Most people don't realize the horrible and dangerous working conditions those miners endured until the miners stood united and unionized. Those miners and their families were victimized by coal barons whose greed kept them indebted to the company store. It was nothing short of early 20th century slavery. Abused and threatened by coal company management and superintendents "coal bosses". Anyway I'll get off my soap box. Excellent video you two!!
That's okay, go ahead and preach it. They threw my family out of a company home at Kaymoor WV when my father was four years old. Grandpa ran in the middle of the night to get a "better" job with Carbide. He ended up working at the Gauley Bridge power station during the Hawks Nest Tunnel construction. I can only image what he witnessed. Visitors to the NRG Nation Park have no clue of the true "Ghosts" that live in those ruins.
@@Luther-1968 The Jim Crow era graveyards filled up so quickly the local undertaker started taking extra money under the table to bury African Aneticans on his mother's farm near Summerville, WV. When RT19 came through the area they had to move the bodies to get the road complete. The state heaped over 60 skeletons into as few as coffins as they could and reburied them over the bank of the highway near a storm drain. Recent efforts have located the site and it was made into a memorial park. I enter the lake thru a assess very close to here. Walked circles around them for years
Live in Southern West Virginia Mercer County born and raised, what you do is not drive over the side. This ain’t a bit scary, go to downtown Philly or DC or Atlanta now that’s scary, I’ll take my Moutains and Hollars any day of the week. Coming back from Iaeger on 52 one day, a tree had fail across the road, 3 ole boys leaped out of their truck grabbed their saw and about in 6 minutes the tree was gone piled in the back of their truck and we was moving again! The absolute best folks in the world you’ll find in MacDowell County bar none! Love y’all 2 Young’ns like riding in the car with family listening to them talk, so enjoyable.
"Precious memories how they ever flood my soul"...the words I recall from one of the many gospel songs, remembered from childhood in West Virginia. Looking at what once was... and can never be again... stirs the imagination with curiosity, sadness and a smile... knowing they were here for awhile. A memory it could be...of a conversation between you and me... about who we'd go to see... so long ago. Down the mountain roads we go... thru the hills of green... after the winter breeze and leafless trees.... have left the scene... giving way to summer days... and happy play... of children...knowing school... is weeks away. New life have taken form... the circle is complete... and every old building , church or graveyard along the way.... floods our soul with precious memories. Thanks for the tour... and the memories. Please know you are appreciated.
Thank you Shane and Melody for sharing these precious long forgotten places in history. You both are right about saying this place will turn back into nature in a few years. You two are probably the last to document it.
Thank you showing us our adventurous home lands. I immediately thought/ *knew ( **13:40**s) that the large brick building was the HQ of Coal Companies & some staff. They were brutal before the UMW. Thank you. Many of us can’t afford to *Go Home* right now but we surely appreciate you taking us there. Keep it up you two. You’re Adventures make a positive difference. God bless you and please stay safe.
I enjoy seeing these old places, makes me wonder what life was really like back in them old days, long gone... Thanks for all you do to film for us subscribers.
Springton WV. Used to go to the old company store years ago when Mr& Mrs Mills run it. Would run through it always got candy. Lived just down the road on the mountain in Hiawatha.My dad would take us riding through the mountains, know quite a few of those backroads, and even now I prefer to travel the backroads. Thank you both for sharing your trip.
You all are great. Melody, my wife, wouldn't be caught dead on this road, and if I took her on it, I wouldn't survive either. In late April we were in Tennessee and got lost in some back country roads tore up a rental car. It's a long crazy story, but I made the Loretta Lynn memorial concert my wife had enough. She watched it on TV in the hotel room. Love you two
How did you get lost in TN going to Loretta Lynn's concert? I am sorry, but I lived in TN for two years and I thought that everything was well marked. I am glad you found your way. It is not a good feeling to be lost. I would like to comment though that back roads in TN are NOT anything like those found in WV as I am a native of the State.
@Judy Pierce Well, it's a long story. When we saw the line to get into the concert. I said let's go to Loretta Lynn's ranch instead."" So I asked Google directions to Hurricane Mills instead of her ranch. BIG MISTAKE LOL. That's how it happened. Made the concert in the end, though. Love Tennessee and Kentucky, though. We'll be back from Texas
@@ronaldtiracchia2017 She owned Hurricane Mills. If you were on the I-40, Hurricane Mills is easy to find. I fully understand how it is possible to get on back roads. I, too, have used Google and ended up somewhere out in "God's country." Glad you finally reached your destination.
@@ronaldtiracchia2017 I am just glad you found your way out of the situation. IN an earlier reply, I mentioned that I had used Google. Well, I was looking for the Conference Center in Nashville and used Google's Mapquest. I ended up in the middle of 3rd St. at a stoplight with no Conference Center in sight. Finally, after driving around two blocks, I located the Conference Center. Not any fun.
yesterday my son and I went hiking in Wilsons Creek (NC) Area, and drove miles on NC-90 looking at Table Rock and Hawksbill Mtns. west of us....hard dirt road. One of the last remaining State roads still unpaved.....long may it wave!! Occasional space to pass on the curves, but only say one person all day.
youve got wayyy too much room on the downhill side, bro. No sympathy here. 🤠 as for me I want to live out where the June bugs dont arrive till August Ok? To go hunting you head towards town, not away.... This looks like you found it !! A subscriber here...👍
Always enjoy the videos and scenery you share. If you can imagine when coal mining was thriving in Ky and WV , how busy those company stores were. Lot of history there!
I have to agree. I grew up in eastern Kentucky, son of a fox hunter. And to go to the different locations where dogs would be turned out and later picked up, this road could be called a major access rout. I've been on many more roads in much worse shape that family sedans are driven on everyday. Old abandoned strip mine roads and logging roads, those can be truly adventurous.
That’s a fun road to drive. And the end is just up the road from my great grandpa’s house in Hiawatha, and just down the road from the mine at Dott! Thanks for swinging through!
Thanks for the ride along Melody & Shane. Love the old cornice masonry work around the peak of the old company store. A real time capsule. Was thinking all along the gravel road... imagine if the UPS guy had to go down the gravel road to deliver a $12 Ebay package to someone close to the company store. :) Thanks again
Thank you for another great video! I lived in Mercer County, and I have many relatives in Wyoming County, so I've traveled many a time on roads like that one. I miss my WV home, (I'm in OH now) but these road trips of yours warms my heart!! (Y'all make me chuckle a lot, too, with your comments. Lol) ❤❤
My daughter lives in Wyoming co. I'm from Tucker Co those back roads are nothing for the folks who are use to. But for the "city slickers" the OH crap handles come in handy. Thanks for sharing! Coal mining was unbelievable in the day it's is better now but still very dangerous!
The fact that Springton has any buildings (almost) standing at all puts it ahead of nearby Dott and Arista which are totally gone. (Shane, if you have any interest in looking for building foundations, please let me know. Yes, I have a 2009 Subaru Outback.)
Never forget what these places really were. Companies oppressing families in corporate endentured severvitude. Nothing "Good Ole days" about that place.
Another great video! However, the comments on this video share important information that many people don't know and need to see. If I didn't take time to read these important oral histories from your subscribers who know the truth, I would have never had the opportunity to experience the valuable history lesson I just encountered. Wow! That's what history is supposed to be: the good, the bad and the indifferent; but true! Y'all see the value that your channel is doing? Thank you so much for all that y'all do! GOD bless!
I remember that old company store! We stopped by and my husband took some photos of it. It was some years ago, but I do remember it. We live in Mercer County.
Amazing structure!! Lots of those types of structures here in Pa as well in the old coal mining towns. Thanks for sharing! I’m not far from Wv, and I went down an even scarier road called Ripleys Run Road. I wrote a song about it. Let’s just say, I was happy I had 2 other people with me.
One issue with stores like this were the floors that once held heavy glass display cases, dry goods, tables, and all sorts of supplies for decades. These floors shouldered a lot of weight but were steady and even. Once the place was closed the display cases were probably first to be removed, the wood floors suddenly not used to the absence weight would rise upward warping and eventually lose connectivity to the joists. That open roof also sent what was left of the wood floors to rot and fall in as shown. Too bad someone did not try to save this place, but it still appears solid for refurbishing.
The guys who delivered the mobile homes shown in the video must be amazing drivers. Imagine bringing a 14 by 64 ft. section of a double-wide down that road, backing it downhill, then getting your tractor rig back up the hill. "Awesome" is an over-used word but that is awesome.
A book was written about this area by Charles Ward. It was called “Silk Stocking Row” and seems like it involved the real people that lived in the area. One such character named “High Pockets” and it largely told the story of the luxurious life of the bosses compared to the miner’s humble dwellings. Out of print and published around 1975. I had the book at one time. Very familiar with the area as a young person and later as a Home Health nurse.
Cool, i haven't watched you in a while. I live and work in NC but bought a home in Quinwood a while ago 5 miles up rt 20 off rt 60, left at School street. RT 60 and RT 20 are loaded with logging trucks so i wish i had a CDL, i am sure i could land a job easily. In Quinwood right around the corner is a little general store called Appalachia general store. The inside of my house was spotless when i bought it as it was owned by a former librarian but the outside needed a partial frontal refresh which was already done in Hickory wood and i am replacing all 6 internal doors with matching nicely detailed knotty pine doors. I was there for 4 days around Christmas and it was 10 below not including the wind factor so that was reported to be 30 below total, fortunately my house has new energy windows throughout so its tight as a drum. LOTS of people in Beckley area had water issues for over a week from the water mains more so than their homes but i keep my heat on 60 and leave the cabinets open i had no problems. I think when i move there permanently i will end up working at Lewisburg walmart, only 30 mins away.
oh my goodness, i reconize that old store, i think i lived in that old house as a lil girl, i know the name matoaka and arista., the fact that you had to cross over that old wooden bridge, there was a bridge to the old house to, we had to park our car along side the road to get there, im not positve but it sure does bring back memories. i may have been 8 yrs old, the early 60's. wow, mindblowing...i dont know...love the video..i also remember a school somewhere?
My family worked coal mines in WV from the late 1800's until the union mines started shutting down in the 80's. Not all of the companies treated their workers bad. Like with other types of industries, there were good ones, my family was lucky. My great grandfather got his easy job replaced with automation in the 40's. He did not have sufficient time for retirement so in his 60's took a job shoveling coal. The super saw him doing it and moved him to the company store until he had his time in for retirement.
Thanks guys for for another awesome ride along..so amazing to see these old historic buildings and places documented and somewhat saved through your guys videos...stay safe and well!!
Wild, wonderful, West Virginia... My people are from the northern parts of Appalachia, it's always nice to see the land and have folks like yourselves giving us a tour.
I along with so many i appreciate these videos. The country is beautiful as well as the rich history you are sharing. You could see there was alot of money that went into building that old brick company store. Thanks for sharing. 👍
When y’all were first talking about saying pop I thought you talking about names for a father. I’m not from Appalachia, I say creek, branch or run. I do say “if the crick don’t rise” and crick in my neck. I think that mountain road was great, I love a road like that. It’s well maintained with a good elevation gain or loss and a nice drop on one side.
I used to live in a logging camp call Swindell. In Clay County the biggest town near it was clay in the sixties. My dad was a manager there. Never forgot it. I wish I could go back but it's not there anymore. Best childhood ever had of anywhere I've ever been. That road looks like they want to going to it
I'm so confused. The long gravel road to lead to a site just off a paved road.... Was there not a paved route to get there? Otherwise cool footage of the buildings. Always a fan of abandonia of any kind
Very interesting. I grew up not too far from there, but I was unaware of the Spring Coal Company--but it was before my time. I learned to drive on roads like that--in winter with deep snow. LOL It made me a good driver. 🙂I've not lived in that part of WV for over 50 years and not in WV at all for 45 years. It's not the sensible place it was when I was young.
that house reminds me of the Goodwin house at Cedar Bluff. It is across the river from the road that goesup to the old Raceway. The old Goodwin Blanket Mill is on that road.
For taking off and starting when driving in ice and snow, the best car I ever had was my little front-wheel drive 1990 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. In ice and snow it handled just like on dry roads. It was amazing. But then in 2008 I got into a head-on with it, and it was destroyed, at least from the windshield forward. But before that car I had a 1997 Ford 4X4 pickup that would just about go anywhere. I drove that for about 23 years. Anyway... That long gravel road reminds me of a few roads up in Morris and Warren Counties, except they are paved, and not as long as that. But our mountains up there are very steep. Wow, that Springton store is awesome. It's a shame the inside is gone though.😥
Well ,that road was an adventure, my kind of road ! 😉. That old house must have been a real mansion there back in the day ...thanks..y'all stay safe out there on the road...God bless..🙏❤
Traveled that main road many, many times between Mullens and Princeton during my working years. Kinda watched that community and lots of others dry up. There was still a post office back down the road till a few years ago. And I always wondered about that secondary road. Now I know! And the crick-creek thing. A guy from the northern panhandle of WV basically called me a liar because I literally never heard anybody in southern WV call it crick! It's creek. He said everybody knows that all West Virginians say crick. I told him only "Yankee" West Virginians. Thanks y'all!
I'm from Parkersburg wva and we always say crick u have to be from wva to know how to talk like we do don't hate us I'm 70 plus and proud of my heritage
@@bigdog593 Friend, I'm FROM WV. Born, raised, and still live here. And NOBODY says crick around here. It's not a WV thing. It's the part of WV you're from. And I'm 64.
I'm out here in remote place in California. Seems like junkie houses out here don't stay junkie very long but get bought and fixed up pretty quickly. Why isn't this happening back in 'Virginy' ? ... I like old 'fixer uppers'....
@@realappalachia My Great uncle ( which he is 100 yrs old ) use to deliver dynamite by truck in the hill's of Logan county WV side note : same truck also had the cap's in them to detonate the explosive's
The brickwork is five rows of running bond interrupted by one row of Flemish bond. The back of the store still has its brickwork but has lost its roof. 100 year old brick walls can cave on you when they are not pointed up.
Wow where I use to hunt had a narrower road than that. She would definitely flip out going up it. I remember one year it was snowing and the truck just spon around
Thanks for showing that. That is the place wer me and my friends. And siblings. Went. To school. In springton. I grew up there. No that place like the back of my hand. We will have kin there lives right down the road from that called. Hiawatha 😆👍👈
Most people don't realize the horrible and dangerous working conditions those miners endured until the miners stood united and unionized. Those miners and their families were victimized by coal barons whose greed kept them indebted to the company store. It was nothing short of early 20th century slavery. Abused and threatened by coal company management and superintendents "coal bosses". Anyway I'll get off my soap box. Excellent video you two!!
That's okay, go ahead and preach it.
They threw my family out of a company home at Kaymoor WV when my father was four years old. Grandpa ran in the middle of the night to get a "better" job with Carbide. He ended up working at the Gauley Bridge power station during the Hawks Nest Tunnel construction. I can only image what he witnessed.
Visitors to the NRG Nation Park have no clue of the true "Ghosts" that live in those ruins.
@william blake Thanks for mentioning Hawks Nest tunnel disaster. Never knew, looked it up and can't believe the horrific treatment of those workers
@@Luther-1968 The Jim Crow era graveyards filled up so quickly the local undertaker started taking extra money under the table to bury African Aneticans on his mother's farm near Summerville, WV.
When RT19 came through the area they had to move the bodies to get the road complete. The state heaped over 60 skeletons into as few as coffins as they could and reburied them over the bank of the highway near a storm drain. Recent efforts have located the site and it was made into a memorial park.
I enter the lake thru a assess very close to here. Walked circles around them for years
ruclips.net/video/ScQbOk-rDy8/видео.html
Amen!! So many don’t realize that is the reason we are called “rednecks” not the other stereotypical bs.
Live in Southern West Virginia Mercer County born and raised, what you do is not drive over the side. This ain’t a bit scary, go to downtown Philly or DC or Atlanta now that’s scary, I’ll take my Moutains and Hollars any day of the week. Coming back from Iaeger on 52 one day, a tree had fail across the road, 3 ole boys leaped out of their truck grabbed their saw and about in 6 minutes the tree was gone piled in the back of their truck and we was moving again! The absolute best folks in the world you’ll find in MacDowell County bar none! Love y’all 2 Young’ns like riding in the car with family listening to them talk, so enjoyable.
A tree fallen in the road isn't an inconvenience, it's a bonus!
@@dchawk81 Firewood!
I was born and raised in Tucker County...I now live in DC....and you are so correct, I miss my mountains...and my holler.
"Precious memories how they ever flood my soul"...the words I recall from one of the many gospel songs, remembered from childhood in West Virginia. Looking at what once was... and can never be again... stirs the imagination with curiosity, sadness and a smile... knowing they were here for awhile. A memory it could be...of a conversation between you and me... about who we'd go to see... so long ago. Down the mountain roads we go... thru the hills of green... after the winter breeze and leafless trees.... have left the scene... giving way to summer days... and happy play... of children...knowing school... is weeks away. New life have taken form... the circle is complete... and every old building , church or graveyard along the way.... floods our soul with precious memories. Thanks for the tour... and the memories. Please know you are appreciated.
Thank you so much, Raymond!
Thank you Shane and Melody for sharing these precious long forgotten places in history. You both are right about saying this place will turn back into nature in a few years. You two are probably the last to document it.
Thank you showing us our adventurous home lands. I immediately thought/ *knew ( **13:40**s) that the large brick building was the HQ of Coal Companies & some staff. They were brutal before the UMW. Thank you. Many of us can’t afford to *Go Home* right now but we surely appreciate you taking us there. Keep it up you two. You’re Adventures make a positive difference. God bless you and please stay safe.
Wikipedia says post office and company store!
@@Letthatonemarinate-h2r not a reliable source accepted in any college, and I did say that respectfully. 🇺🇸😊
thank you so much
So true........yet today, unions have betrayed the employees and what unions supposed to represent has been tarnished.
@@1963Austria that’s absolutely the truth too. I don’t have nightmares over FoMoCo naw. I have nightmares about the UAW & their goons.
I enjoy seeing these old places, makes me wonder what life was really like back in them old days, long gone... Thanks for all you do to film for us subscribers.
thank you so much, I wonder the exact same thing
Springton WV. Used to go to the old company store years ago when Mr& Mrs Mills run it. Would run through it always got candy. Lived just down the road on the mountain in Hiawatha.My dad would take us riding through the mountains, know quite a few of those backroads, and even now I prefer to travel the backroads.
Thank you both for sharing your trip.
Glad you enjoyed it, Pamela
Hey I went to school at Springtown to I remember all thoes old roads. Winona hiwitha. Still got people there the lees😂😂
Great road trip, thank you Melody and Shane. It is important that you're recording all these places!
thank you so much, Robin
_#cheers__ !_
Being a rural delivery driver for UPS in WV this is normal.
I can see that being the case
You all are great. Melody, my wife, wouldn't be caught dead on this road, and if I took her on it, I wouldn't survive either. In late April we were in Tennessee and got lost in some back country roads tore up a rental car. It's a long crazy story, but I made the Loretta Lynn memorial concert my wife had enough. She watched it on TV in the hotel room. Love you two
How did you get lost in TN going to Loretta Lynn's concert? I am sorry, but I lived in TN for two years and I thought that everything was well marked. I am glad you found your way. It is not a good feeling to be lost. I would like to comment though that back roads in TN are NOT anything like those found in WV as I am a native of the State.
@Judy Pierce Well, it's a long story. When we saw the line to get into the concert. I said let's go to Loretta Lynn's ranch instead."" So I asked Google directions to Hurricane Mills instead of her ranch. BIG MISTAKE LOL. That's how it happened. Made the concert in the end, though. Love Tennessee and Kentucky, though. We'll be back from Texas
@@ronaldtiracchia2017 She owned Hurricane Mills. If you were on the I-40, Hurricane Mills is easy to find. I fully understand how it is possible to get on back roads. I, too, have used Google and ended up somewhere out in "God's country." Glad you finally reached your destination.
@Judy Pierce yea I knew better. I was frightening at the time after an hour and a half. But now I have got a story.
@@ronaldtiracchia2017 I am just glad you found your way out of the situation. IN an earlier reply, I mentioned that I had used Google. Well, I was looking for the Conference Center in Nashville and used Google's Mapquest. I ended up in the middle of 3rd St. at a stoplight with no Conference Center in sight. Finally, after driving around two blocks, I located the Conference Center. Not any fun.
yesterday my son and I went hiking in Wilsons Creek (NC) Area, and drove miles on NC-90 looking at Table Rock and Hawksbill Mtns. west of us....hard dirt road.
One of the last remaining State roads still unpaved.....long may it wave!!
Occasional space to pass on the curves, but only say one person all day.
youve got wayyy too much room on the downhill side, bro. No sympathy here. 🤠
as for me I want to live out where the June bugs dont arrive till August Ok?
To go hunting you head towards town, not away.... This looks like you found it !! A subscriber here...👍
we have had Table Rock on our hit list someday
thank you, Brian
Always enjoy the videos and scenery you share.
If you can imagine when coal mining was thriving in Ky and WV , how busy those company stores were. Lot of history there!
oh yes, must have been a whole different world back then
road looked pretty smooth to me, ive been on way worse, way, way worse……..i grew up in Russell county as well
That road going in is not a bad WVa road. It is actually in pretty good shape for a WVa road.
I have to agree. I grew up in eastern Kentucky, son of a fox hunter. And to go to the different locations where dogs would be turned out and later picked up, this road could be called a major access rout. I've been on many more roads in much worse shape that family sedans are driven on everyday. Old abandoned strip mine roads and logging roads, those can be truly adventurous.
IKR
That’s a fun road to drive. And the end is just up the road from my great grandpa’s house in Hiawatha, and just down the road from the mine at Dott! Thanks for swinging through!
Thanks for watching, we enjoyed the visit and remember passing through Hiawatha afterwards
How do I get there to the old country coal store
I grew up in Matoaka I bought a lot of sodas and snacks from that store back in the day when Arista and Turkey Gap were still loading lots of coal
Thanks for the ride along Melody & Shane. Love the old cornice masonry work around the peak of the old company store. A real time capsule. Was thinking all along the gravel road... imagine if the UPS guy had to go down the gravel road to deliver a $12 Ebay package to someone close to the company store. :) Thanks again
man, that UPS driver would definitely reconsider their career options lol
Thanks for braving that gravel road to show us that beautiful brick work! The camera generally makes things look much easier than they really are.
The road ain’t even that bad 😂
Road tripping on back roads seeing the real inner America, way to travel. You can get out and touch the country.Taste it.
I've tasted them for over 30 years as a school bus driver in WV. Still tasting them. Why not?
You folks are more entertaining than anything on TV (maybe why I haven't had one in 20 years). Thanks for being interested in real things!
Bless you!
Thank you for another great video! I lived in Mercer County, and I have many relatives in Wyoming County, so I've traveled many a time on roads like that one. I miss my WV home, (I'm in OH now) but these road trips of yours warms my heart!! (Y'all make me chuckle a lot, too, with your comments. Lol) ❤❤
That is awesome!
My daughter lives in Wyoming co. I'm from Tucker Co those back roads are nothing for the folks who are use to. But for the "city slickers" the OH crap handles come in handy. Thanks for sharing! Coal mining was unbelievable in the day it's is better now but still very dangerous!
The fact that Springton has any buildings (almost) standing at all puts it ahead of nearby Dott and Arista which are totally gone. (Shane, if you have any interest in looking for building foundations, please let me know. Yes, I have a 2009 Subaru Outback.)
Thank you for posting this. I will need to check this out on a future trip.
Thank you so much Real A for uploading this great video, I appreciate it!
Thank you, Michael
Never forget what these places really were.
Companies oppressing families in corporate endentured severvitude.
Nothing "Good Ole days" about that place.
So true. I owe my soul to the company store...
Another great video! However, the comments on this video share important information that many people don't know and need to see. If I didn't take time to read these important oral histories from your subscribers who know the truth, I would have never had the opportunity to experience the valuable history lesson I just encountered. Wow! That's what history is supposed to be: the good, the bad and the indifferent; but true! Y'all see the value that your channel is doing? Thank you so much for all that y'all do! GOD bless!
I can only just look. It seems like almost no one lives there.
Very well said!
I remember that old company store! We stopped by and my husband took some photos of it. It was some years ago, but I do remember it. We live in Mercer County.
Amazing structure!! Lots of those types of structures here in Pa as well in the old coal mining towns. Thanks for sharing!
I’m not far from Wv, and I went down an even scarier road called Ripleys Run Road. I wrote a song about it. Let’s just say, I was happy I had 2 other people with me.
One issue with stores like this were the floors that once held heavy glass display cases, dry goods, tables, and all sorts of supplies for decades. These floors shouldered a lot of weight but were steady and even. Once the place was closed the display cases were probably first to be removed, the wood floors suddenly not used to the absence weight would rise upward warping and eventually lose connectivity to the joists. That open roof also sent what was left of the wood floors to rot and fall in as shown. Too bad someone did not try to save this place, but it still appears solid for refurbishing.
That brick bldg would have been nice restored... Thx for bringing us along on another adventure...
yes, i wish someone would have saved it
The guys who delivered the mobile homes shown in the video must be amazing drivers. Imagine bringing a 14 by 64 ft. section of a double-wide down that road, backing it downhill, then getting your tractor rig back up the hill. "Awesome" is an over-used word but that is awesome.
A book was written about this area by Charles Ward. It was called “Silk Stocking Row” and seems like it involved the real people that lived in the area. One such character named “High Pockets” and it largely told the story of the luxurious life of the bosses compared to the miner’s humble dwellings. Out of print and published around 1975. I had the book at one time. Very familiar with the area as a young person and later as a Home Health nurse.
It's still going on today in general.
I’m I’m 😊
Cool, i haven't watched you in a while. I live and work in NC but bought a home in Quinwood a while ago 5 miles up rt 20 off rt 60, left at School street. RT 60 and RT 20 are loaded with logging trucks so i wish i had a CDL, i am sure i could land a job easily. In Quinwood right around the corner is a little general store called Appalachia general store. The inside of my house was spotless when i bought it as it was owned by a former librarian but the outside needed a partial frontal refresh which was already done in Hickory wood and i am replacing all 6 internal doors with matching nicely detailed knotty pine doors. I was there for 4 days around Christmas and it was 10 below not including the wind factor so that was reported to be 30 below total, fortunately my house has new energy windows throughout so its tight as a drum. LOTS of people in Beckley area had water issues for over a week from the water mains more so than their homes but i keep my heat on 60 and leave the cabinets open i had no problems.
I think when i move there permanently i will end up working at Lewisburg walmart, only 30 mins away.
Lewisburg is a great little town so it looks like you have a bright future
oh my goodness, i reconize that old store, i think i lived in that old house as a lil girl, i know the name matoaka and arista., the fact that you had to cross over that old wooden bridge, there was a bridge to the old house to, we had to park our car along side the road to get there, im not positve but it sure does bring back memories. i may have been 8 yrs old, the early 60's. wow, mindblowing...i dont know...love the video..i also remember a school somewhere?
My family worked coal mines in WV from the late 1800's until the union mines started shutting down in the 80's. Not all of the companies treated their workers bad. Like with other types of industries, there were good ones, my family was lucky. My great grandfather got his easy job replaced with automation in the 40's. He did not have sufficient time for retirement so in his 60's took a job shoveling coal. The super saw him doing it and moved him to the company store until he had his time in for retirement.
I live in Harpers Ferry, WV I’ve only been to Romney and Keyser. I want to do a road trip through every part in WV this summer!!
Yea up springton. 😂😂😂😂
Love you guys keep up the good work originally I am from a little town named Clemson wv take care.
Thank you so much, Ferrell, we appreciate you watching
The woods of a good Halloween B movie. I really like these kind of videos. Thanks for sharing.
Hey guys another great video keep them coming ❤
Great adventure! Thanks for taking us along!
Thanks for sharing! Appreciate y'all very much
Thanks for watching!
Nice video. Especially enjoy when you walk around these old houses and buildings, really interesting.
We enjoy it just as much! Better when it’s not super rainy and muddy but we can’t complain much even then! Haha - Melody
Thanks guys for for another awesome ride along..so amazing to see these old historic buildings and places documented and somewhat saved through your guys videos...stay safe and well!!
Thanks so much for riding along, John
yall should have way more subs. i love this channel!! spring hope nc here..... Hey Melody
Thanks!
Wild, wonderful, West Virginia...
My people are from the northern parts of Appalachia, it's always nice to see the land and have folks like yourselves giving us a tour.
Thanks for watching!
What's IN the t-shirt is the focus! Nice PFD's!
I along with so many i appreciate these videos. The country is beautiful as well as the rich history you are sharing. You could see there was alot of money that went into building that old brick company store. Thanks for sharing. 👍
Thank you!!
Love the old buildings. You guys were deep in the woods !
Oh yes!
When y’all were first talking about saying pop I thought you talking about names for a father. I’m not from Appalachia, I say creek, branch or run. I do say “if the crick don’t rise” and crick in my neck. I think that mountain road was great, I love a road like that. It’s well maintained with a good elevation gain or loss and a nice drop on one side.
we get a crick in our neck too lol.
Actually a really nice road for WV. Not sure what y’all were worried about lol
Thank you guys for all the wonderful videos. Makes me proud to be from Virginia coal country myself! Be safe.
That’s awesome, thank you John
Thanks for sharing guys.. that was one sketchy road.
I grew up in Tazewell County and have no idea where this is. Thanks.
Don’t feel bad, I grew up in Tazewell County and didn’t either lol
I used to live in a logging camp call Swindell. In Clay County the biggest town near it was clay in the sixties. My dad was a manager there. Never forgot it. I wish I could go back but it's not there anymore. Best childhood ever had of anywhere I've ever been. That road looks like they want to going to it
I'm so confused. The long gravel road to lead to a site just off a paved road.... Was there not a paved route to get there? Otherwise cool footage of the buildings. Always a fan of abandonia of any kind
Very interesting. I grew up not too far from there, but I was unaware of the Spring Coal Company--but it was before my time. I learned to drive on roads like that--in winter with deep snow. LOL It made me a good driver. 🙂I've not lived in that part of WV for over 50 years and not in WV at all for 45 years. It's not the sensible place it was when I was young.
Keep up the great work!!! Really enjoy the work you guys are doing!!!
Thank you! Will do!
Good stuff, Greetings from Philly.
Hope you’re well and congrats on going to the Super Bowl
@@realappalachia Oh yes, thanks, happy trails!!
My heart aches to live in old west virginia
Fascinating, thanx for sharing your video‼️🤠👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
that house reminds me of the Goodwin house at Cedar Bluff. It is across the river from the road that goesup to the old Raceway. The old Goodwin Blanket Mill is on that road.
I wish you had a drone so we could have seen the house too
I wanna go and go up to the house.
we need to start a fundraiser for that one lol
Been there. Lived in the next community, Hiawatha, WV.
Rode my bike to the store.
My mom lived in a coal mine camp back in the 30s-40s Braeholm coal company on buffalo creek.
For taking off and starting when driving in ice and snow, the best car I ever had was my little front-wheel drive 1990 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. In ice and snow it handled just like on dry roads. It was amazing. But then in 2008 I got into a head-on with it, and it was destroyed, at least from the windshield forward. But before that car I had a 1997 Ford 4X4 pickup that would just about go anywhere. I drove that for about 23 years. Anyway... That long gravel road reminds me of a few roads up in Morris and Warren Counties, except they are paved, and not as long as that. But our mountains up there are very steep. Wow, that Springton store is awesome. It's a shame the inside is gone though.😥
Going down in West Virginia is absolutely worse than going up . I love it .
Well ,that road was an adventure, my kind of road ! 😉. That old house must have been a real mansion there back in the day ...thanks..y'all stay safe out there on the road...God bless..🙏❤
Still a great foundation there. Lots of places like that up in these runs runnin up the hill from the Ohio river.
That was rall neat. So was the dirt road you drive on. Nice to know places like that still exist. I wish you had explored the house.
"Really" neat! Not rall neat. Sorry for the typo.
My aunts father died in Moundsville he was coalminer died in 1940s I love driving threw west virginia threw old holars those old stores
Thank you guys so much for what you do for all of us away from home!
So glad you enjoy it
Traveled that main road many, many times between Mullens and Princeton during my working years. Kinda watched that community and lots of others dry up. There was still a post office back down the road till a few years ago. And I always wondered about that secondary road. Now I know! And the crick-creek thing. A guy from the northern panhandle of WV basically called me a liar because I literally never heard anybody in southern WV call it crick! It's creek. He said everybody knows that all West Virginians say crick. I told him only "Yankee" West Virginians. Thanks y'all!
I'm from Parkersburg wva and we always say crick u have to be from wva to know how to talk like we do don't hate us I'm 70 plus and proud of my heritage
@@bigdog593 Friend, I'm FROM WV. Born, raised, and still live here. And NOBODY says crick around here. It's not a WV thing. It's the part of WV you're from. And I'm 64.
My Dad was from Pennsylvania, and he said crick. Perhaps you're right, Yankees say crick.
And not y'all
Such beautiful scenery
Excellent video........ be well.
thanks so much
I'm out here in remote place in California. Seems like junkie houses out here don't stay junkie very long but get bought and fixed up pretty quickly.
Why isn't this happening back in 'Virginy' ? ... I like old 'fixer uppers'....
I loved that video. What fun.
thank you, Bonnie
Thanks Guys!
Imagine hauling coal on a road like that! There is one very similar in TN that was in use until a few years ago. They were running semi's down it!!
man, that would be terrifying
@@realappalachia My Great uncle ( which he is 100 yrs old ) use to deliver dynamite by truck in the hill's of Logan county WV side note : same truck also had the cap's in them to detonate the explosive's
Nice explore.
Great video. I guess the property was not posted?
Didn’t see anything
So cool. Would love to see photos of the building in its glory.
I looked everywhere and couldn't find one because I wanted to see it too
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Liked the video. Would have been a nice building in its day. Cool t shirt.
Almost heaven....West Virginia!
Two,too kool ! Great job y’all !!
Thank you sir
I love the look of the land. But that is way too deserted for me to want to drive that Ling distance into it.
I believe the state or township needs to install some curve or turn signs with advisory speed plates.
The brickwork is five rows of running bond interrupted by one row of Flemish bond. The back of the store still has its brickwork but has lost its roof. 100 year old brick walls can cave on you when they are not pointed up.
Wow where I use to hunt had a narrower road than that. She would definitely flip out going up it. I remember one year it was snowing and the truck just spon around
Thanks for showing that. That is the place wer me and my friends. And siblings. Went. To school. In springton. I grew up there. No that place like the back of my hand. We will have kin there lives right down the road from that called. Hiawatha 😆👍👈
Have you ever been to the rop of Bluff Mountain in Pigeon Forge Tennessee?
Not yet but would love to
Melody is so incredibly adorable lol.
I’m trying to figure out how you can be so scared of driving in the mountains where you have lived your entire life 😊
It’s my heaven ❤
Thank you all for takein me.back to my home town😂😂😂
It’s funny watching people who ain’t from here riding on these roads
What a shame, That would of been a great building to save.
Cool video. Man, I thought you both were in 4x4 vehicle like a pickup or something. You got guts driving in that territory without one.
We’re working up to that! Haha hopefully we can upgrade to a better exploration vehicle before long - Melody
This is a normal country road. Come out to the North West and drive some of our mountain logging roads.