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 […]
Spencer Beery, a talented musician who plays multiple instruments, is in Birch Graves’ 6th grade class at Greenbrier Episcopal School in Lewisburg. Spencer and his mother drove up US 219 to Renick where Spencer interviewed a local bluegrass legend, Richard Hefner. In addition to interviewing Richard, Spencer put together this great video for his social […]
West Virginia’s Anna Jarvis is recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day. Her birthplace in Taylor County is located along Us 119, and the local community there celebrates her family each year at the annual Mother’s Day Festival. Jarvis established the first Mother’s Day celebration to honor the work of her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis. Anna Reeves […]
Over 75 years ago, President Roosevelt put unemployed Americans to work to uncover the stories and history of American communities. Today, over 75 feet of material that they collected rests in the archives of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection at West Virginia University’s Library, located in Morgantown. For the last two years, the […]
[cincopa A8MAwK7RFS2r] A small pungent bulb, similar to garlic or wild onions, known as ramps, is growing in shady hillsides along the Allegheny Mountains. Some people say the smell of ramps is repulsive, but others argue that this wild, edible food brings communities together. If you haven’t yet had your fill, this Saturday a ramp […]
“A magnificent vista of wooded mountaintops, green cultivated valleys and distant blue ranges.” – 1941, the West Virginia Writers’ Project guide. Hillsboro is the home of these popular historic destinations: -Pearl S. Buck Birthplace and Museum (in Hillsboro) http://www.pearlsbuckbirthplace.com/ -Pretty Penny Café (in Hillsboro, located in an old general store) http://www.wvyourway.com/west_virginia/AdView.aspx?sid=4431 -5.2 m. Watoga State […]
Common chicory (Cichorium intybus) adorns the graveled roadsides from July to November. Its spreading, azure blue ray flower heads, profusely scattered along its stems, affirm its Mediterranean ancestry, as does the flower’s siesta-like closing in the afternoons. Similar to its cousin endive (Cichorium endivia), chicory’s slightly bitter lance-shaped to oblong toothed leaves are used fresh […]
The project “Traveling 219: a Trip Through History on the Seneca Trail” has for the past two and a half years worked to tell the stories of the people and places along US 219 in West Virginia. We have written newspaper articles, produced audio stories for WV Public Radio, and developed this website. All along, […]
Today, the National Radio Observatory in Green Bank, WV stands a great chance of being shut down. Many local residents and visitors to the area are contemplating the possible effects that this change would have for Pocahontas County. Much of the reason that the radio observatory at Green Bank exists in rural West Virginia is […]
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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