Travevling West Virginia: Through the Hills to Mannington

I have this thing: I like to take different ways to get to places that have a "usual" route. Usually the different way takes longer. Sometimes a lot longer. But often the time is worth it.

So yesterday we took the long way to Mannington, which is in the north-central part of West Virginia, not far from Morgantown and Fairmont. Not far mile-wise, but quite a distance in many other ways. Normally we'd take Route 50 east across to Route 19 and then head north. But while I've traveled almost the entire length of Route 20, there's one stretch we've never driven. So that's the way I wanted to go. To get there meant driving north on Route 2 along the Ohio River for a ways--one of my favorite drives anyway. There were a lot of barges on the river but this time I didn't try for photos. I wanted to get on to the "new" road.

As it turned out there is still some of Route 20 we've missed! The route we took had a little shortcut at the beginning, and then turned off of 20 for yet another shorter route towards the end. One day I'll catch those two pieces.

We were surprised to see another Joe's Run! That's the name of our road. I like the old schoolhouse beyond it too--it's in the midst of renovations, looks like.

 This church is prepared for evil! Blue paint on windows and doors, even the roof!

Colorful homes along the way.

Loved the name of this road.

 

It was a beautiful day for a drive, hardly a cloud in the sky. The road was, well, rough. And busy. We were in the heart of gasline country, and there were signs of the activity everywhere. I should have taken some photos--it really is disturbing how much the landscape is being altered, and not for the better. Large clear swaths travel up and down the hills, pipes and mud and trucks are everywhere, and there are big stations, for lack of a better word, with all kinds of pipes and machinery. Electric lines and big towers crisscross and well, it just ain't pretty. There are pipelines being built across my county too, and I am concerned that this area too will soon be scarred by this booming industry.

There were still pockets of rural beauty, and we thought about how far people in this back country have to travel for groceries, health care and other necessities. Even though the road was two-lane, it took us two hours to drive from the river to Mannington and there were no towns in between. There were some small communities, a few Dollar Generals, gas stations, drug stores, and convenience stores but no grocery of any size that we saw.

This was once coal mining country and there were still some homes that looked like they'd once been coal camp houses but as far as I could tell there were no mines operating. The gaslines seemed to be the major source of work. But there was much to see, much that harkened back to simpler days.

Mannington itself has seen its share of ups and downs. The Depression really hurt this town, and it has been years recovering. A major fire in the downtown area in 2010 or 11 destroyed some historic buildings. I have been to Mannington before and this trip I noticed that the town has grown and improved a lot since my last visit. We stopped to eat in this restaurant/bakery that was in an old bank building. The food was superb, the service the same.

I think they must have some very small employees.

The town is full of historic homes. We didn't have time to take photos of them and need to make another trip soon. This one intrigued me though.

More buildings in the town, and just out of town. The old railroad depot, and the amazing round barn. They give tours of the barn but unfortunately they were closed when we got there.

I've spent hours researching a few stories about this town and a few of its past citizens--some honorable like the Looman family's ghost, some notorious like the evil Ernie Yost, some mysterious like Serilda Jane Whetzel who is believed to have been a witch. I had enough of each of those stories to be able to tell a short story about some of them and continued my research today because I am fascinated and don't want to let go of them yet.

The storytelling was fun--we were outside and it was windy and a bit chilly and the chimes in the schoolhouse were v-e-r-y long. I was glad of my long warm coat! Children came in costume, parents came bundled up, everyone enjoyed hot chocolate and popcorn. Every event has its challenges, but we all had a good time and I was glad to be there to share stories and just be there with these good people. And of course, I met people who told me even more stories.

Today I'm back into research. Larry's a good man--he does the basic cleaning when I'm in this busy season, and does some of the cooking too. I keep up the laundry, pay the bills, and do some cooking when I pull my head out of books and computer. Tomorrow I'll be on the road again to Petersburg, WV and more stories at the library there. So back into studying I go!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.