Tygart Valley Homestead part 2
Recently, we published a story about the Tygart Valley Homestead (you can see that here). Sonny Knaggs and Lana Butcher both grew up in Dailey, West Virginia. Dailey was originally built as one of three communities of the Tygart Valley Homestead, a Great Depression-era resettlement and relief project by the federal government. The Tygart Valley Homestead project ended in the early 1940s, when the federal government decided to sell off its shares and the cooperative initiatives were privatized. Sonny and Lana now work with the Tygart Valley Homestead Association, which is trying to organize the community today, and preserve some of its history. Traveling 219 went up to meet with them to follow up on and help tell the story of the Tygart Valley Homestead and the efforts of the Association:
Sonny Knaggs holding a picture of his parents, who were original homesteaders at the Tygart Valley Homestead in the 1930s.
Photos of the Knaggs’ original Homestead home.
Original blueprint of the Homestead communities saved by Sonny’s father. Blueprint shows the three Homestead communities of Dailey, East Dailey, and Valley Bend. Lists of the original Homestead residents are also shown.
Original article about one of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s visits to the Tygart Valley Homestead.
Original estimate sheet from the Resettlement Administration, invoicing some of the electrical work Sonny’s father did as part of the Homestead’s construction. From 1936.
To see lots more photos and learn more about the Tygart Valley Homestead check out our first part of this story: https://www.traveling219.com/stories/elkins-marlinton/tygart-valley-homesteads/
Category: Blog, Collections, Elkins to Marlinton, Family & Community, Stories
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