […]
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 […]
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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