A Disappearing Holler - The Black Section of an Appalachian Coal Town: Saw Mill Holler

[@isabellerose310]

Most of my family is from Dante. My great grandfather immigrated there with his parents in the 20s from Italy. I lived there for a few years, my mom and I actually hiked up to that little church, but my grandparents are forever telling me stories (one grew up in Straight Holler and the other in West Dante). Also, there are some talks of turning the ball field into a campground because it’s so close to the trails (but I don’t know exactly how close). Arty Lee, the school that used to be behind it was torn down a couple years ago, but I believe they tried to save it first, like the depot in Bunch Town when you first come in. The trains rarely run through Dante or the area anymore. At least no where nearly as much as they used too.

[@janicebell1666]

I use to love riding my bike at the top of the ball field going down..lol...the church on the hill was a beautiful place..the grounds were well taken care of.....many successful black professionals came from Dante.....love my home town!

[@realappalachia]

So glad you shared your memories with us, thanks so much

[@alvankarpas6245]

Why I love following this channel! ;-) Who else but Shane and Melody could get me to watch a ride through all of the hollers in VA and WV and never get bored! Happy new year kiddos!

[@jamesharris9546]

You bring tears to my eyes and love to my heart in all the old memories of days gone bye cousin,,,love and God bless you both.

[@realappalachia]

Glad you enjoy them, James

[@curtismonk9524]

There used to be an elementary school just past that ball field. "Arty Lee" Elementary. I believe it was a segregated school at one time, but my generation (Baby Boomer) was around to see Arty Lee and Dante Elementary become desegregated, and in my memories that was a wonderful time! I have precious memories of some very close friends who lived in Saw Mill Holler. Talfords, Adams, Kincaid families to name a few. It has changed a great deal from my last time there .. .many many years ago.

[@realappalachia]

Great memories, thanks for sharing

[@janburkett4107]

Hi sweetie! I love to see these videos. Makes me homesick! I’m going to be down there in October for my 55th high school reunion!

[@shearer117]

Curtis, Arty Lee was segregated. Black children came down from Dickenson County by train to attend as well. The building is gone now but a memorial plaque will be placed by the Dante Community Association, which is doing good work in Dante.

[@mamawdillonsthisthatandpea8804]

I enjoy the memories, I am 82 in Jan and lived up Cabin Creek holler in WV 3 different times. From Notomine, United, Wevaco down to Dakota does not exist any more.

[@realappalachia]

So many of the old hollers and coal camps are disappearing, it is really sad

[@sandratalford4964]

This brings back good memories when I was a kid . Loved living in Dante.

[@pvjohnson52]

I’ve enjoyed your 2021 videos and the adding of Melody. Hope to see y’all more in 2022. Thanks.

[@realappalachia]

Thank you so much! We wish you a happy New Year! - Melody

[@dwaincarico2002]

Drove through there everyday for years on the way to work.

[@danalynch8889]

I would like to see you do a long video where you follow a backroad. So us home bound can have a country drive. No need to sight see, just a relaxing beautiful view drive.

[@realappalachia]

We’ll put that on our to do list, Dana! Thank you and happy New Year! - Melody

[@i_9_power_allah321]

It's so beautiful there, I love railroading videos especially in the Appalachians. Would love to live there ,but can't bring my welding trade there.

[@meltonthomas7865]

Hello and thank you . You just took me into my past with this video l’m from New York but my mother and family are from Dante, I’m 57 , my cousins and practicality my whole family is from there. Every summer vacation we would go to that holler. As l look back at my past I enjoyed every minute there wish that there was more houses put in place, when l was a kid there was not an open space always a house there. Our house was at the end of the holler along with my grandmother’s house. Would love to see that place rebuild, would love to move back there. Thanks again so much for this video!

[@realappalachia]

Melton, so glad you enjoyed it. Comments like yours make our day and are why we do what we do. Thanks so much.

[@teddyhurd4016]

We enjoy your KZbin, take more time at restaurants, show the food they serve. Take time for us to read the signs. We were born in 🐻 Waller, North of Dante, Virginia. We left & joined the military, living in Florida since 1964. Keep ☝ your KZbin program.

[@GE-pu8vt]

You guys do really good videos, and I love Melody's accent.

[@realappalachia]

Thank you! - Melody

[@ironcast]

I agree and Melody looks as cute as her voice sounds. :)

[@raymondparsley7442]

Inspirational look from the present into the past.... Your drive around, is a sure reminder we are just passing thru... from birth to the grave... The little churches along the way... make us aware of the need to prepare for the promise land... the promised calling... Thank you for the historical look see.. thank you very much.

[@toriwhite4382]

I’ve always loved visiting Dante as a child. We used to visit every summer. Going to my Uncles was my favorite but driving around learning the culture and how my grandparents grew up really inspired me into studying anthropology.

[@damiensullivan440]

Right now , I would love to leave the UK and live in West Virginia. Beautiful part of the world with brilliant people.

[@janburkett4107]

My mother used to take my sister and me to the ball field to practice our driving. There was a slate dump up there that burned for years. I grew up in Lower Bear Wallow . It’s a wonder we all didn’t die from the fumes. At the head of Bear Wallow there was another slate dump that burned too! Thanks for the ride along! I remember when I was small that the creek would flood and my grandfather, Mack Adkins, would take his outboard fishing boat and rescue the people in Saw Mill. When the mines started in Dante, the company owners would pay passage for immigrants to come to work for them in the mines. If one was killed in the mines they had no way to notify their family because of communication problems and a lack of information. They buried them where the ball field is located.

[@curtismonk9524]

Hi Jan!!!!

[@brucettawhite8325]

I spent my summers there. I still have family that lives there. Wonderful memories of Christmas time with the Santa train. And you're right, family was and is big in the Holler!!

[@thfield2417]

The abandoned church was so beautiful, even in its sad state. I'm just another fan of you two documenting Appalachian history before it disappears! Happy New Year!

[@realappalachia]

thanks so much, happy new year to you too!

[@johnlokes1925]

been watching the videos for few months now. Love the videos. Thank you so much.

[@realappalachia]

Thanks for your support, John!

[@janicebell1666]

Well..I from there...I loved the people there!..Thanks for Going to my home town, Shane & Melody!!

[@realappalachia]

Stay tuned, we have a longer Dante video coming pretty soon. We are really glad you enjoyed it

[@disco07]

I remember those old gravel roads. Dust be a mile high. Nice little holla town. I hope they got cable.

[@henryanderson7606]

I just gotta say you seem like good folks! ....I really enjoy your videos!

[@realappalachia]

we appreciate that so much!

[@otisstrouth613]

Lived accross from coal yard between Sun and Dante. Went to Dante all my Elementary school years. Had friends from every hollow around. Wouldn't change any part of growing up in Dante. It made us who we are today.

[@tonyahill1094]

I am from west Dante can u film there it's a holler my family is from there the hill family

[@DeeDee-dl7sl]

Beautiful area!

[@kennymartin379]

Very beautiful

[@bruinsfan8278]

I grew up in a Holler in Front Royal VA. Of coarse nest to a saw mill off the Remount road, We were kids and played in a Big pile of sawdust next to the mill, Until a Worker would come out and run us off! Those were the Days! That was in the 1960s! Thanks for your videos! Bring back Awesome memories.

[@brendaphillips551]

I was born in Straight Hollow in Dante! Remember all of this and went to Dante School! If you turn right instead of of left going towards Saw mill Hollow you will be in straight road and up the road into the neck of the hollow is straight hollow! Wonderful memories of all the good people that lived there ! People helped people out back in those days

[@larrym.johnson9219]

Thanks for the download, Shane and Melody 🤟👍⛪👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🇺🇸.

[@realappalachia]

glad you liked it

[@deannahafemeister5671]

I've traveled through this holler many times when I worked as a home health nurse years ago.

[@randykey5700]

Hello and Merry Christmas! I certainly hope y’all had a great Christmas, we’ve been so busy since Friday, we certainly enjoyed seeing your video on the holler , as always we enjoy seeing y’all and enjoying watching the video on all the great places y’all go! Keep up the great job! Happy New Year

[@beauusa11]

I would love to see you guys go over some back roads from Roanoke Virginia the west Virginia… not highway……….. it was terrifying…theses roads are mellow compared…….

[@fayewhite7541]

Thanks for the ride! I just love the way you two describe the journey into these places. I feel.Ike I am in your back seat while you are giving me a tour. 🤗

[@stevematda976]

Fun Fact: the ballfield was constructed out of the material removed to create the nearby Sandy Ridge tunnel when it was bored in 1912. There's probably human remains scattered there from the workers killed constructing the tunnel.... My dad and grandparents lived in Upper Bear Waller. Their house (in ruins) are one of only two homesites that survive in UBW to this day.

[@shearer117]

Steve, thanks for the information about the building of the ballfield from tunnel refuse. I heard the same: Workers who died during the tunnel construction who did not have families around were buried on site.

[@poppythegoodtroll9136]

Beautiful

[@neilahalter7441]

Love it. Belated Happy holidays to yall

[@mpgarr]

For some reason, I do love your rides up into the hollers, but it makes me kind of sad that not even the hollers are like what they used to be. I guess I have now lived long enough that I see places I have spent time at, passed through or lived have gone one of two ways. They have either become so popular and developed, they have so many people ad so much has been built, they are no longer recognizable, the environment in such places are taking a beating thanks to so many people there OR they are desolate, sad, broken down places filled with derelict, decrepit buildings and houses or everything that once stood there is gone with barely a trace. I see this in the places I travel from Florida up to Ohio, that includes all those states in between. I do love your videos because you travel thru and to places I don't seem to get to as much as I once did and would like to do so again. Safe travels, ya'all. Happy New Year.

[@mikebass9943]

Thank y'all for another adventure, such a relaxing video, don't go to deep in those Hollers, you might get shot at with holler points, oh that was bad , sorry. love y'all.

[@realappalachia]

Lol I love a good...or bad...pun lol

[@threvaboggs5738]

My mothers family is from Dante and lot of family still lives there.Hey Shane yo got Straight Rd. and Straight Holler .Back when we would visit the gtandparents you cold call a grocery list in and it would be delievered in a box truck,that was a thrill back in the years ,precious memories

[@shirleyhobbs6823]

I spent my honeymoon watching hubby play ball on baseball field...were they Dante Tigers?

[@jamese3169]

Thanks for taking me somewhere else I've never heard of. Looks like a very interesting place. Safe travels and a very blessed and healthy New Year.

[@realappalachia]

Thanks, James! Happy New Year! - Melody

[@MillerMeteor74]

At 6:09, I have that same car, a late 90s Lincoln Town Car. But that one looks like it might be a couple years older than mine. Anyway my parents have some friends who live in a holler in WV. The last I knew, their address was in Duck, WV. I don't know if it still is or not. Their address changed at least once over the years, even though they didn't move.

[@shirleyhobbs6823]

I came to Dante after I got married, we weren't rich but we lived good, plenty of food, nice clothes and medical care.....you did also Kurt.

[@c103110a]

"Watch out or we'll be eating chicken McNuggets tonight..."

[@realappalachia]

Lol

[@robinhaupt9119]

I really enjoy these videos, thank you.

[@realappalachia]

Thanks for watching and the comment, Robin

[@midwestsmokeboss7306]

I often wondered we're there any black communities in the appalachians hollers currently 2024

[@brendalane4228]

Love the holler videos!

[@angeliabarkley3134]

Another great video. I enjoy traveling with yall. Cya next time

[@realappalachia]

Thanks for riding along, Angelia

[@tradercris]

Great!!! I will send you contribution after Jan 1. Be good.

[@realappalachia]

Thanks so much, we really appreciate it

[@timcarty5328]

I have been told the CSX tunnel there is the longest RR tunnel this side of the Rockies. It is about 1 1/4 miles long. I believe the segregated school was for Dickenson and Russell Counties.

[@greghale5480]

Sandy Ridge Tunnel is 7,854 feet to be exact…and perfectly straight! The south end of the tunnel is just a short walk up the railroad from the ball field there in Dante.

[@christophermaggard9917]

Internet working today! Happy New Year and first.

[@realappalachia]

Happy New Year to you too, Christopher

[@bertram46]

Great video guys, as usual. Merry Christmas

[@Clairbear1222]

There's alot of blur on this one for some reason but still interesting.

[@danielarmstrong9219]

Thanks for sharing! Have a Happy New Year!

[@realappalachia]

Happy New Year to you too, Daniel

[@crash_davis]

Y’all should think about making an all-holler channel 👍

[@realappalachia]

Not a bad idea

[@mrsBurchett22]

Have yall ever been in Martin ky. My husband's mamaw is 92 and lived in a holler until recently. Stephen's branch road . She used to run a general store, mail stop for the road and gas station outside of her house. His grandfather worked in the coal mine

[@realappalachia]

Havent had a chance to get to Martin County yet but it is on the hit list

[@oldguyBMX]

That was 100 years ago! Lol. It's hard to believe we are headed I to 2022!

[@realappalachia]

That is hard to believe! Have a happy New Year! - Melody

[@manyhats3846]

Thank- you!!! Because you both gave a great tour of parts of the world I pretty much would not have gotten to see. Culture!!!Echo of history and nostalgia.

[@realappalachia]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much

[@1940limited]

There's nobody around. Where is everybody? There's the railroad again. That's always there, but we never see a train.

[@realappalachia]

Very few people live in a lot of these hollers these days, sadly

[@greghale5480]

The railroad through Dante is CSX, originally the Clinchfield Railroad. With the downsizing of the US coal industry, the Clinchfield is nowhere near as busy as it use to be. Today maybe 4 to 5 trains per 24 hours will pass through Dante, whereas a couple decades ago 20 to 25 would pass! Dante Yard was a very busy coal marshaling yard through the 2000’s, but traffic declined so dramatically CSX closed the yard a few years ago. Coal cars being stored is all that can be found in the yard today.

[@1940limited]

@@greghale5480 That's too bad but not surprising.

[@hunhun23]

COULD YOU ALL DO A VIDEO OF ORISKANY, VIRGINIA? THAT IS WHERE MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS BORN

[@realappalachia]

Have no idea where that is, do you know what county it is in?

[@tomh6951]

Shane has indicated several times that he has visited certain places previously. Why? What sort of job did he have that provided him the opportunity to visit so many small places?

[@realappalachia]

a lot of visits have came in the last year since i first started researching Appalachian history and the other visits came while I worked in banking. I was a district manager over several branches in Virginia and Tennessee so I was constantly on the road.

[@mpgarr]

@@realappalachia I had wondered this too.

[@mikea5424]

Wife and I road up on Jewell Ridge yesterday around Pee Patch off to Bradshaw up the creek to War up by Berwin lake to Bearwallow mountain, I thought about y’all.

[@realappalachia]

Now that is a fun drive right there. The last time I was at Berwind Lake the motor blew in my car and I almost died trying to track down a ride home so I am leery of it now lol. My mom's family was all from Jewell Ridge

[@mikea5424]

If there is a Sasquatch he is in one of those hollows over there.

[@realappalachia]

@@mikea5424 🤣🤣🤣 no doubt

[@michaelrose1069]

Yes Calvin was from there the ball field you guys was looking at that's a campground. And yes you missed your gravel road you needed to go up Phillips hollow road. Where you guys went and stopped and turned at west dante the big white house was my parents live

[@realappalachia]

really cool, thanks for the info

[@samcook1545]

What a cool church!

[@realappalachia]

Yes it was great

[@samcook1545]

@@realappalachia Looks a to like one in Wake Forest, which is the Black community in what's left of the Montgomery Co., VA coalfields. Still in use...the church, not the mines.

[@realappalachia]

@@samcook1545 churches are usually the last things to go in the coal camps but Dante was pounded by flooding plus they have 2 other churches so I'm guessing as the population dropped they converged into the other 2.

[@seasonandsprout2213]

how about that circus tent at the end of the video!

[@realappalachia]

Yeah that threw us off too lol

[@samanthab1923]

It’s interesting in the NE most towns that had RR stops had a black section. All that has been bought up by Hispanics now.

[@mariebrown4458]

Why Did They Call These Places"Holler"? Did They Really Mean"Hollow"?😌Just Curious🙏🏽✨

[@arthurbrumagem3844]

Just the way those in the hills pronounce the word.

[@bobbydeskins2042]

you guys should check out south force 10 on youtube.

[@realappalachia]

Will do

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