I'm English and a country boy through and through but I'd love to spend some time with the natural beauty and the wonderful people of West Virginia. It's a place I've dreamed about since I was a young lad in the 60s reading my father's Nat. Geo. Magazines. Funny how a place pulls on your heart strings even though you've never seen it. Love to all West Virginians.
My family is from there. I remember holidays there and it was stunning. Driving through the mountains from Charleston to Lewisburg was a winding voyage with twist and turns on the steep mountains. There were mysterious waterfalls in the crevices of the terrain and snow on the mountains so deep, dad had to stop and put chains on the tires. Once there, we traveled to Maxwelton which was a few miles from Lewisburg. My other grandparents had a home in Ronceverte, again, a few miles from Lewisburg. The Christmases were so magical with warm welcoming hugs and homes with great food. (Country Ham, fried green apples, strawberries from summer.....granny used to take me to the basement where the freezer was full of summer fruit for our visit and hams hanging from the ceiling my grandfather cured. There was always a large pot of boiled custard on the cold back porch that was so delicious it still burns in our memories as kids) . The towns had garlands of lighted Santas and his reindeer hanging from the streetlights. One grandmother had an aluminum Christmas tree with multicolor spotlights shining on it. My other grandmother had a huge REAL tree with big fat lights of different colors strung around it with simple, sweet ornaments and huge amounts of silver tinsel. One warm Christmas Eve, I climbed a pine tree outside, fell and broke my arm (4th grade) I thought it was GREAT! Lol! I am taking my husband there this year to reminisce and visit graves and old stomping grounds. He’s never been there. Take me Home...West Virginia. It looks like Ireland.
Proud to be from West Virginia. A state of pure beauty, sometimes pain. Has taught me more life lessons than I thought imaginable. Some of the best people you’ll ever meet.
I agree. I discovered WV later in life when there on business. The state and people have their own beauty. If I was a younger man, I'd buy lots of real estate. WV is a bargain that will attract many Americans escaping the rat race and expense of the big city.
West Virginia is the most Beautiful of all states! So glad I live close to W.Va and the miners are heroes who built this country so grateful to all of them!
Met a stranger at WaWa 2 days ago, the friendliest man ever. Despite my ruff and tumble Harley rider appearance, he talked to me like we grew up together. Walkin out I looked at his license plate, West Virginia. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Born and raised in mercer County wv, I've left wv once and came back home in less then 5 months, my heart is in these mountains forever 🤍🤍🤍 I might travel but wv is my home.... we pray hard, we love hard, we work hard... call us what you'd like but we are some of the best folks you'll ever wanna meet...
Having been born Oct 1938 in Logan County WV, and grew-up in the little community of Sprigg, in between Matewan and Williamson, Mingo County, my life parallels this gentleman's in many ways. Dad died after being crushed under a rock fall in a Rawl, WV... mine, 1943. Yes, my first school in Merrimack, was almost a replica of the one room shown here, to include the potbelly stove, stone water cooler, with two outhouses... It was a long time ago, but remains fresh one's memory... My love for the hills and the people, have never abated or grown dim... Indeed, West Virginia is almost heaven to those of us who were born, and lived our young lives there. Thank you for this documentary.
I'm from Virginia, I just recently bought a cabin in Braxton County WV. Its on top of a mountain and has a river on the property, 40+ acres. It is the most beautiful place I've ever lived and the people there are the best people I've ever met.
@@mitterknight2330 I've lived in Martinsburg my whole life. Years ago, a fella from Braxton County transferred to my work location here in Martinsburg and he was liked by everyone....one of the funniest guys I've ever met. Anyway, he used always tell me that Braxton County was not only the geographical center of the state but ALSO home to the world's largest Dairy Queen, lol. I never did know if he was kidding about that DQ thing or not.....
@@matthewlamp3088 I was actually part of the crew that tore the DQ down in Flatwoods, It was replaced with a bank. Def a small world. Humors not lost in the Appalachia’s.
@@mitterknight2330 Hey, thank you for getting back to me...l appreciate that. Yeah, my buddy had a ton of stories about growing up there in Flatwoods and half the time, I wasn't sure whether he was messing with me or not, lol. Take care, sir!
My wife grew up in Walton West Virginia. She was in high school before they had running water in a new house her Dad built. They got the water down the hill in a little cave like on the stream. Her Dad would work at FMC near Charleston with a daily commute. They had a dairy cow, hogs, chickens and of course the garden. Her Dad died shortly after getting the new house built.
I hope no one else does a documentary on us poor dumb drug ridden hillbillies that way everyone else can stay away and for you Charly call your brother and your dad but don't get flat in WV and ask for help because remember we are on on drugs and alcohol don't figure anyone will have the time too help you friend
Me and my family grew up around this area it was real and honest it kept you thankful and humble so very glad I grew up here it taught us to appreciate and understand what real life is and to strive to do better to have what you wanted for yourself
My Mamaw made sure that all of her son’s did not go down in the mines. In fact people can make fun of Appalachians or Hillbillies, but my family ended up getting great educations and traveled the world. My mother is from Huntington and my father is from Paintsville KY. My father ended up translating Russian during the Cold War for the NSA and my mother was an executive secretary on Pennsylvania Avenue. We moved back to Appalachia before I started 1st grade to Hampshire County WV in the eastern panhandle, but I get so very homesick for southern WV and eastern KY.
Hampshire County has no Walmart and is home to the WV State Schools for the Deaf and Blind. We have tons of apple and peach orchards. It’s beginning to become a retirement community for people from DC and Baltimore. Romney, the county seat is the oldest town in WV. I love living here because my husband has worked at the same flooring store for 25 years and I taught in special education for 20+ years.
Growing up in Nicholas County in the 40s on a farm, surrounded by cousins , grandparents living with us , walking 2 miles to one room school, best of times. My grandchildren will be 5th generation to be caretakers of our land, 110 years in the family.
I love West Virginia spent half the time with my mom the other half with my dad, because they divorced when I was six. My dad stayed in Pensacola Florida and my mom move back home. Both are from West Virginia. My dad didn't want to be a coal miner and he didn't want to work the railroad and he hated the snow. He was from Hinton, was born in Talcott. My grandfather on my dad's side work the railroad as well as all my uncles. My mother's family were from Raleigh County. She was born in Tamroy which no longer exist but was absorbed by other municipalities. It was a coal mining community. My great-grandfather on my mother's side work the coal mine. My great great grandfather died in the mine. A little small child my mother remembers going to his funeral. He was a circuit riding preacher. I still have many sweet memories of West Virginia and would have stayed if I could have been gainfully employed. Much Love From Biloxi, MS
It’s nothing less than an absolute privilege to be from and live in Randolph County, WV. I left for 2 1/2 years, and I’ll never leave again. It’s honestly hard to fight back tears when I think of just how proud and fortunate I am to have the memories I have of my grandfather and uncles coming home, blackened with coal dust while we played in my grandmas yard. In the 80s, there was hardly any work here for carpenters, so my dad had to drive to VA and MD to work, while my mom worked in Elkins during the day. So, my cousins and I spent most of our time at their house. There is absolutely no love like the love you feel from a West Virginia family.
Your comments touched me deep inside. For me there is no way to put into words the love and affection and compassion I have towards my beloved family in West Virginia, especially those in McDowell County. And they are my family indeed. God bless you, brother, and your family.
That older gentlemen knows what it was to work hard …..just as I imagined it would be . A true character from back in the day . You won’t find many folks like him around anymore . It’s amazing how people from West Virginia want to stay there no matter what - True dedicated people of the mountains ✌🏼🇺🇸
My visit to West Virginia two days who really opened up my eyes to the beauty of nature and the resilience of the people. May you be blessed! Love from Michigan!
I have lived in WV my whole life. I grew up with my grandparents back in a holler. Winter's were hard because we would get 5 to 6 feet of snow and summertime when our well water was low, we bathed in the river if it wasn't too cold or heated up water on the stove and took a bath. My grandfather was a coal miner but got seriously hurt and was in a body cast for 2 years. After that, he became a truck driver. My grandmother worked at a saw mill then changed jobs and started working as a laundry aide at a nursing home. I went to a high school that was k-12 that had about 200 kids back in the woods. We had a little general store if we needed to get gas or milk but if we needed groceries or anything else, we had to go in to town which was about a 45 min drive. I wouldn't change a thing about the way I grew up. I loved living over home.
My grandfather when I was a kid was in the woods hunting in West Virginia and got bitten by a bird that someone brought into the country and let lose some kind of parrot kind of bird not sure what kind for sure but it give him some kind of disease that attack his brain and he was bedridden after that for the rest of his life. Couldn’t talk eat normal food only baby food couldn’t walk nothing. How different things were back in them days now it probably wouldn’t be that easy to bring a bird into this country without being put into quarantine and vet check but not back than. This was in the early 60s. A completely different time. For sure in West Virginia they were still in the caveman days
My Mom and Dad were both born on a holler called Road Branch in Mingo County West Virginia. Highway 119 came through in the 70's and both sets of my grandparents had to relocate. Including the family cemetery. All that's left is just the memories. I really enjoyed the song and the documentary. My daughter said that my mom let me stand on her shoulders to help me do better and then my daughter stood on my shoulders and we both made it. She now has her master's degree and has written a book. May God bless you Professor Dan.
I grew up in Wayne county. Crum. In the 60s and 70s I left there and moved to Chicago. I've lived all over and now live in Louisville my. Life was hard but I know how to take care of myself. I can survive with very little
@John stephens I am from Wayne county too. I was born in Huntington and raised at crum. I attended crum school until 1974.i quit school and got married at 16.my mom and daddy were George and Shirley Prince. My mil still lives in Genoa. Up on Joel's branch. She and her husband Ford Thompson used to own a bar called THE COUNTRY CLUB. Right below Wayne. Nice to meet you here.
I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lived here my entire life. However, I've traveled quite a bit and driven through the Appalachian Mountains 8 times. 4 + 4. To Surf City, NC and back. Now I became intrigued by this mountain range just by driving through it so many times AND stopping in various areas during rough weather. Not sure why anyone would make fun of these people. Nice people who, for the most part, had a difficult life. Never in a million years could I have done it. Travelling to northern Wisconsin & upper Michigan has its parallels, and I can only last a week or so up there. No thank you. But mad respect for the people.
I grew up in West Virginia all my life and life for some in the state wasn't easy but they are really good hard working people. God I love West Virginia
This is excellent. I grew up in eastern Kanawha County, but moved away when I was young for my parent's work. My dad told me stories of him growing up in Nicholas County in the 50's that were similar. The song is so true. You can never fully leave West Virginia. It's part of the reason that after I finish my degree, I want to go back home to WV to help fix the problems I can.
@@ProfessorDan Hearing about taking the train to and from high school makes it sound like your dad/granddad lived up Blue Creek. I wasn't too far, at least as the crow flies. Driving in West Virginia, 4 miles as the crow flies can be 45 minutes away.
Beautiful! Thank you! I’m living out here in California, west of West Virginia. But my roots and heart will always reside in those gorgeous hills back home. My Papa Nash (Nesci) from Italy worked 40 years in the coal mines near Fairmont in Marion County. He was retired by the time I was born so I never saw him walking up the hill toward home with his lunch pail and black face and hands. He did still use Lava soap though...lol. I would sit with him on the swing on his front porch while he smoked his pipe and waved to the neighbors walking by. He had a spitune inside the house next to his chair where he’d occasionally cough up a little coal dust from all those years underground. Sure do miss him! Looking forward to the day I meet him again in Heaven. Until then... we’ve got Almost Heaven in West Virginia. ♥️😇 Thanks again for the memories!
Thank you Diane for your story. I can honestly say that I too am hoping for you to see Papa Nash in Heaven again one day. It might sound weird but it isn't. My grandparents were from Italy and I moved to the South almost 40 years ago and trust me, I wasn't always accepted. I'm hoping and praying to one day soon move North to W.V., find a nice Christian lady and spend my days riding my Harley through GOD'S COUNTRY. Again, thank you, and may GOD BLESS you and yours. SARGE. 🇺🇸
In North central WV. Many Italians moved here. We live in Clarksburg I married into an Italian family. Many Italian restaurants and family names around here.
THIS IS A 💯 MIRROR IMAGE OF THE WAY I WAS RAISED UP IN THE HOLLERS OF WYOMING COUNTY. I TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND SHARING THIS WITH EVERYONE. TO ME AS I DID BACK WHEN I WAS A YOUNGIN, I FOUND MYSELF HANGIN ON EVERY WORD OF YOUR PAPAWS STORIES. I COULDN'T HAVE FOUND THIS AT A MORE NEEDED TIME(DONE MY 🧡 GOOD TO WATCH) NEW SUBSCRIBER HERE MAN,THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING AND STAY SAFE OUT THERE EVERYONE 👊 🙏 👍 BECKLEY WV #westvirginiastrong
Me too! I grew up in Glen Rodgers then Pineville for a few years! One of my favorite places though is up on Bud mountain! Bud mountain is where my mom was raised and still have a lot of family up there but it's a place that always fills my heart!
I have always wanted to visit Switzerland. We had a lot of Swiss people to settle in West Virginia. They had a colony in New Helvatia WVa. I have a nephew that lives in Geneva. He works as a stock broker.
Great documentary. Born and raised in WV, it makes me sad to see the despair people live in in 2020. Especially miners whose lives and job they did are not respected properly. WV deserves better.
I Love,The Mountains..I'm a Good Old Country Boy! From Eastern Kentucky..like hearing folks,Life Stories! I'm Half Scottish, German, Cherokee..Had at least One Relative Faught, in All the wars..from Sycamore Sholl.s ,Civil War, Spanish American, ww1,& ww2, GGG, papa's Uncles..Cousins..RIP to all my Love ones From the Mountains...
You are telling a story that will forever be part of me. My family came out of those hills too. Dad didn't want to go into the mines so we moved to Ohio and he took a job with Ford.
Born and raised in Marion County and went to a 4 room school with 8 grades. Graduated in 1988. Live in Hampshire and have my own UA-cam Channel “Appalachian History Detectives” where I investigate long and forgotten homesteads.
My parents also from West Virginia Ivydale and Wall back. Wonderful memories of visiting there remember Grandpa with the horse hooked up to the plow as he walked behind it to plow the garden hunting for his own food Grandma making her own butter. Did not have much but it was a wonderful place . Love listening to their stories . Miss my grandparents dearly .
Me as well... running wild on my great grandpas farm...there was an old barn, a creek, lots of great stuff! His workhorse Dolly was the best babysitter anyone could ever have... I remember SO much♥️🥰🙋‼️
Oh, I wish my dad were still alive, I'm sure he would have known your family. He grew up in Big Otter and we had family in Ivydale. After I was born we lived with my Grandparents in Big Otter while my dad went to college. They fixed up the cellar house and that's where we stayed. I live in Georgia now and tried to move back to Wva in 2019, but couldn't find a job that pays what I make here.
I am born and raised in the country of a small town called Paw Paw, Wv. located in the panhandle. I love it here. I can remember having an outhouse in my childhood days. Walking a fair distance down to the highway to catch the bus. My daddy worked in the pulpwood for a long time but finally went to a factory job in winchester, va. I dont think he ever missed a days work. I have friends whose dad worked in the coal mines. They have shared how poor they were but never went hungry. I really enjoyed your documentary. WV is a great place to live and people are some of the best people you will ever meet.
A very humbling life. If ya have each other ,and Love , God always makes a way . Lived in cali Michigan indiana Ohio florida New York .I always came back . It's like you could just feel this is home ,it was in the air . You can take the girl out of the mountains, but you can't take the mountains, out of the girl . God bless West Virginia !
Makes me think of the old stories my grandparents used to tell me when inwaa growing up about the old times out on Logan and Lincoln Counties. Miss 'em a lot along with my dad who was a farmer until the 50'a after he got back from WW2 with the Navy.
I came up to West Virginia every summer while my grandparents were alive. West Virginia is always in my heart and I hope one day it will be prosperous there again.
I don't tire listening to these folks as their lives are full of hard work, resilience, humility and humour. Beautiful song bridging the parts of the vlogs. Live e and let live.
Thank you Dan for the video. I just love reading the comments, you can just feel the passion and pain folks have for W.V. Pain, as in what made them proud and stronger through hardships. GOD willing I'll be riding my Harley throughout the mountains in the spring, putting 2020 in my rearview mirror. GOD BLESS all who are here for this video.
Thank You So much for this production. I am from the North East; Massachusetts. We, too have experienced an economic decline since to 40's; closing mills and jobs going over seas. Once great 'Mill Towns" now are still trying to find their way back to a new identity. Yes, we are economically sound but many of are Urban areas are still impoverished. And, the gentleman stated this well: W. Virginia's' economy was "directly" tied to the coal industry and its Barron's. Same here in the N. East with woolen and steel mills. Not very diverse economies. Like Detroit to the auto industry, it's hard to get back. Thanks again for the Film.-K
It's not stopping, either. AI replacing drivers, robots replacing warehouse workers. construction & restaurant work will be about the only options left. We either succumb to mass poverty ala Appalachia, or we institute UBI. Those are the options.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It was extremely well done. I live and work in NC, but my family owns my grandparent’s home place in Upshur County, WV. I am there, at least, once a month. I know WV is where my soul belongs. Thank you for this video.
Living on the VA side of W. VA line. The line is 1.5 miles away. When we want to take a drive and get away we cross exactly where East Hardy and Pendleton county meet with Virginia. Feel blessed to be so close.
Thanks for your life stories. Everyone has them. Been to WV twice and absolutely love it. Sending love to y’all from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, God’s Country.
I too grew up in Kanawha County West Virginia. My father was a coal miner. I agree the beauty there is unparalleled and the people are truly loving, caring and giving.
I was born and raised on our family farm in Nicholas County. But like many others because of no work; I have been transplanted elsewhere in the world. I think only people from WV understand that the best way to describe it is like being born of a mother who did her best to raise you but could no longer keep you.
That was a very good way to put it, and that's was the sense I got from all the comments from the people who once lived in WV, they wanted to stay, but just couldn't, torn away, by a need to survive, but yearned to be back where there most fondest memories of life, and love of there family were, kinda sad!
My mom was born and raised in Richwood family of 12 brothers and sisters my grandpa and some uncles work in the coal mines I really like hearing these stories reminds me of the stories my mom and grandma told me when I was a child
I also remember the red clay roads... picking tea berries up on the hill with my grandma, my great grandma and grandmother cooking in the big farmhouse kitchen with all my aunts and my mom... best food I ever ate... all homemade... everything, from butter to bread to fresh veggies and meat and eggs... 🥰🙋❤️‼️ good times, back breaking workand great music!
Wow I just happened to have this pop up in my UA-cam feed. I couldn't help but cry. I lost my momma in 2012. She was born in crummies creek Ky. My grandmother's side was from the Tennessee areas of Union, Claiborne and Campbell county areas. My grandfather was and miner as was a majority of his kinfolk. My grandfather's side was from West Virginia and Lee County Virginia as well as Harlan County Ky areas. After my grandmother passed away my grandfather carried momma coal camp to camp looking for work. It was the great depression and food was hard to come by. Momma said a many of times they had to dig thru the trash cans for food. Her little body was so malnutritioned she would sleep a lot. My grandfather wound up marrying into a family in West Virginia as well as my momma also. She told me so many heartbreaking stories of the struggles. All my siblings were born in Odd West Virginia. My grandfather died of black lung as well as many othets in the family. I am so glad you shared this story with us. My momma could relate to it really well. God bless
Takes me back home everytime i see these documentaries. Harder way if life yet seems so much simpler. Wish i could figure a way to move back and bring some value to all the families that helped me be who i am today
My grandma would sit & tell me stories about times of her life growing up in W.Va. Her father a coal miner, 11brothers& sisters 1 passed....Scot- Irish Catholic family...good people! Hard working! I LOVED HER STORIES! 💘LOVE you grandma!xoxo
What a great video. I visit west Virginia often hope someday I can buy property there. To listen to these men’s memories of how life was like is great story telling preserved in videos like this is precious. It’s a form of history. From the old pics shown to the hills they walk. From the old truck sitting in their yards there’s a story there. Even to hear their accent is a part of history and culture. Glad a I got to watch this
Professor Dan. I really enjoyed the documentary on your family and the homestead. I have a feeling you are going to make more of these and I hope you do. I want to give you a tip on camera work. When you zoom in or out on a subject, weather its a person,building or outdoor scenery ,you should pan ( sweep ) at the same time. But pan and zoom slowly. I noticed in the graveyard that you were zooming in and out on the man. If you try this tip it makes your finished product more dramatic and interesting. The comments from old timer WV. residents were very interesting.
Thanks, Leo. I had to do the camera at the last minute. We had a hiccup with the videographer - nothing of his fault - but I had to improvise with my Nikon D750. Glad you like the content.
I am not from west Virginia lived in Delaware for 40 years moved to west VA so I could be free I found my home and I love it. thank you god for west Virginia!
Memories,memories,memories and life goes on! W.V. is my home.I was born up Paint Creek Collinsdale,W.V.There's no place in my heart to live but West Virginia!
Wow. Your video made me cry tears of joy. It takes a lot of humble character to have that effect on a stranger through a short video. Such a beautiful simple life. 🙂
Fabulous. What a beautiful story. Tim Stafford, one of my very favorites. Also Blue Highway, my MOST favorite Bluegrass Music, EVER. Tim, big part of that.
Everyone in my family was born in WV except me. My Dad was raised poor and became a successful accountant. In Ohio we'd joke that the first thing a kid learns in WV is reading writing and Route 21 which took you into Ohio. I have a lot of memories of trips to relatives there, the coal camps, pot bellied stoves, trains, miners. Fond memories from the 1950's and early 60's. Back then folks were REAL and neighborly.
Yes sir I grew up in Kanawha co. I left in 1975 .but have been back a handful of times to visit family.. Something about w.Virginia that pulls at my heart strings. Love the ppl and the mountains .. God bless w.Virginia
Professor Dan, my dad was born in 1908 and this could be my story because there are so many parallels. We lived in central North Carolina and all my Grandparents were farmers and saw millers. Cow, mules, chickens, hogs, goats and water drawn from the well by hand till we got an electric pump was daily life. Granny had a gas power washing machine and heated water in the yard with wood fire. In 1922 Papa Elliott’s whole family was displaced by the Alcoa’s Badin Lake, a move they didn’t want, and never fully got over. We had a 1952 Jeep Pick-Up bought in 1962. I remember milk in “stone” crocks in the spring house and everyone had “root” cellars. When is was good it was very good but there are always difficult hard things that happen but love carries through all. Thank you for sharing your history and family. So many today don’t have any of these memories and sense of place.
I'm English but I once spent a summer in West Virginia, as a young man, it's been in my soul ever since 😍 went back a couple of times in my 20s and feeling the tug on my heart to revisit
Delivered for 84 lumber all over west Virginia. Been in every nook and cranny, beautiful state , beautiful people.. but if you think there are no hungry in america, think again. Saw it firsthand. Saw the mines closed and the poverty. Will never forget
Excellent, excellent story and I sure love that music. When PawPaw said "People today dont know what rough is" he was 100% dead on. Rural people everywhere just knew how to get by, its what you did. Thanks for sharing.
From Huntington WV been 4 years clean and off pain pills now live close to saltrock wv nothing like living in the country wouldn't trade it for anything. Family is from Logan and Hamlin
Congratulations on your sobriety! I know the pain of loving someone that can’t stop. I’m from the beautiful state but in good ole NC now. Wish I lived around Greenbank.
@@shirleyduncan3653 thank you so very much. It's rough I did before I got on them my x husband was and it tore us apart . I love NC and i love it there by Seneca rock and greenbank and where marlington is my x boyfriends family has a cabin close to there .
@@suzybailey-koubti8342 yes we still have cousins and my aunt is still there but they just out her in the nursing home up cheif Logan so we don't spend time there like use to but I sure do miss it .
Every time I go to West Virginia to visit my wife’s family, the more I want to live way off the beaten path in West Virginia it’s like going back in time to a point. It reminds me when I was a kid and cut and split fire wood every year to throw in the wood stove, back when Virginia was still a good state, now I just want to be in West Virginia
I spent time in Berkeley Springs, WV and in a summer camp along Cacapon River when I was a child. I loved being there for about 2 weeks each summer. It was a wonderful time in my life.
My dad was from Iaeger, WV. I have good memories of the town from the 50's when visiting my Grandparents. Grandpa worked the coal mines. I remember squirrel hunting with him and his beagles. He had the best garden. Grown on terraced rows up the mountain behind their house. Hard life. Good people.
@@libertyBuilders I appreciate the response. Good people from tough life of coal mining. I work in Punta Gorda as a project manager. I see you are in the same line of work. Best regards.
IM from wv . I remember going home with kids I went to school for the weekend . They dirt floors in there houses . Out houses were 30yds from the house . Only had one wood stove the house . . Us kids had a lot fun back then . Splitting wood . Digging new hole for the outhouse. . We would see who could work the hardiest in a days time that wasn't long back in 1970s
I'm English and a country boy through and through but I'd love to spend some time with the natural beauty and the wonderful people of West Virginia. It's a place I've dreamed about since I was a young lad in the 60s reading my father's Nat. Geo. Magazines. Funny how a place pulls on your heart strings even though you've never seen it. Love to all West Virginians.
Born and bred in the Midwest here, but yes, West Virginia pulls on my heart strings as well. Salt of the earth people.
Thank you, Lee!
A lot West Virginians trace their bloodlines back to Great Britain...in fact probably most.Mine came from Belfast and London.
My family is from there. I remember holidays there and it was stunning. Driving through the mountains from Charleston to Lewisburg was a winding voyage with twist and turns on the steep mountains. There were mysterious waterfalls in the crevices of the terrain and snow on the mountains so deep, dad had to stop and put chains on the tires. Once there, we traveled to Maxwelton which was a few miles from Lewisburg. My other grandparents had a home in Ronceverte, again, a few miles from Lewisburg. The Christmases were so magical with warm welcoming hugs and homes with great food. (Country Ham, fried green apples, strawberries from summer.....granny used to take me to the basement where the freezer was full of summer fruit for our visit and hams hanging from the ceiling my grandfather cured. There was always a large pot of boiled custard on the cold back porch that was so delicious it still burns in our memories as kids) . The towns had garlands of lighted Santas and his reindeer hanging from the streetlights. One grandmother had an aluminum Christmas tree with multicolor spotlights shining on it. My other grandmother had a huge REAL tree with big fat lights of different colors strung around it with simple, sweet ornaments and huge amounts of silver tinsel. One warm Christmas Eve, I climbed a pine tree outside, fell and broke my arm (4th grade) I thought it was GREAT! Lol! I am taking my husband there this year to reminisce and visit graves and old stomping grounds. He’s never been there. Take me Home...West Virginia. It looks like Ireland.
You've got a Lithuanian surname though. Greetings from Lithuania.
Proud to be from West Virginia. A state of pure beauty, sometimes pain. Has taught me more life lessons than I thought imaginable. Some of the best people you’ll ever meet.
Amen
They wouldn't know where to start!
I agree. I discovered WV later in life when there on business.
The state and people have their own beauty.
If I was a younger man, I'd buy lots of real estate. WV is a bargain that will attract many Americans escaping the rat race and expense of the big city.
Just sometimes? Lol west v is a beautiful and depressing wasteland that i can't stop missing for some reason
@@AA-bs3iy
It got me too, double A.
West Virginia will be my home til the day they put me in ground in these mountains I love most !!!!
Amen. Lyburn wv
Same here brother! Point pleasant wv.
@@lostamericanhistory2536 Fraziers Bottom Putnam County here,Always been my home I love it here and will die here.
@@TheRadulykan oh man not far away at all, small world ! I'm actually out on 87 off baden, my family is all from Putnam co though
Let's Goooo Mountaineers
Us mountain folk are some of the best people on this planet....worked hard...loved hard ...and prayed hard
Fine folks in the hills of WV!
Won't stop talking about losing coal, collect a lot of welfare, and use a lot of opioids 🤔
@@jeep19 the state animal in wva is the jeep cherokee
Amen brother
And make some damn fine moon shine
West Virginia is the most Beautiful of all states! So glad I live close to W.Va and the miners are heroes who built this country so grateful to all of them!
You must be disillusioned
Met a stranger at WaWa 2 days ago, the friendliest man ever. Despite my ruff and tumble Harley rider appearance, he talked to me like we grew up together. Walkin out I looked at his license plate, West Virginia.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Born and raised in mercer County wv, I've left wv once and came back home in less then 5 months, my heart is in these mountains forever 🤍🤍🤍 I might travel but wv is my home.... we pray hard, we love hard, we work hard... call us what you'd like but we are some of the best folks you'll ever wanna meet...
My kind of folks. Down to earth, patriotic, God fearing, honest, hard working, honorable.
Amen 🙏
@@jenjaradat6882
And Awoman!
@@chrissibersky4617 in your eyes
@@jenjaradat6882
It's a joke. Search for the "word" and you'll get it.
@@chrissibersky4617 don’t care too
Having been born Oct 1938 in Logan County WV, and grew-up in the little community of Sprigg, in between Matewan and Williamson, Mingo County, my life parallels this gentleman's in many ways. Dad died after being crushed under a rock fall in a Rawl, WV... mine, 1943. Yes, my first school in Merrimack, was almost a replica of the one room shown here, to include the potbelly stove, stone water cooler, with two outhouses... It was a long time ago, but remains fresh one's memory... My love for the hills and the people, have never abated or grown dim... Indeed, West Virginia is almost heaven to those of us who were born, and lived our young lives there. Thank you for this documentary.
I'm from Virginia, I just recently bought a cabin in Braxton County WV. Its on top of a mountain and has a river on the property, 40+ acres. It is the most beautiful place I've ever lived and the people there are the best people I've ever met.
Braxton County born and raised! Now live in Arkansas, this video totally has me homesick now.
@@mitterknight2330 I've lived in Martinsburg my whole life. Years ago, a fella from Braxton County transferred to my work location here in Martinsburg and he was liked by everyone....one of the funniest guys I've ever met. Anyway, he used always tell me that Braxton County was not only the geographical center of the state but ALSO home to the world's largest Dairy Queen, lol. I never did know if he was kidding about that DQ thing or not.....
@@matthewlamp3088 I was actually part of the crew that tore the DQ down in Flatwoods, It was replaced with a bank. Def a small world. Humors not lost in the Appalachia’s.
@@mitterknight2330 Hey, thank you for getting back to me...l appreciate that. Yeah, my buddy had a ton of stories about growing up there in Flatwoods and half the time, I wasn't sure whether he was messing with me or not, lol. Take care, sir!
I was born in Braxton county lots of family in Webster county. I love to visit but I dont think I could live there full time
real life in the hills, hard life, good people
My wife grew up in Walton West Virginia. She was in high school before they had running water in a new house her Dad built. They got the water down the hill in a little cave like on the stream. Her Dad would work at FMC near Charleston with a daily commute. They had a dairy cow, hogs, chickens and of course the garden. Her Dad died shortly after getting the new house built.
I hope no one else does a documentary on us poor dumb drug ridden hillbillies that way everyone else can stay away and for you Charly call your brother and your dad but don't get flat in WV and ask for help because remember we are on on drugs and alcohol don't figure anyone will have the time too help you friend
@Dmac 740 not a myth then if its the same everywhere
Me and my family grew up around this area it was real and honest it kept you thankful and humble so very glad I grew up here it taught us to appreciate and understand what real life is and to strive to do better to have what you wanted for yourself
@weejams nice rant. you done now?
I'm 36 and have been born, raised, and still live in Kanawha County WV ❤️
My Mamaw made sure that all of her son’s did not go down in the mines. In fact people can make fun of Appalachians or Hillbillies, but my family ended up getting great educations and traveled the world. My mother is from Huntington and my father is from Paintsville KY. My father ended up translating Russian during the Cold War for the NSA and my mother was an executive secretary on Pennsylvania Avenue. We moved back to Appalachia before I started 1st grade to Hampshire County WV in the eastern panhandle, but I get so very homesick for southern WV and eastern KY.
And God bless Hampshire county WV and all the county's in west va 🙏.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Hampshire County has no Walmart and is home to the WV State Schools for the Deaf and Blind. We have tons of apple and peach orchards. It’s beginning to become a retirement community for people from DC and Baltimore. Romney, the county seat is the oldest town in WV. I love living here because my husband has worked at the same flooring store for 25 years and I taught in special education for 20+ years.
Enjoyed your comments. My dad's from Matewan, WV and mom's from Belfry, KY. I have great respect for those folks and having roots there.
West Virginia is absolutely gorgeous I'm looking to move there sometime in the next year people are great the country beautiful
Growing up in Nicholas County in the 40s on a farm, surrounded by cousins , grandparents living with us , walking 2 miles to one room school, best of times. My grandchildren will be 5th generation to be caretakers of our land, 110 years in the family.
I love West Virginia spent half the time with my mom the other half with my dad, because they divorced when I was six. My dad stayed in Pensacola Florida and my mom move back home. Both are from West Virginia. My dad didn't want to be a coal miner and he didn't want to work the railroad and he hated the snow. He was from Hinton, was born in Talcott. My grandfather on my dad's side work the railroad as well as all my uncles. My mother's family were from Raleigh County. She was born in Tamroy which no longer exist but was absorbed by other municipalities. It was a coal mining community. My great-grandfather on my mother's side work the coal mine. My great great grandfather died in the mine. A little small child my mother remembers going to his funeral. He was a circuit riding preacher. I still have many sweet memories of West Virginia and would have stayed if I could have been gainfully employed. Much Love From Biloxi, MS
It’s nothing less than an absolute privilege to be from and live in Randolph County, WV. I left for 2 1/2 years, and I’ll never leave again. It’s honestly hard to fight back tears when I think of just how proud and fortunate I am to have the memories I have of my grandfather and uncles coming home, blackened with coal dust while we played in my grandmas yard. In the 80s, there was hardly any work here for carpenters, so my dad had to drive to VA and MD to work, while my mom worked in Elkins during the day. So, my cousins and I spent most of our time at their house. There is absolutely no love like the love you feel from a West Virginia family.
So glad this video means something to you.
Jeremy Hamrick my grandparents on my moms side were Hamricks from Dunbar, and then Cross Lanes.
Your comments touched me deep inside. For me there is no way to put into words the love and affection and compassion I have towards my beloved family in West Virginia, especially those in McDowell County. And they are my family indeed. God bless you, brother, and your family.
@@brainerdboy1177 and you as well, my friend. You won’t find more humble or kind folks than those in McDowell County.
That older gentlemen knows what it was to work hard …..just as I imagined it would be . A true character from back in the day . You won’t find many folks like him around anymore . It’s amazing how people from West Virginia want to stay there no matter what - True dedicated people of the mountains ✌🏼🇺🇸
The old man was my father, oh but I miss him. I love you dad.
My visit to West Virginia two days who really opened up my eyes to the beauty of nature and the resilience of the people. May you be blessed! Love from Michigan!
I have lived in WV my whole life. I grew up with my grandparents back in a holler. Winter's were hard because we would get 5 to 6 feet of snow and summertime when our well water was low, we bathed in the river if it wasn't too cold or heated up water on the stove and took a bath. My grandfather was a coal miner but got seriously hurt and was in a body cast for 2 years. After that, he became a truck driver. My grandmother worked at a saw mill then changed jobs and started working as a laundry aide at a nursing home. I went to a high school that was k-12 that had about 200 kids back in the woods. We had a little general store if we needed to get gas or milk but if we needed groceries or anything else, we had to go in to town which was about a 45 min drive. I wouldn't change a thing about the way I grew up. I loved living over home.
We have a lot in common Miss Lambert.
Was it the Tug River?
My grandfather when I was a kid was in the woods hunting in West Virginia and got bitten by a bird that someone brought into the country and let lose some kind of parrot kind of bird not sure what kind for sure but it give him some kind of disease that attack his brain and he was bedridden after that for the rest of his life. Couldn’t talk eat normal food only baby food couldn’t walk nothing. How different things were back in them days now it probably wouldn’t be that easy to bring a bird into this country without being put into quarantine and vet check but not back than. This was in the early 60s. A completely different time. For sure in West Virginia they were still in the caveman days
My family is from Scotts Run, outside of Morgantown... They’re Lambert’s, too! ♥️
@@shannamrichardson I'm a Nicholas co boy. I'm a Vance.
My Mom and Dad were both born on a holler called Road Branch in Mingo County West Virginia. Highway 119 came through in the 70's and both sets of my grandparents had to relocate. Including the family cemetery. All that's left is just the memories. I really enjoyed the song and the documentary. My daughter said that my mom let me stand on her shoulders to help me do better and then my daughter stood on my shoulders and we both made it. She now has her master's degree and has written a book. May God bless you Professor Dan.
I GREW UP IN HUNTINGTON WEST BY GOD VIRGINIA..LIFE WAS HARD BUT SIMPLE.I THANK GOD I GREW UP THERE..
That's where I am 🙂
I grew up in Wayne county. Crum. In the 60s and 70s I left there and moved to Chicago. I've lived all over and now live in Louisville my. Life was hard but I know how to take care of myself. I can survive with very little
I live in Hamlin West Virginia right now
Originally grew up in Barboursville
@John stephens I am from Wayne county too. I was born in Huntington and raised at crum. I attended crum school until 1974.i quit school and got married at 16.my mom and daddy were George and Shirley Prince. My mil still lives in Genoa. Up on Joel's branch. She and her husband Ford Thompson used to own a bar called THE COUNTRY CLUB. Right below Wayne. Nice to meet you here.
I just love hearing people's stories!
I can listen to them all day.
I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lived here my entire life. However, I've traveled quite a bit and driven through the Appalachian Mountains 8 times. 4 + 4. To Surf City, NC and back. Now I became intrigued by this mountain range just by driving through it so many times AND stopping in various areas during rough weather. Not sure why anyone would make fun of these people. Nice people who, for the most part, had a difficult life. Never in a million years could I have done it. Travelling to northern Wisconsin & upper Michigan has its parallels, and I can only last a week or so up there. No thank you. But mad respect for the people.
I grew up in West Virginia all my life and life for some in the state wasn't easy but they are really good hard working people.
God I love West Virginia
Tell you what though, those folks will survive when the #### hits the fan!!! GOD BLESS EM🤙
That's exactly what I was thinking as I watched this.
West Virginia people knows how take care of their own. We will survive anything
Absolutely! Country can survive!
I'll take all the hard work for simpler times. Anyday
I agree!
No you dont 😊
@Brent Michaud Born and raised in WV . Still live here and always will.
Thank you for the video. I have lived in WV all my life. Good people.
This is excellent. I grew up in eastern Kanawha County, but moved away when I was young for my parent's work. My dad told me stories of him growing up in Nicholas County in the 50's that were similar. The song is so true. You can never fully leave West Virginia. It's part of the reason that after I finish my degree, I want to go back home to WV to help fix the problems I can.
You must not have lived far from my family.
@@ProfessorDan Hearing about taking the train to and from high school makes it sound like your dad/granddad lived up Blue Creek. I wasn't too far, at least as the crow flies. Driving in West Virginia, 4 miles as the crow flies can be 45 minutes away.
From Nicholas county born and raised here still here live like this most of my life
My family was the Parkins out of Kanawha co. There was alot of us then . still is a few remaining was wondering if you've heard of that last name...
I'm originally from Putnam County. I've lived in Ohio for the last 30 plus years because of work. Miss it dearly. Great place to grow up.
Beautiful! Thank you! I’m living out here in California, west of West Virginia. But my roots and heart will always reside in those gorgeous hills back home. My Papa Nash (Nesci) from Italy worked 40 years in the coal mines near Fairmont in Marion County. He was retired by the time I was born so I never saw him walking up the hill toward home with his lunch pail and black face and hands. He did still use Lava soap though...lol. I would sit with him on the swing on his front porch while he smoked his pipe and waved to the neighbors walking by. He had a spitune inside the house next to his chair where he’d occasionally cough up a little coal dust from all those years underground. Sure do miss him! Looking forward to the day I meet him again in Heaven. Until then... we’ve got Almost Heaven in West Virginia. ♥️😇 Thanks again for the memories!
Thank you Diane for your story. I can honestly say that I too am hoping for you to see Papa Nash in Heaven again one day. It might sound weird but it isn't. My grandparents were from Italy and I moved to the South almost 40 years ago and trust me, I wasn't always accepted. I'm hoping and praying to one day soon move North to W.V., find a nice Christian lady and spend my days riding my Harley through GOD'S COUNTRY. Again, thank you, and may GOD BLESS you and yours. SARGE. 🇺🇸
In North central WV. Many Italians moved here. We live in Clarksburg I married into an Italian family. Many Italian restaurants and family names around here.
This is the "real' American spirit. Thank you so much for sharing.
Beautiful depiction of WVa!
THIS IS A 💯 MIRROR IMAGE OF THE WAY I WAS RAISED UP IN THE HOLLERS OF WYOMING COUNTY.
I TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND SHARING THIS WITH EVERYONE. TO ME AS I DID BACK WHEN I WAS A YOUNGIN, I FOUND MYSELF HANGIN ON EVERY WORD OF YOUR PAPAWS STORIES.
I COULDN'T HAVE FOUND THIS AT A MORE NEEDED TIME(DONE MY 🧡 GOOD TO WATCH)
NEW SUBSCRIBER HERE MAN,THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING AND STAY SAFE OUT THERE EVERYONE 👊 🙏 👍 BECKLEY WV
#westvirginiastrong
Glad you enjoyed it. It is a special place.
Me too brother.Pineville
Me too! I grew up in Glen Rodgers then Pineville for a few years!
Me too! I grew up in Glen Rodgers then Pineville for a few years! One of my favorite places though is up on Bud mountain! Bud mountain is where my mom was raised and still have a lot of family up there but it's a place that always fills my heart!
Tonya Simerly 8
West Virginia looks alot like Switzerland 🇨🇭. Also Boner is a swiss name 👍
Greetings from Switzerland and God bless you!
Little Switzerland was one of the nicknames for WV that was taught in school
Doesn’t America have a wonderful history?
Greetings from Charleston WV!!!I would LOVE LOVE LOVE TO VISIT SWITZERLAND... OMG
I have always wanted to visit Switzerland. We had a lot of Swiss people to settle in West Virginia. They had a colony in New Helvatia WVa. I have a nephew that lives in Geneva. He works as a stock broker.
@@catdaddy3302 wonderful and short :=
Great documentary.
Born and raised in WV, it makes me sad to see the despair people live in in 2020. Especially miners whose lives and job they did are not respected properly. WV deserves better.
I Love,The Mountains..I'm a Good Old Country Boy! From Eastern Kentucky..like hearing folks,Life Stories! I'm Half Scottish, German, Cherokee..Had at least One Relative Faught, in All the wars..from Sycamore Sholl.s ,Civil War, Spanish American, ww1,& ww2, GGG, papa's Uncles..Cousins..RIP to all my Love ones From the Mountains...
We lived in Elkins , WV for about 4 1/2 years , wonderful people and beautiful country !!!
Interesting tales: reminder of what we've lost and how fortunate we are today. Great music Prof : D
Makes me think of the good old days. When my dad was still alive. Tell us stories about the old days. I Love hearing them old stories
You are telling a story that will forever be part of me. My family came out of those hills too. Dad didn't want to go into the mines so we moved to Ohio and he took a job with Ford.
So many share similar stories. Glad you like the video!
Born and raised in Marion County and went to a 4 room school with 8 grades. Graduated in 1988. Live in Hampshire and have my own UA-cam Channel “Appalachian History Detectives” where I investigate long and forgotten homesteads.
My parents also from West Virginia Ivydale and Wall back. Wonderful memories of visiting there remember Grandpa with the horse hooked up to the plow as he walked behind it to plow the garden hunting for his own food Grandma making her own butter. Did not have much but it was a wonderful place . Love listening to their stories . Miss my grandparents dearly .
Glad the video brings back those thoughts for you.
Me as well... running wild on my great grandpas farm...there was an old barn, a creek, lots of great stuff! His workhorse Dolly was the best babysitter anyone could ever have... I remember SO much♥️🥰🙋‼️
My grandparents and parents also from Ivydale and Wallback
Oh, I wish my dad were still alive, I'm sure he would have known your family. He grew up in Big Otter and we had family in Ivydale. After I was born we lived with my Grandparents in Big Otter while my dad went to college. They fixed up the cellar house and that's where we stayed. I live in Georgia now and tried to move back to Wva in 2019, but couldn't find a job that pays what I make here.
So glad to learn a little about another part of our great America!! Tough people living a tough life but proud of what they have done!!
Just good old hard working country folks. God bless them.
Yes they are
I am born and raised in the country of a small town called Paw Paw, Wv. located in the panhandle. I love it here. I can remember having an outhouse in my childhood days. Walking a fair distance down to the highway to catch the bus. My daddy worked in the pulpwood for a long time but finally went to a factory job in winchester, va. I dont think he ever missed a days work. I have friends whose dad worked in the coal mines. They have shared how poor they were but never went hungry. I really enjoyed your documentary. WV is a great place to live and people are some of the best people you will ever meet.
Thanks, Beverly! You have a great story too.
A very humbling life. If ya have each other ,and Love , God always makes a way .
Lived in cali Michigan indiana Ohio florida New York .I always came back . It's like you could just feel this is home ,it was in the air .
You can take the girl out of the mountains, but you can't take the mountains, out of the girl .
God bless West Virginia !
Amen!!!
Makes me think of the old stories my grandparents used to tell me when inwaa growing up about the old times out on Logan and Lincoln Counties. Miss 'em a lot along with my dad who was a farmer until the 50'a after he got back from WW2 with the Navy.
Best 18 minutes I’ve spent in years. Great content. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I randomly ran across this and loved it. Really like the music too.
I came up to West Virginia every summer while my grandparents were alive. West Virginia is always in my heart and I hope one day it will be prosperous there again.
Beautiful song that fits perfect for such a beautiful state! This state is amazing and I'm blessed to be able to call these mountains my home.
I don't tire listening to these folks as their lives are full of hard work, resilience, humility and humour. Beautiful song bridging the parts of the vlogs. Live e and let live.
Aw, this makes me want to take the drive to WV from Maine. My Dad is from WV and we have land in Cass.
Cass is beautiful! We live in southern WV but visit Pocahontas county often and love going to Cass!
Thank you Dan for the video. I just love reading the comments, you can just feel the passion and pain folks have for W.V. Pain, as in what made them proud and stronger through hardships. GOD willing I'll be riding my Harley throughout the mountains in the spring, putting 2020 in my rearview mirror. GOD BLESS all who are here for this video.
Thank You So much for this production. I am from the North East; Massachusetts. We, too have experienced an economic decline since to 40's; closing mills and jobs going over seas. Once great 'Mill Towns" now are still trying to find their way back to a new identity. Yes, we are economically sound but many of are Urban areas are still impoverished. And, the gentleman stated this well: W. Virginia's' economy was "directly" tied to the coal industry and its Barron's. Same here in the N. East with woolen and steel mills. Not very diverse economies. Like Detroit to the auto industry, it's hard to get back. Thanks again for the Film.-K
Cities and Suburbs from Nashua, NH. Also a mill town!
Hey thanks for this. I'll check that out.
@Daymmm Of course not. Wouldn't want to live with the peasants that you barely pay to make you rich.
It's not stopping, either. AI replacing drivers, robots replacing warehouse workers. construction & restaurant work will be about the only options left.
We either succumb to mass poverty ala Appalachia, or we institute UBI. Those are the options.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It was extremely well done. I live and work in NC, but my family owns my grandparent’s home place in Upshur County, WV. I am there, at least, once a month. I know WV is where my soul belongs. Thank you for this video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My family from Buchanan
Living on the VA side of W. VA line. The line is 1.5 miles away. When we want to take a drive and get away we cross exactly where East Hardy and Pendleton county meet with Virginia. Feel blessed to be so close.
Thanks for your life stories. Everyone has them. Been to WV twice and absolutely love it. Sending love to y’all from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, God’s Country.
I too grew up in Kanawha County West Virginia. My father was a coal miner. I agree the beauty there is unparalleled and the people are truly loving, caring and giving.
I was born and raised on our family farm in Nicholas County. But like many others because of no work; I have been transplanted elsewhere in the world. I think only people from WV understand that the best way to describe it is like being born of a mother who did her best to raise you but could no longer keep you.
I am the 5th generation on my mamaw side and our family land been in the family well over 100 years. It will be in our family for the next 100 years.
That was a very good way to put it, and that's was the sense I got from all the comments from the people who once lived in WV, they wanted to stay, but just couldn't, torn away, by a need to survive, but yearned to be back where there most fondest memories of life, and love of there family were, kinda sad!
I couldn't help but tear up over this comment.
My mom was born and raised in Richwood family of 12 brothers and sisters my grandpa and some uncles work in the coal mines I really like hearing these stories reminds me of the stories my mom and grandma told me when I was a child
I also remember the red clay roads... picking tea berries up on the hill with my grandma, my great grandma and grandmother cooking in the big farmhouse kitchen with all my aunts and my mom... best food I ever ate... all homemade... everything, from butter to bread to fresh veggies and meat and eggs... 🥰🙋❤️‼️ good times, back breaking workand great music!
Wow I just happened to have this pop up in my UA-cam feed. I couldn't help but cry. I lost my momma in 2012. She was born in crummies creek Ky. My grandmother's side was from the Tennessee areas of Union, Claiborne and Campbell county areas. My grandfather was and miner as was a majority of his kinfolk. My grandfather's side was from West Virginia and Lee County Virginia as well as Harlan County Ky areas. After my grandmother passed away my grandfather carried momma coal camp to camp looking for work. It was the great depression and food was hard to come by. Momma said a many of times they had to dig thru the trash cans for food. Her little body was so malnutritioned she would sleep a lot. My grandfather wound up marrying into a family in West Virginia as well as my momma also. She told me so many heartbreaking stories of the struggles. All my siblings were born in Odd West Virginia. My grandfather died of black lung as well as many othets in the family. I am so glad you shared this story with us. My momma could relate to it really well. God bless
What an incredible history you have. It means so much for you to share your sentiments. Thanks for commenting!
I love reading about my ancestors from West Virginia. I look forward to the day I can visit.
Wonderful documentary....beautiful family history. I just embraced it with such love. Excellent!
Takes me back home everytime i see these documentaries. Harder way if life yet seems so much simpler. Wish i could figure a way to move back and bring some value to all the families that helped me be who i am today
Absolutely incredible documentary. God bless you and your family and the people of West Virginia.
My grandma would sit & tell me stories about times of her life growing up in W.Va. Her father a coal miner, 11brothers& sisters 1 passed....Scot- Irish Catholic family...good people! Hard working! I LOVED HER STORIES! 💘LOVE you grandma!xoxo
Thanks for sharing!
What a great video. I visit west Virginia often hope someday I can buy property there. To listen to these men’s memories of how life was like is great story telling preserved in videos like this is precious. It’s a form of history. From the old pics shown to the hills they walk. From the old truck sitting in their yards there’s a story there. Even to hear their accent is a part of history and culture. Glad a I got to watch this
Boone County native here. Proud to call WV my home.
Professor Dan. I really enjoyed the documentary on your family and the homestead. I have a feeling you are going to make more of these and I hope you do. I want to give you a tip on camera work. When you zoom in or out on a subject, weather its a person,building or outdoor scenery ,you should pan ( sweep ) at the same time. But pan and zoom slowly. I noticed in the graveyard that you were zooming in and out on the man. If you try this tip it makes your finished product more dramatic and interesting. The comments from old timer WV. residents were very interesting.
Thanks, Leo. I had to do the camera at the last minute. We had a hiccup with the videographer - nothing of his fault - but I had to improvise with my Nikon D750. Glad you like the content.
I live just on the other side of Charleston from these folks and off-road in the Pond Gap/Kelley’s Creek area.
West Virginia is God’s Country, special place in my heart! If you go visit, try lunch at Hillbilly Heaven!
I'll need to check it out.
I am not from west Virginia lived in Delaware for 40 years moved to west VA so I could be free I found my home and I love it. thank you god for west Virginia!
Memories,memories,memories and life goes on! W.V. is my home.I was born up Paint Creek Collinsdale,W.V.There's no place in my heart to live but West Virginia!
I love the song, love the music, love the people, and love the old time stories.
Who provided the music in this video. It's realy good.
John, the music is from my album, West of West Virginia. Check it out at www.DansMusicOnline.com or wherever you download music.
I love this music. It's unheard of in this day and age. Absolutely wonderful.
@@ProfessorDan Your voice reminds me of Ricky Skaggs. Very smooth. Will be ordering your CD soon.
Your music is so rich and warm...
Wow. Your video made me cry tears of joy. It takes a lot of humble character to have that effect on a stranger through a short video. Such a beautiful simple life. 🙂
Fabulous. What a beautiful story. Tim Stafford, one of my very favorites. Also Blue Highway, my MOST favorite Bluegrass Music, EVER. Tim, big part of that.
Everyone in my family was born in WV except me. My Dad was raised poor and became a successful accountant.
In Ohio we'd joke that the first thing a kid learns in WV is reading writing and Route 21 which took you into Ohio.
I have a lot of memories of trips to relatives there, the coal camps, pot bellied stoves, trains, miners. Fond memories from the 1950's and early 60's. Back then folks were REAL and neighborly.
Yes sir I grew up in Kanawha co. I left in 1975 .but have been back a handful of times to visit family.. Something about w.Virginia that pulls at my heart strings. Love the ppl and the mountains .. God bless w.Virginia
I'm from WV also. Growing up we learned the 3Rs. Readin, Rritin and Rithmatic. Lol. It was a joke that was said for decades. Good times.😢
Professor Dan, my dad was born in 1908 and this could be my story because there are so many parallels. We lived in central North Carolina and all my Grandparents were farmers and saw millers. Cow, mules, chickens, hogs, goats and water drawn from the well by hand till we got an electric pump was daily life. Granny had a gas power washing machine and heated water in the yard with wood fire. In 1922 Papa Elliott’s whole family was displaced by the Alcoa’s Badin Lake, a move they didn’t want, and never fully got over. We had a 1952 Jeep Pick-Up bought in 1962. I remember milk in “stone” crocks in the spring house and everyone had “root” cellars. When is was good it was very good but there are always difficult hard things that happen but love carries through all. Thank you for sharing your history and family. So many today don’t have any of these memories and sense of place.
I'm English but I once spent a summer in West Virginia, as a young man, it's been in my soul ever since 😍 went back a couple of times in my 20s and feeling the tug on my heart to revisit
Delivered for 84 lumber all over west Virginia. Been in every nook and cranny, beautiful state , beautiful people.. but if you think there are no hungry in america, think again. Saw it firsthand. Saw the mines closed and the poverty. Will never forget
I enjoyed watching this. Touched my heart.
All ❤&🙏 from Charleston, West Virginia
I just humbled by the depictions and stories of these simple people love the mountains and nature but am from new Ort Trump 2020
Thank you all for your comments I love the mountains of West Virginia!
Humble friendly down to earth hard working people of West Virginia thank you!,
Enjoyed watching this lovely documentary of life in the hills of WV, Prof Dan. My dad was a coal miner in Big Stone Gap. Thank you!
What a great story! I love the music. Thank you for making WV look good. So often that isn’t the case.
I Lived in THE MOUNTAINS of Bluefield WEST VIRGINIA as a CHILD...LOVED IT. Left in 1967 FOR HEALTH & MONEY...
Born in West Virginia and had a hardscrabble upbringing. Wouldn't trade the experience for the world. I can survive.
My life story! It make today’s problems seem small. Most wvians have been practicing social distancing all along.
Excellent, excellent story and I sure love that music. When PawPaw said "People today dont know what rough is" he was 100% dead on. Rural people everywhere just knew how to get by, its what you did. Thanks for sharing.
Real talk! Great job guys, I could feel everything you guys spoke about. God bless West Virginia and God bless every miner! Great video
Thanks for making this short documentary. Even though I left West Virginia as a young teen so my father could find work, my heart and soul never left.
From a city boy who did some growing up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky, these mountains and people are beautiful.
Outstanding! Lotta similar stories here in Texas. Thanks for sharing. Happy Thanksgiving to your whole family.
From Huntington WV been 4 years clean and off pain pills now live close to saltrock wv nothing like living in the country wouldn't trade it for anything. Family is from Logan and Hamlin
Glad the fog has lifted for you. Stay well!
Congratulations, Stephanie! My family is from Logan County also. Sold the old family home this past February and it feels like my life has ended.
Congratulations on your sobriety! I know the pain of loving someone that can’t stop. I’m from the beautiful state but in good ole NC now. Wish I lived around Greenbank.
@@shirleyduncan3653 thank you so very much. It's rough I did before I got on them my x husband was and it tore us apart . I love NC and i love it there by Seneca rock and greenbank and where marlington is my x boyfriends family has a cabin close to there .
@@suzybailey-koubti8342 yes we still have cousins and my aunt is still there but they just out her in the nursing home up cheif Logan so we don't spend time there like use to but I sure do miss it .
Every time I go to West Virginia to visit my wife’s family, the more I want to live way off the beaten path in West Virginia it’s like going back in time to a point. It reminds me when I was a kid and cut and split fire wood every year to throw in the wood stove, back when Virginia was still a good state, now I just want to be in West Virginia
I spent time in Berkeley Springs, WV and in a summer camp along Cacapon River when I was a child. I loved being there for about 2 weeks each summer. It was a wonderful time in my life.
Best people you would ever meet!! Love my state West Virginia!!❤️❤️
I love West Virginia! Some of the most beautiful views, and the people are so nice! Its one of my favorite places to visit!
My dad was from Iaeger, WV. I have good memories of the town from the 50's when visiting my Grandparents. Grandpa worked the coal mines. I remember squirrel hunting with him and his beagles. He had the best garden. Grown on terraced rows up the mountain behind their house. Hard life. Good people.
I used to play music with Kenny West, who was from Iaeger.
Larry Fife My mom went to ieager high school and my dad went to big creek.
@@libertyBuilders I appreciate the response. Good people from tough life of coal mining. I work in Punta Gorda as a project manager. I see you are in the same line of work. Best regards.
Wonderful documentary. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating. I have been to W. Virginia and found it to be beautiful and welcoming. Thanks so much.
IM from wv . I remember going home with kids I went to school for the weekend . They dirt floors in there houses . Out houses were 30yds from the house . Only had one wood stove the house . . Us kids had a lot fun back then . Splitting wood . Digging new hole for the outhouse. . We would see who could work the hardiest in a days time that wasn't long back in 1970s