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Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Richwood: Driving Through

61°f/16°C, cloudy start after a night of thunderstorms. Later clearing and nice.

I snapped a few photos as we drove through the small town of Richwood, WV. 

The row of homes were likely built for workers in the town's wood industry. Richwood once manufactured all the wood clothespins used in the US, but the advent of dryers did away with that.


Home and businesses line a narrow main street, with hillside or cliff on either side.


The fancy brick and glass work testify to the town's former boom days, and the mobile home barbershop and barber pole with its deteriorating red stripe is a sign of later hard times.


The most unusual screened porch I have ever seen.


This beautiful church has always fascinated me. One day maybe I will get to see the inside.



In recent years several new businesses are giving it a try in Richwood. Often called the gateway to the national forest that borders the town, Richwood attracts outdoor enthusiasts, hunters, and these days a growing number of arts-related businesses have opened their doors.



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

7 comments:

  1. Richwood looks like many other towns in WV that were booming at one point, but now are struggling.

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  2. ...they built right out on the curb!

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  3. I'd be curious about the green and black church also. Sorry to see a town that depended upon one product slowly fade away, and I hope that the forest lovers will give them some business.

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  4. An old town with lots of history. Interesting about the wooden clothespins, we always had a bunch hanging our clothes out when I was a kid. Now, all you see are plastic ones. We use a rack to dry our clothes here.

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  5. An old town with lots of history. Interesting about the wooden clothespins, we always had a bunch hanging our clothes out when I was a kid. Now, all you see are plastic ones. We use a rack to dry our clothes here.

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  6. There are a lot of old towns wasting away here too. Sad to see. That looks like a beautiful one.

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