Mother's Day Drive

(Click on all pics to enlarge)


We took a big drive on Sunday and I thought I would take you along for part of it. Our first destination for the day was to visit the cemetery where my parents are buried. We drove to Elkins, WV and headed up the valley....



We are approaching one of two artisan communities designed and built according to a plan by Eleanor Roosevelt. This one is called "Homestead", but is officially known as Valley Bend, WV


The purpose of these communities was to encourage cottage industries and many different artisans began to produce goods at their homes during the war. One of my aunts (great-aunt) was a weaver in this community. We are fortunate to have a wedding gift that she made.



Here are some of the houses today...some additions, remodeling, etc. There were a few different floor plans, but most of the original houses shared some features that made them distinct at the time.

Some had gambrel roofs, but most were these little cottages, and like my Aunt Neva's house had a detached building for the workshop. There she housed her loom and all the flibberty-gibbets used in weaving. Our family had access to wonderful rag rugs down through the years. I still have a couple of wool rugs Aunt Neva made.



We are getting closer to the mountains......BTW...excuse the front of the car in the photos...I was taking these through the sunroof!
It was through this section of the Tygart's Valley that Robert E. Lee was handed one of his first (and few) defeats in the Civil War. It is chronicled in stories of The Battle of Cheat Mountain. There are the barest remains of the two breastworks from the battle. When I was a child (when dinosaurs ruled) they were very distinct and visible. Now if you didn't know where to look you wouldn't know they were there.


Here's a photo of my Grandparents' house.

My cousin Vicki owns it now. There was once sheep, pigs, chickens, and 2 dairy cows that lived here, too. My grandpa sold 2 cans of milk to Carnation Dairy every day for years. The outbuildings are long gone now....the barn, the corncrib, the hay barn, chicken coop, outhouse, etc. Hours were spent playing with the cousins in the corncrib and the hay shed. We shelled way too much corn, made the hay bales ratty by climbing all over them (and disbanding with shrieks and screams when we'd find a bale with half a snake in it), dug in the pig middlins up to our armpits, and of course broke the bottle of sheep dip in the basement that stunk up the entire house which got us in a heap of trouble.

We're at the top of the valley (Valley Head, WV) and heading up the mountain.



This is where the family leaves the Marples, Snyders, Lawsons and Stalnakers (my father's side) and enters the families of the Smiths, Sharps, Wares and Lindsays (my mother's side).....



Our first destination is on top of this hill...

Mountaineers....most descendent of Scot's-Irish ancestors....tended to put their cemeteries on top of hills. The mountains were comfort to them in life and I guess they liked the idea of being there in death.


I won't take you into the cemetery in case it's not your thing...but
I will leave you today with this last picture that keeps the surrounding livestock where they belong.......



Tomorrow we'll travel leg 2 of the trip!
Blessings, Becky