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 […]
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 […]
(historical marker located on Route 219, 0.3 mi. south of the traffic light at the intersection with Route 39) The town of Marlinton sits along the Greenbrier River where it meets Knapps Creek, approximately 64 miles south of Elkins and 40 miles north of Lewisburg on US Route 219. The Seneca Trail, once known as […]
In 2012, the Traveling 219 Project featured a story about beloved Hillsboro resident, Norma Mikesell, and the inspiration she gave to those around her. In January, 2013, Norma Mikesell passed away at the age of 92. To honor Norma, who meant so much to so many, here is Emma’s story about Norma, as well as […]
For all you bluegrass fans, the Traveling 219 Project presents Richard Hefner and the story of the Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys–the local Pocahontas County, West Virginia born and bred music staple. Richard grew up in Mill Point with his family, where his mother Elsie ran the post office and served as the matriarch to a […]
He would write on a green Oliver typewriter, seated on a child-sized armchair with rollers at the bottom. Each day he would write, hour after hour, facing the trains that rushed past him on their way to the Blackwater Canyon. He’d write a poem and if he didn’t like it he would crumple it up, start over again. Day after day. Often, he would drink. It didn’t take but a few beers to drown him because Karl Dewey Myers never weighed more than 60 pounds.
Before crossing the state line into Maryland from West Virginia, US 219 follows a high ridge overlooking the mountains and valleys of Tucker County to the west. During the first weeks of October, the colors of the fall foliage create a brilliant sea of red, oranges, and yellows over the rugged landscape of the Alleghenies. […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES of the West Virginia Writers’ Project, Greenbrier County: “I was plowing on General Davis’s farm in 1856, unsuspicious of being on insecured ground when suddenly the earth seemed to fall beneath me. I saw the horses descending, but was too frightened to let go the plow handles. When I landed, I fell […]
FROM THE ARCHIVES of the West Virginia Writers’ Project, Tucker County: The City of Rivers ** Here, where two rivers, born of highland springs, Wed to beget another, greater still, And where peace hovers on untroubled wings Amidst the song of factory and mill, ** Here, […]
Pocahontas Woods is a non- profit educational center in downtown Marlinton. Work is showcased and sold at multiple galleries in Lewisburg, Thomas, Beckley, and Snowshoe W.Va. as well as online. Mike Hefner, a 34-year-old former construction worker learns wood-craftsmanship after a life changing injury. Six years ago, he began volunteering at Pocahontas Woods in Marlinton, […]
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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