That abandoned trailer y’all went into is actually my Aunts old place. She passed away.. rip Aunt Melinda! My dad’s side of the family is from up that holler. I actually have a lot of memories as a kid playing all thru there. That’s awesome yall boys came and showed the real shit. It’s a lot of poverty, a lot of drug usage, but also a lot of love, morals, and good people.
That's awesome I mean who would have thought that someone would be watching this video and they happen to go explore a part of said persons family memories REST IN PEACE AUNT Melinda❤
@@EthelReneeCipollone I used to play all thru that yard and on that slide. She was an awesome person with such a beautiful soul. Our family comes from extreme poverty but we was always rich in love. I’m glad people got a chance to see all sides of WV.
Thank you all for being so kind to WV! Please google the Charleston, WV newspaper and your names. There was an article written about y'all and how much we appreciated your visit! 💙💛
You guys are showing the real US that most YTubers don't. Thank you. It's not just New York, California and Texas. A different season also may have given you a completely different perspective. Keep the videos coming!
My daddy was from Cumberland Maryland and was called hillbilly and it was just a term people used back in the day it wasn’t offensive at all. They just knew how to live off the land and use what was found in nature to survive. My childhood was great hanging in the mountains with the family while da was hunting and all. Great times 💯♥️
@@gracepensyl324The original hillbilly thing was a mean spirited thing. We don't take it that way and nor did my parents, but their grandparents and parents sure did. It originally meant that we were backwards and ignorant...almost saying we were a different breed of human. I was told that my whole life because my great grandparents were still living and also...boy do I know about the depression! Ha! They told me those stories while we worked in the garden. They wanted me to know who I was. I don't know everything but I know what my family told me and they were good God fearing Christians. They believed lying would send them to burn in Brimstone for eternity. So. Yeah. 🤣
I grew up in a holler in West Virginia. It was a little different than this holler. The road wasn't wide enough to have a line down the middle, the road a little curvier, and a creek flowed the distance of it. The hills hugged the houses on both sides of the road. But like he said, everyone knew everyone.
Many years ago I lived not far from where this was filmed. The Appalachian Mountains are an area like no other: stunningly beautiful with the kindest and most friendly, humble people you'll ever meet.
I'm from the UK and I've watched a few videos on Appalachia, and I don't know why they are so surprised because there's so many similarities between places in Appalachia in the US and England's industrial and post industrial northern towns. In northern towns in England like the one I live in, we have lots of terraced houses (row houses) that are all identical and were built for industrial workers. We have deindustrialised northern towns here in England where, because the coal mine closed overnight, the unemployment rate went from 0% of men being unemployed to 100% of men being unemployed. We even have some families living in post industrial towns that have seen two or three generations of the same family where the men have had no job because nothing was built to replace that coal mine that they closed. My own hometown only exists because they found iron ore nearby, which is a key ingredient in making steel, and so they built a steelworks. The steelworks then had to build houses for it's workers so the hired construction contractors to build them so these builders just built identical, long streets of row houses. Some of them are still standing and are inhabited to this day even though they were built in the 1890s but there's many that are sat empty despite there being a national housing shortage and them building new houses in more affluent southern England areas. I myself am employed in the steel making industry. I'm a third generation steelworker as my father and both my grandfathers were employed by the local steelworks. My hometown is one of the last surviving industrial towns to still have its traditional industry. Without that industry, my hometown would be just like so many of English and Appalachia US former coal towns.
Yeah, when he was talking about the houses all looking the same it was because at one time they were all owned by the mine or plant and they allowed their workers to live in them.
Amen. As I read your comment I was picturing all of the places I've seen living in WV. My dad was a heavy equipment mechanic at the mines, and his father was a miner. I think if we swapped places, it would be so familiar that we would feel right at home.
And this is why I believe we, as in Americans and our British counterparts, are more alike than we realize. I live in an isolated region in Northern California, *NOT* Hollywood or San Francisco, think in the middle of nowhere with forests, valleys, and mountains. My region originally had milling for timber, which was closed about 30 or so years ago, same with many other regions in the area with only a few left. My region is getting by cause it’s one of the last “cities” on the highway in NorCal before you reach Oregon, but it’s only getting by and has struggled to have an economy. Frankly our region has been held back. But we’re fortunate compared to other areas outside the highway, we have a cross point of a freeway and unfortunately the derelict towns are seen here. It sucks cause while we might be in California, we just don’t feel like Californians. Even when California was in the prime, our region didn’t really experience that prosperity. Really hope that this video opens up that a lot of become in these first world countries, don’t live in the lap of luxury like so many assume. My respect to Josh and Jase went way up for this video, hopefully they cover the areas in the UK too cause admittedly as an American I’ve been more partial to the countryside, and it would be nice if they could cover the regions that were once coal mine towns.
Your post makes me think of the movie Brassed Off. Watching that film back in the 90's was the first time I realized that the UK and the US had the same cycle of issues with coal mines. Really sad.
They're not all poor! I know bc I live in SwVa. Come visit and I'll show you. There are plenty of us who could live and work anywhere we wanted but this is where we choose to live! We travel when we want but home is in these mountains and you're right very proud people!
The one that looks like a time capsule. Yall said looking like someone just left, she did. She sadly passed away. Thank yall for doing this showing off our small holler. West Virginia pride!
Love that you visited WV. It is one of the most interesting places with so much History yet you don't hear to much about it. I lived there for 5 yrs. and loved it. It's a beautiful State with so much Wildlife, foliage, Trees, and stunning Landscapes. Can't wait to retire and spend my last days in WV.
Thank you for embracing WV and showing what makes it special. You all are welcome in Morgantown anytime. Visit during the summer it’s a different state.
Welcome to small town USA. Most people are very friendly when you get out of the big cities, especially in the southern states. Neighbors look out for neighbors.
You all need to come back to the US in April and come to Pikeville, KY! We host an annual Hillbilly Days Festival every single year! It's a huge 3 day festival that brings in thousands of people every year and the proceeds benefit Shriners Children's Hospital! TONS of food, a carnival, and of course tons of Appalachian music and culture! It's an Eastern Kentucky tradition! I'd love to be your guide! We're home to the Hatfield and Mccoy feuds as well!
My ex husbands family are from Pikeville . Some Maynard’s and Collins. The Hensons are from the other side of the mountain. Pikeville is a nice place and it’s grown over the years.
I'm from WV and my fiancee is a McCoy. I've been wanting to check out that festival so I may have to drive down there when it starts. Sounds really fun
Thanks for showing people the true people of the US that really are friendly, hardworking working that will give you the shirt off their backs. Love y’all’s longer content
You 2 are the most down to earth young people I’ve ever seen! Y’all really show a side of the U.S. that no one EVER shows And you have the kindest hearts! Thanks for being so genuine! 🥰😊
I love West Virginia. I'ma from Michigan but my sister married a boy from WV. He invited me down to deer hunt with him and his family in a very rural area about 30 minutes from the nearest store or civilization. I was tracking a deer and managed to bag him about 1/4 mile away from the house. I drug it down the hill and was not looking forward to the 1/4 mile I had to drag that deer. I didn't make it 50 yards down the road when some random guy in an F 150 pulled over and offered to haul the deer and me back home. I was armed and this guy didn't know me from Adam, but nonetheless, he still pulled over and offered to help. You guys are right about the people down there. They are the most down to earth, nicest people you'd ever want to meet. Life is so much less complicated and slower down there, and I think that that plays a part in how nice they are. They're not always stressed out like us city slickers lol.
Sincerely appreciate this video, this is a hard one cause this isn’t the stereotypical American dream everyone associates our country with, but you guys were incredible with just learning what was shared with you. Both of you were very understandable about why some of these towns were in such a condition, yet highlighting and praised how well spirited the locals were which I’m sure means a lot to the residents. The reality is that nearly every state has regions like this, I live in my own region in California where a stone’s throw away you’ll run into abandoned buildings and dying towns. Many are hoping to revamp the rural parts of the country to hopefully restore prosperity. In my research studying film (I majored in degree in the entertainment industry) around the late 70’s, certain studios in Hollywood was trying to turn away content from the rural setting and focus more on the suburbs and the urban American settings. It somewhat correlates how overtime the towns in the rural areas died as the sources of the economy market died. In my region it was the lumber industry, in West Virginia it was the coal industry. It’s nice that you wanted to explore the areas that have frankly been abandoned, there’s still some people in these parts, but genuinely appreciate the respect you guys had for this episode. It means a lot.
As a born and bred Mountaineer (West Virginian) I love my state and am very proud of our heritage. I'm the youngest of 7 kids. Dad was born in the Weyanoke Coal and Coke Camp in Mercer County, WV and mom was from Carroll County, Virginia (southwestern Virginia). Dad was a Combat Veteran with the US Army Air Force in the South Pacific Campaign of WWII. After returning home from the war, he had the opportunity to either become a Virginia State Trooper or a Class A Transmission/Distribution Lineman for Appalachian Power Company in Bluefield, WV. He wisely chose the latter. We were raised in a Blue Collar Christian and all worked our own ways through collage and went on to various fruitful careers. I have worked and lived in the DC Metro area and Northern Virginia, but I've always returned back to the beautiful mountains of my home. Have lived by the old adage that " You can take the boy from the mountains but you can never take the mountains from the boy!!". Our history and heritage is more diverse that outsider realize. We can be extremely protective, but if befriended... you've got a friend for life and we'll give you the shirt off our backs. Hope y'all enjoyed your visit to the Mountain State!! Montani Semper Liberi
The term “redneck” actually started here in WV. During the mine wars in early 1900’s, there were actual battles between miners and coal company hired guns. The miners used red bandannas as solidarity and battlefield identifiers.
I am a lifelong resident of West Virginia (Northern Panhandle) and though our state, like many states, has issues, it's a beautiful state with wonderful, kind, hard working people and it's home.
My father was born in Kingston, WV in 1937. As people moved away, the coal company tore the houses down. They finally tore down the High School and Post office in the late 1990s. The town of Kingson no longer exists!
Not too far from there is a place called Bluefield. It's WV and VA side. If you want to go desolate try visiting Bland county VA right down the road. I can remember hours long drives down dirt roads when I was young.
My grandfather was a coal miner in Alabama, as were some of my uncles. My dad went to the gulf to work on the docks to avoid working in the mines. My grandfather later opened a little store in his hometown. I remember asking my daddy for a nickel and a penny to buy a coke from the machine. When my grandfather would come to visit, he would bring me and my brother each a small bag of penny candy. That tells you how old I am.
as someone who knows that area very well, i applaud your sensitivity to a place that has been maligned by outside ignorance and disdain. Some of the nicest people in the world live up them hollers, and on the sides of those mountains. There are fine people in Boomer, Cannelville, Gauley Bridge, Ansted, and all over West-By-God. Many are decent, family-oriented people, living in relative poverty and treated poorly, but strong in faith and longsuffering.
I’m very familiar with this area. The first “holler” they went up was Boomer Branch Rd., the second was Armstrong Creek Rd., otherwise known as Powellton “Holler.”
My husband is a coal miner in PA. Lots of health issues and risk associated with the job, but they pay good and have decent insurance. That's what sucks so many in, and once you get in, it's hard to get out. We live in a holler too, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
We checked out an abandoned house in the woods a few days ago. It was behind an abandoned gas station that we checked out last month. Love finding abandoned places to explore
The history of the Appalachian people is both a long and sad one. I first read about their plight many decades ago when I read the book "Christy" (later it became a TV series) which was the story of a 19 year old schoolteacher who left her very affluent family in NC to go work as a schoolteacher in one of the poorest areas of Appalachia. Incredibly heartbreaking, yet uplifting at the same time. It made me realize that I could never truly whine or gripe about a single thing in my life ever again. Safe travels to you both. 😉🙏
🥺🥺🥺 The mountains. You guys came to WV literally days after I left to move 1000 miles away. I moved where there are no mountains and I already miss them so much. West Virginia is such a beautiful state. I’m going to miss WV fall SO much. I was very ready to leave, but this video definitely made me miss home literally within the first minute🥺❤️❤️
I'm from Georgia 🇺🇲 and, this is absolutely one of the best channels on UA-cam. Thanks for the time and effort that goes in to making these entertaining videos.
I'm glad they are experiencing the true America many foreigners often just say they have been to new York City or LA and think they know the United States but you have to get in the hidden areas and small towns just off the road a lot of people take.
We could see how upsetting it was for you to experience the various levels of poverty within rural US. Every country has its struggles & triumphs so please never forget about the little people. Bless you both
Thank you for showing this area to us gentlemen; decades ago I saw the Shenandoah Valley and it was so beautiful but I would never have the opportunity to see any of this. I enjoy all of your videos and I appreciate your efforts.
I have always felt a connection with Appalachia….even though I’ve never been there. Like I could go there and feel right at home. These hardworking people are my kind of people ❤
Excellent, guys! I’m from just over the ridges in Southwest Virginia. You were fair and kind. And I’ve heard you say the word right (Apple At Chuh). You know it is a Native American word so we know how to say it. Good listeners hear better stories.
Thank you for doing that about West Virginia, I live in Florida, West Virginia is always home, no matter where I am. You will find that the rural people of America are some of the best. We don't get talked about much, but were the backbone of our nation, Appalachian people are some of the toughest best hearted people in the world, my people.🔥🤟💪🇺🇸🐊🙏
What a great video. I live in western north carolina & I enjoyed your touring video of W.Va. George was great to drive you guys around. Thanks for sharing.
My grandparents lived in a holler in West Virginia. My grandfather worked in the coal mines as well as some of his son's. My mother was from West Virginia and the highlight of my childhood was going to West Virginia to visit my grandparents and all of my aunt's and uncles and cousins. It's a beautiful state. I have lived in Ohio since I was born but I love West Virginia.
I was born and raised on the East Coast of the USA. Moved to the border of West Virginia and Pennsylvania near a coal mining town. And even I had a bit of a culture shock.
That bridge yall went on to get over the island in the middle of the river is one of my favorite places ever! My family drives on it everytime we go to visit my great grandparents in Petersburg WV. My great grandpa gave his life to the airport in Petersburg, almost literally. Their cabin up on a mountain there definitely had some spirits and beasties around it
I love that you’re exploring non-tourists areas and are getting to know the locals in these smalls towns. I’m from a farm town in central Georgia with less than 1,000 people there, so I always feel connected to small communities like The Hollers. Hopefully, you guys will come back to GA in the spring, summer, or fall. It’s beautiful here (especially in the fall, imo), and there’s lots of seasonal festivals, even in the small towns.
One thing about a holler everybody know that you do something wrong and well call your folks before ya even get home it’s like having your kin watching ya all the time but it’s nice to know they care about ya even know they can get you grounded for a month straight.
Josh and Jase - I'm so glad to see you back on YT. You were in a very cold parking lot with snow and much colder weather coming. I was getting worried you froze or slid off a mountain.
I'm telling you guys next time you come you saw the mountains of West Virginia you need to come to the mountains of Maryland just pop over that state line
Glad you got to see this. There are similar areas in every state. This is why a lot of Americans want to start focusing on America and not the rest of the world. We do not have bad feelings towards anyone else but we do have big problems at home.
Was born in Charleston, WV 45 years ago. And I have never seen more true Mountaineers in my life. Y’all are one of us and have a place to stay (Huntington) any time! Just give me a holler!
While I never lived there, I spent a lot of time there as a child and it’s strange but it feels like home to me. My daddy grew up there and all of his siblings. I still have cousins there. I just love the area please please please go back when the weather is beautifuland the trees are blooming.
as a local a few places I'd recommend to go see is the mothman museum and the expedition coal mine. unique experiences! And grab some tudor's breakfast too, of course.
I live in Martins Ferry, OH across the river from WV. There are a lot of abandoned/condemned houses around here. It's expensive to tear them down, the towns/counties get federal money for demolition, but it barely puts a dent in the situation.
Genuinely, thank you guys for stopping by. I loved watching this series on all the socials. I live a few miles from where ya'll shot. Good luck and good health boys.
Josh and Jase, You guys came to Georgia and the Appalachians at the wrong time of the year. You should have come in spring or summer when the trees, bushes, and wildflowers are blooming. I wish I had known you were earlier in the Helen and Blairsville area. I would have shown you around. I love your channel! Keep up the good work. Cheers, John Michael
thank you for this video. You came into an area and you could have prejudged and been very skeptical but you did the opposite. You came in with an open mind and highlighted some of the best parts of this area and its people. As one of those people who grew up in places like this, I appreciate it
This was thoughtful and real. If you ever want to read a novel about coal mining, James Still's River of Earth is excellent. I'm glad you got to see America and while beautiful some of these areas are our nations poorest and education is not where it should be. Nonetheless, you met some, they're the kindest, resourceful, give their shirt off their back to help others. Thanks
That abandoned trailer y’all went into is actually my Aunts old place. She passed away.. rip Aunt Melinda! My dad’s side of the family is from up that holler. I actually have a lot of memories as a kid playing all thru there. That’s awesome yall boys came and showed the real shit. It’s a lot of poverty, a lot of drug usage, but also a lot of love, morals, and good people.
Thank you for sharing your memories! RIP Aunt Melinda ❤
That's awesome I mean who would have thought that someone would be watching this video and they happen to go explore a part of said persons family memories
REST IN PEACE AUNT Melinda❤
@@EthelReneeCipollone I used to play all thru that yard and on that slide. She was an awesome person with such a beautiful soul. Our family comes from extreme poverty but we was always rich in love. I’m glad people got a chance to see all sides of WV.
Thank you all for being so kind to WV! Please google the Charleston, WV newspaper and your names. There was an article written about y'all and how much we appreciated your visit! 💙💛
As a born and raised West Virginian, thank you for showing my beautiful state and the wonderful people in it ❤️💙💛
You guys are showing the real US that most YTubers don't. Thank you. It's not just New York, California and Texas. A different season also may have given you a completely different perspective. Keep the videos coming!
Our pleasure! ☺️
My daddy was from Cumberland Maryland and was called hillbilly and it was just a term people used back in the day it wasn’t offensive at all. They just knew how to live off the land and use what was found in nature to survive. My childhood was great hanging in the mountains with the family while da was hunting and all. Great times 💯♥️
@@gracepensyl324 Maryland has hillbilly's? Never heard of that.
@@gracepensyl324The original hillbilly thing was a mean spirited thing. We don't take it that way and nor did my parents, but their grandparents and parents sure did. It originally meant that we were backwards and ignorant...almost saying we were a different breed of human. I was told that my whole life because my great grandparents were still living and also...boy do I know about the depression! Ha! They told me those stories while we worked in the garden. They wanted me to know who I was. I don't know everything but I know what my family told me and they were good God fearing Christians. They believed lying would send them to burn in Brimstone for eternity. So. Yeah. 🤣
@@joshandjaseyou guys did a great job showing respect for the community. Great video!
Visit West Virginia during each season. The beauty with leave you speechless.
Welcome to "Almost Heaven"
So glad you’re saying holler’s. Fancy people call them hollows
Two very different things for sure.
And that’s a sure way to make sure you stick out like a sore thumb
I grew up in a holler in West Virginia. It was a little different than this holler. The road wasn't wide enough to have a line down the middle, the road a little curvier, and a creek flowed the distance of it. The hills hugged the houses on both sides of the road. But like he said, everyone knew everyone.
Many years ago I lived not far from where this was filmed. The Appalachian Mountains are an area like no other: stunningly beautiful with the kindest and most friendly, humble people you'll ever meet.
I'm from the UK and I've watched a few videos on Appalachia, and I don't know why they are so surprised because there's so many similarities between places in Appalachia in the US and England's industrial and post industrial northern towns.
In northern towns in England like the one I live in, we have lots of terraced houses (row houses) that are all identical and were built for industrial workers.
We have deindustrialised northern towns here in England where, because the coal mine closed overnight, the unemployment rate went from 0% of men being unemployed to 100% of men being unemployed. We even have some families living in post industrial towns that have seen two or three generations of the same family where the men have had no job because nothing was built to replace that coal mine that they closed.
My own hometown only exists because they found iron ore nearby, which is a key ingredient in making steel, and so they built a steelworks. The steelworks then had to build houses for it's workers so the hired construction contractors to build them so these builders just built identical, long streets of row houses. Some of them are still standing and are inhabited to this day even though they were built in the 1890s but there's many that are sat empty despite there being a national housing shortage and them building new houses in more affluent southern England areas.
I myself am employed in the steel making industry. I'm a third generation steelworker as my father and both my grandfathers were employed by the local steelworks. My hometown is one of the last surviving industrial towns to still have its traditional industry. Without that industry, my hometown would be just like so many of English and Appalachia US former coal towns.
Appalachia isn't about houses and buildings. It's an entire culture of its own separate from the rest of our cultures
Yeah, when he was talking about the houses all looking the same it was because at one time they were all owned by the mine or plant and they allowed their workers to live in them.
Amen. As I read your comment I was picturing all of the places I've seen living in WV. My dad was a heavy equipment mechanic at the mines, and his father was a miner. I think if we swapped places, it would be so familiar that we would feel right at home.
And this is why I believe we, as in Americans and our British counterparts, are more alike than we realize. I live in an isolated region in Northern California, *NOT* Hollywood or San Francisco, think in the middle of nowhere with forests, valleys, and mountains. My region originally had milling for timber, which was closed about 30 or so years ago, same with many other regions in the area with only a few left. My region is getting by cause it’s one of the last “cities” on the highway in NorCal before you reach Oregon, but it’s only getting by and has struggled to have an economy. Frankly our region has been held back. But we’re fortunate compared to other areas outside the highway, we have a cross point of a freeway and unfortunately the derelict towns are seen here.
It sucks cause while we might be in California, we just don’t feel like Californians. Even when California was in the prime, our region didn’t really experience that prosperity.
Really hope that this video opens up that a lot of become in these first world countries, don’t live in the lap of luxury like so many assume. My respect to Josh and Jase went way up for this video, hopefully they cover the areas in the UK too cause admittedly as an American I’ve been more partial to the countryside, and it would be nice if they could cover the regions that were once coal mine towns.
Your post makes me think of the movie Brassed Off. Watching that film back in the 90's was the first time I realized that the UK and the US had the same cycle of issues with coal mines. Really sad.
THE POOR FORGOTTEN PART OF THE US AND THEY ARE VERY PROUD STRONG
Not forgotten..........AVOIDED!! 🤣
They're not all poor! I know bc I live in SwVa. Come visit and I'll show you. There are plenty of us who could live and work anywhere we wanted but this is where we choose to live! We travel when we want but home is in these mountains and you're right very proud people!
@@MAGGOT_VOMITyep, your profile name says it all!!
They are not forgotten, these are trumps people
They are not forgotten, these are trumps people
This is REAL America. California, New York, and other big cities may get all the hype but small town America is where it’s at.
As a small town Californian I second this 👍🏻
Same here in a more overlooked region in California, we have so many rural areas not appreciated. It meant a lot to see this video.
Everywhere is where it’s at. Amazing country. If we don’t eff it up.
@@darcymoon2109to late for that, these are trumps people and their actions have consequences. It's only going to get worse
The one that looks like a time capsule. Yall said looking like someone just left, she did. She sadly passed away. Thank yall for doing this showing off our small holler. West Virginia pride!
Love that you visited WV. It is one of the most interesting places with so much History yet you don't hear to much about it. I lived there for 5 yrs. and loved it. It's a beautiful State with so much Wildlife, foliage, Trees, and stunning Landscapes. Can't wait to retire and spend my last days in WV.
These family's of Scots and Irish immigrants provided the energy that build America and powered prosperity for everyone but themselves.
Specifically, Protestant Scots-Irish (all throughout the South).
Thank you for embracing WV and showing what makes it special. You all are welcome in Morgantown anytime. Visit during the summer it’s a different state.
Try the Appalachians in the spring when things are blooming. Spectacular!
Welcome to small town USA. Most people are very friendly when you get out of the big cities, especially in the southern states. Neighbors look out for neighbors.
You all need to come back to the US in April and come to Pikeville, KY! We host an annual Hillbilly Days Festival every single year! It's a huge 3 day festival that brings in thousands of people every year and the proceeds benefit Shriners Children's Hospital! TONS of food, a carnival, and of course tons of Appalachian music and culture! It's an Eastern Kentucky tradition! I'd love to be your guide! We're home to the Hatfield and Mccoy feuds as well!
@joshandjase you should take them up on this sometime. Would make for great content.
As a Kentuckian I approve this message.
My ex husbands family are from Pikeville . Some Maynard’s and Collins. The Hensons are from the other side of the mountain. Pikeville is a nice place and it’s grown over the years.
I'm from WV and my fiancee is a McCoy. I've been wanting to check out that festival so I may have to drive down there when it starts. Sounds really fun
@ It is April 24th - April 26th this year!
Thank you. This is part of America that even most Americans don't know about. 😢
Thanks for showing people the true people of the US that really are friendly, hardworking working that will give you the shirt off their backs. Love y’all’s longer content
You 2 are the most down to earth young people I’ve ever seen! Y’all really show a side of the U.S. that no one EVER shows And you have the kindest hearts! Thanks for being so genuine! 🥰😊
West Virginia is the best Virginia. I love my state.
Hey! SwVa ain't so bad, either. 🤣
But Virginia is more west than West Virginia 😂.
@@seacradev5400 Hahaha! I didn't name em. I just live here. 🤣
@lizabet7702 I'm from Eastern Kentucky, always been the joke here lol.
As a southwestern Virginian, we don't claim the rest of Virginia
I love West Virginia. I'ma from Michigan but my sister married a boy from WV. He invited me down to deer hunt with him and his family in a very rural area about 30 minutes from the nearest store or civilization. I was tracking a deer and managed to bag him about 1/4 mile away from the house. I drug it down the hill and was not looking forward to the 1/4 mile I had to drag that deer. I didn't make it 50 yards down the road when some random guy in an F 150 pulled over and offered to haul the deer and me back home. I was armed and this guy didn't know me from Adam, but nonetheless, he still pulled over and offered to help. You guys are right about the people down there. They are the most down to earth, nicest people you'd ever want to meet. Life is so much less complicated and slower down there, and I think that that plays a part in how nice they are. They're not always stressed out like us city slickers lol.
I suggest watching Peter Santenello’s videos…specifically the ones on the Appalachians. They really show the heart and history of the area.
YES!!! He has incredible content & often does a series of videos in certain regions.
My beautiful state!! Thank you for visiting and respecting our way of life!
This reminds me of where I was born and raised until I was 9. I love West Virginia and the mountains.
I went to college down the road from there in Montgomery WV. So glad to see you taking the time to explore more rural parts of southern WV!
I just want to say thank you for visiting our little slice of heaven. It brings tears to my eyes to see someone honor it the way y’all have.
Sincerely appreciate this video, this is a hard one cause this isn’t the stereotypical American dream everyone associates our country with, but you guys were incredible with just learning what was shared with you. Both of you were very understandable about why some of these towns were in such a condition, yet highlighting and praised how well spirited the locals were which I’m sure means a lot to the residents. The reality is that nearly every state has regions like this, I live in my own region in California where a stone’s throw away you’ll run into abandoned buildings and dying towns. Many are hoping to revamp the rural parts of the country to hopefully restore prosperity.
In my research studying film (I majored in degree in the entertainment industry) around the late 70’s, certain studios in Hollywood was trying to turn away content from the rural setting and focus more on the suburbs and the urban American settings. It somewhat correlates how overtime the towns in the rural areas died as the sources of the economy market died. In my region it was the lumber industry, in West Virginia it was the coal industry.
It’s nice that you wanted to explore the areas that have frankly been abandoned, there’s still some people in these parts, but genuinely appreciate the respect you guys had for this episode. It means a lot.
As a born and bred Mountaineer (West Virginian) I love my state and am very proud of our heritage.
I'm the youngest of 7 kids. Dad was born in the Weyanoke Coal and Coke Camp in Mercer County, WV and mom was from Carroll County, Virginia (southwestern Virginia). Dad was a Combat Veteran with the US Army Air Force in the South Pacific Campaign of WWII. After returning home from the war, he had the opportunity to either become a Virginia State Trooper or a Class A Transmission/Distribution Lineman for Appalachian Power Company in Bluefield, WV. He wisely chose the latter.
We were raised in a Blue Collar Christian and all worked our own ways through collage and went on to various fruitful careers.
I have worked and lived in the DC Metro area and Northern Virginia, but I've always returned back to the beautiful mountains of my home. Have lived by the old adage that " You can take the boy from the mountains but you can never take the mountains from the boy!!".
Our history and heritage is more diverse that outsider realize. We can be extremely protective, but if befriended... you've got a friend for life and we'll give you the shirt off our backs.
Hope y'all enjoyed your visit to the Mountain State!!
Montani Semper Liberi
Hell yeah man I'm from Lincoln County
The term “redneck” actually started here in WV. During the mine wars in early 1900’s, there were actual battles between miners and coal company hired guns. The miners used red bandannas as solidarity and battlefield identifiers.
I am a lifelong resident of West Virginia (Northern Panhandle) and though our state, like many states, has issues, it's a beautiful state with wonderful, kind, hard working people and it's home.
My father was born in Kingston, WV in 1937. As people moved away, the coal company tore the houses down. They finally tore down the High School and Post office in the late 1990s. The town of Kingson no longer exists!
I also never met my Grandfathers, they died before I was born. My Grandmother used to get a monthly check "black lung check"!
I went to school in Kingston late 70s early 80s
My mom was from Matewan, WV. She was a coal miner’s daughter. For some people, the word hillbilly is not an insult
West Virginia is such a beautiful part of America! 100% my favourite!
Not too far from there is a place called Bluefield. It's WV and VA side. If you want to go desolate try visiting Bland county VA right down the road. I can remember hours long drives down dirt roads when I was young.
My grandfather was a coal miner in Alabama, as were some of my uncles. My dad went to the gulf to work on the docks to avoid working in the mines. My grandfather later opened a little store in his hometown. I remember asking my daddy for a nickel and a penny to buy a coke from the machine. When my grandfather would come to visit, he would bring me and my brother each a small bag of penny candy. That tells you how old I am.
I love visiting West Virginia. It's a beautiful state. I love that you did videos there.
as someone who knows that area very well, i applaud your sensitivity to a place that has been maligned by outside ignorance and disdain. Some of the nicest people in the world live up them hollers, and on the sides of those mountains. There are fine people in Boomer, Cannelville, Gauley Bridge, Ansted, and all over West-By-God. Many are decent, family-oriented people, living in relative poverty and treated poorly, but strong in faith and longsuffering.
I’m very familiar with this area. The first “holler” they went up was Boomer Branch Rd., the second was Armstrong Creek Rd., otherwise known as Powellton “Holler.”
My husband is a coal miner in PA. Lots of health issues and risk associated with the job, but they pay good and have decent insurance. That's what sucks so many in, and once you get in, it's hard to get out. We live in a holler too, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
We checked out an abandoned house in the woods a few days ago. It was behind an abandoned gas station that we checked out last month. Love finding abandoned places to explore
The history of the Appalachian people is both a long and sad one. I first read about their plight many decades ago when I read the book "Christy" (later it became a TV series) which was the story of a 19 year old schoolteacher who left her very affluent family in NC to go work as a schoolteacher in one of the poorest areas of Appalachia. Incredibly heartbreaking, yet uplifting at the same time. It made me realize that I could never truly whine or gripe about a single thing in my life ever again. Safe travels to you both. 😉🙏
Thank you Josh and Jase. Special thanks to your tour guide ❤
You all need to come back in the Summer and visit New River Gorge!
Yall are literally where I am from and it warms my heart.
🥺🥺🥺 The mountains. You guys came to WV literally days after I left to move 1000 miles away. I moved where there are no mountains and I already miss them so much. West Virginia is such a beautiful state. I’m going to miss WV fall SO much. I was very ready to leave, but this video definitely made me miss home literally within the first minute🥺❤️❤️
I am from southwest Pennsylvania, and I think West Virginia is a beautiful place ❤
It's a blessing to have yall exploring the small towns & hollers.
Thank you so much for coming to WV! You need to come back and let some of us take you muddin on our side by sides up in the mountains! 💛💙
I'm from Georgia 🇺🇲 and, this is absolutely one of the best channels on UA-cam. Thanks for the time and effort that goes in to making these entertaining videos.
I'm glad they are experiencing the true America many foreigners often just say they have been to new York City or LA and think they know the United States but you have to get in the hidden areas and small towns just off the road a lot of people take.
I really appreciate what yall are doing, you should countine east to Virginia same culture same warm proud people.. amazing thank yall
I like this kind of coverage, I hope to see a lot more of it.
We could see how upsetting it was for you to experience the various levels of poverty within rural US. Every country has its struggles & triumphs so please never forget about the little people. Bless you both
Thank you for showing this area to us gentlemen; decades ago I saw the Shenandoah Valley and it was so beautiful but I would never have the opportunity to see any of this. I enjoy all of your videos and I appreciate your efforts.
Its different seeing guys so serious. Liked the video interesting. Things you don't see often, things you never knew. Good job guys. 😊
I have always felt a connection with Appalachia….even though I’ve never been there. Like I could go there and feel right at home. These hardworking people are my kind of people ❤
Thank you for this. I grew up in Letcher county, KY and in Bluefield, WV
Bluefield here
Excellent, guys! I’m from just over the ridges in Southwest Virginia. You were fair and kind. And I’ve heard you say the word right (Apple At Chuh). You know it is a Native American word so we know how to say it. Good listeners hear better stories.
Thank you for doing that about West Virginia, I live in Florida, West Virginia is always home, no matter where I am. You will find that the rural people of America are some of the best. We don't get talked about much, but were the backbone of our nation, Appalachian people are some of the toughest best hearted people in the world, my people.🔥🤟💪🇺🇸🐊🙏
I lived up that holler my whole life so many great memories there that’s fs
What a great video. I live in western north carolina & I enjoyed your touring video of W.Va. George was great to drive you guys around. Thanks for sharing.
You definitely need to see West Virginia in the Spring, Summer, and most definitely Fall! It’s so beautiful!
Thanks for sharing. I'm from California but I have family in the Appalachias. They are some of the most humble Americans that you will meet.
My grandparents lived in a holler in West Virginia. My grandfather worked in the coal mines as well as some of his son's. My mother was from West Virginia and the highlight of my childhood was going to West Virginia to visit my grandparents and all of my aunt's and uncles and cousins. It's a beautiful state. I have lived in Ohio since I was born but I love West Virginia.
I was born and raised on the East Coast of the USA. Moved to the border of West Virginia and Pennsylvania near a coal mining town. And even I had a bit of a culture shock.
That bridge yall went on to get over the island in the middle of the river is one of my favorite places ever! My family drives on it everytime we go to visit my great grandparents in Petersburg WV. My great grandpa gave his life to the airport in Petersburg, almost literally. Their cabin up on a mountain there definitely had some spirits and beasties around it
thank you for visiting our wonderful state and if your ever back make sure to visit the mothman in point pleasant thats where im from
I loved every minute of the video.❤ Makes me miss my in-laws that live in the hollers of Saltville, VA ❤
So neat seeing how the holler looks. I live in Pittsburgh PA and never been to the holler in West Virginia. Thanks for the tour!
West by God Virginia, born & raised. My roots are deep and my pride is strong. Much love from this mountain mama!
I love that you’re exploring non-tourists areas and are getting to know the locals in these smalls towns. I’m from a farm town in central Georgia with less than 1,000 people there, so I always feel connected to small communities like The Hollers. Hopefully, you guys will come back to GA in the spring, summer, or fall. It’s beautiful here (especially in the fall, imo), and there’s lots of seasonal festivals, even in the small towns.
One thing about a holler everybody know that you do something wrong and well call your folks before ya even get home it’s like having your kin watching ya all the time but it’s nice to know they care about ya even know they can get you grounded for a month straight.
Josh and Jase - I'm so glad to see you back on YT. You were in a very cold parking lot with snow and much colder weather coming. I was getting worried you froze or slid off a mountain.
I'm telling you guys next time you come you saw the mountains of West Virginia you need to come to the mountains of Maryland just pop over that state line
Glad you got to see this. There are similar areas in every state. This is why a lot of Americans want to start focusing on America and not the rest of the world. We do not have bad feelings towards anyone else but we do have big problems at home.
Thanks for showing this. Grew up around there.
Was born in Charleston, WV 45 years ago. And I have never seen more true Mountaineers in my life. Y’all are one of us and have a place to stay (Huntington) any time! Just give me a holler!
The tour guide was a hoot!!! He was informational, and funny -
This is my neck of the woods I live right around the corner from boomer. And the new place.
While I never lived there, I spent a lot of time there as a child and it’s strange but it feels like home to me. My daddy grew up there and all of his siblings. I still have cousins there. I just love the area please please please go back when the weather is beautifuland the trees are blooming.
as a local a few places I'd recommend to go see is the mothman museum and the expedition coal mine. unique experiences! And grab some tudor's breakfast too, of course.
I live in Martins Ferry, OH across the river from WV. There are a lot of abandoned/condemned houses around here. It's expensive to tear them down, the towns/counties get federal money for demolition, but it barely puts a dent in the situation.
Love to watch your adventures! West Virginia and Appalachian Mountains are a bucket list of places I want to go someday!
You should come to east Tennessee and check it out. God bless you both on your journeys
Genuinely, thank you guys for stopping by. I loved watching this series on all the socials. I live a few miles from where ya'll shot. Good luck and good health boys.
Josh and Jase,
You guys came to Georgia and the Appalachians at the wrong time of the year. You should have come in spring or summer when the trees, bushes, and wildflowers are blooming. I wish I had known you were earlier in the Helen and Blairsville area. I would have shown you around.
I love your channel! Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
John Michael
Omg I love this channel! So happy I found it! I hope ya'll come through more of the US and review us more! 😂😂😂
Welcome back Guys. 😊
thank you for this video. You came into an area and you could have prejudged and been very skeptical but you did the opposite. You came in with an open mind and highlighted some of the best parts of this area and its people. As one of those people who grew up in places like this, I appreciate it
I love your 'local life' videos.
When your back my treat for Disney in Florida ❤
I'm from deep water. I love the mountains and this specific area in general .
You guys wouldn't believe just how *different* those same places will look in 5-6 months time ; you'd swear you were in a different place .
Thanks for sharing! 😊👍
This was thoughtful and real. If you ever want to read a novel about coal mining, James Still's River of Earth is excellent. I'm glad you got to see America and while beautiful some of these areas are our nations poorest and education is not where it should be. Nonetheless, you met some, they're the kindest, resourceful, give their shirt off their back to help others. Thanks
I’m so glad y’all came to West Virginia! It’s so beautiful and so many good people! 💙💛
Thanks for the new vids!
You boys are so delightful. 😊