62°f/16.7°C, clear and humid. High of 82°f today.
View of the Elk River, as we crossed the bridge into the old part of town.
We took a drive yesterday to Clendenin, a small town in Kanawha County, WV, about an hour and a half from our home. The library in Clendenin was the first branch I managed, and I left a piece of my heart in that little town.
Main street. There are basically only 2 streets with shops and the post office on this side of the river, and one on the other side. Small town indeed.
Clendenin has had its share of fame, and tragedy. It was the place where the Union Carbide Corporation got its start: the Elk River, oil and gas wells and the proximity of coal mines combined to make it an ideal location in its day for the beginnings of West Virginia's chemical industry. The town boomed; there was a three-floor department store, banks, and fine homes. Saturdays saw the town jammed with shoppers.
The Elk River was and is both a blessing and a curse to Clendenin. The river has no system of locks and dams, so flows unimpressed by either for its entire length, which means that heavy rains can cause significant flooding. I don't know how often Clendenin has flooded, but I helped clean up the library after one flood in 1997, which came 4 feet up the library walls. Then in 2016 a flood of historic proportions hit the town. Many buildings were swept away, and the library was destroyed.
In the window of the pharmacy. Not sure why!
Somehow the town is making a comeback despite the devastation. The site of the library is now a playground.
The bank closed but a small brewery opened in that building. Bond's Pharmacy, a fixture in the town for almost 100 years I think, is still open. A bakery has opened, and the abandoned railroad track bed has become a bike trail.
The exterior of the bank/brewery,
and inside, some unique decor.
Things are not the same after the flood, of course. The grocery store closed; the Dairy Queen was swept away and the town no longer has a police force but depends on the county deputies for law enforcement. The library was not rebuilt, but has moved into a renovated school building that also houses office and other agencies now.
I was surprised at how many memories came swarming back as we drove around the area. I was librarian there in 1992-93, and then oversaw that branch for another 10 years, along with the others in the system, until I moved up to facilities manager. So over 30 years ago, and yet as we chatted with people in the brewery, they mentioned names that brought faces vividly back to mind. Such good people, who worked hard with me to not only save that library from closing, but raised enough money to build an addition.
We enjoyed our visit. Larry has memories of the area too, as he worked for several years as a Mason in the county school system's maintenance department. We drove the long way home, passing another library I managed, this one for 7 years.
The library was moved to a new location because we could not renovate the building to made American with Disabilities Act requirements. Now a business is in the building, but the exterior is exactly the same as when I worked there.
We will have to go back to see how the Clendenin is progressing, take a walk on the trail and to check out the bakery and brewery again.
Now, if only the Elk will stay in its banks!
Did the rebuilding move to higher ground to avoid future flooding?
ReplyDeleteSadly, no. One would think so, but the town is in a narrow valley so rebuilding on higher ground would be difficult and very costly. Still, it amazes me that people continue to clean up and go back into the same buildings. Makes no sense, honestly.
Delete...flooding sure can change things!
ReplyDeleteYes. It is a too common occurrence in WV, where so many towns were founded in steep river valleys.
DeleteYou have to wonder whether the next flood is going to wash it all away again.
ReplyDeleteIt will, David. Makes no sense to me. I suppose a flood wall is too costly, but surely all these years of flooding would have paid for one.
DeleteThe town seems to have found a way.
ReplyDeleteYes, but as said in other comments, the next flood and it's all for naught, AC.
DeleteI didn't know about your library life at all! What a great career! Yes, floods are so very destructive. It's so nice to reminisce about the people and places.
ReplyDeleteIt was 20 years of my life, Barb, and most of it i enjoyed, except maybe the last 5 years. I went to college in my late 30s, Masters by 45, done while working at the library. My gardens really suffered for all those years I was working or storytelling, so it is a great joy to me to be able to restore them at least somewhat. I had to go to work, but how I wish I never had.
DeleteThat poor town! Amazing how it keeps hanging on despite all of its troubles.
ReplyDeleteI worked in libraries for years also but I was shelving, checking in, and hunting for holds. I loved working in the library! I still use the library a lot!
My favorite part of my job was programming, Ellen, and I was pretty good at it. Having connections to artists, storytellers, and musicians helped, as well as listening carefully to patrons' interests. But my last 2 positions removed me from the programming and customer interaction I enjoyed so much, and by the time I left I was glad to close that door behind me. I have only been back to any of those libraries 3 times, and can't say I miss them. But I do miss the many good people I met, and especially my teen volunteers---all of whom are now in their 30s, I guess!
DeleteI love small towns and love your overviews of the ones in your area. That was one nice deer! The gun/light combo? Interesting, but not for me.
ReplyDeleteNot for me either, Jim. The owners of the brewery moved to Clendenin from Cincinnati, looking for a small town where they could also live out on some acreage. Clendenin fit, but I wonder if they knew about the flooding.
DeleteThis seems similar to my own small town. Problems with businesses and flooding that just repeats itself. Still nice to see this town has some life left in it.
ReplyDeleteMemories. Visiting old sites can be both melancholy and happy.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that you worked ( and ran) libraries for all those years. Lots of memories in those small towns.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about Clendenin except that it floods, I found your post interesting. We have a local brewery here in an old bank building, also. However, their vault does open. That's where they sell T-shirts.
ReplyDeleteThere is a river running through the centre of the village closest to us, where I used to bank before they closed the branch. So what you wrote is so, so familiar. Although it was actually a fire that destroyed a lot of the place, back in the day. The courage and tenacity of the people around here amaze me. And you are describing very similar and equally wonderful ordinary people. Love it. Love the tour of the town as it was and as it is.
ReplyDeleteOur town has quite an eye popping history of flooding. The Kinzua dam was built on land partially seized from the Seneca Indians. Buffy st. Marie and Johnny Cash both wrote songs protesting this. Many old Towns lie beneath those still waters and several back we had a serious drought and the streets and signs and old foundations were visible once again. Many residents returned to look once again at their memories.
ReplyDelete