appalachia

In the late 1800's and 1900's, Appalachia was the center of a booming coal mining culture. The town served as hub for about a dozen coal camps nearby.
The town holds two world records. Bee Rock Tunnel, the world's second-shortest railroad tunnel and The Peake Building, an apartment house with street-level access on all four floors.
Each August, a week-long celebration, Coal/Railroad Days, celebrates the history and heritage of the community.

[@truebetold65]

Virginia is like a country within its self. Towns like this is what makes America great.

[@ruthranieri9268]

Wonderful people, I was a come here from the north and love it here.

[@wolflover3405]

We moved here from Tennessee in August. It's a very quiet town. Would love to hear more about the history here.

[@hezecomp]

Just moved from Charleston SC to SW Virginia last July (2020). I like the serenity and proximity to everywhere.

[@David-sc2ir]

I can still smell the diesel smoke from the trains rolling through those mountains with cars filled to the brim with coal. Hinton, West Virginia was a small town, had a theater, grocery store, VFW, and a lot of places along the river to go fishing. Bluestone damn was a tourist attraction, built to stop flooding in the town and became a recreational area in summer. It was a booming little town in its day... but now is just a skeleton of what it use to be. Sad to see it's ruin... no future there. What is so sad is that this all sits in the most beautiful place! Those mountains, valley's, hollers, rich with wildlife and natural beauty. I still go up there from time to time to visit what few remaining relatives are left... visit the family cemetery in Brooks, and remember those day's when we were all together on this earth.

[@theevangelist6178]

Southwest Virginia, home sweet home. I know I'll have to leave one day for the sake of getting a job but I'll never be ashamed to say I'm from Appalachia, not the town but y'all know what I mean.

[@FumariVI]

I know exactly what you mean. I was born and raised in W.Va. deep in the heart of coal country and the beautiful Appalachian mountains but I haven't lived there since the 60s and probably never will again. However I will always consider myself a proud West Virginian. You know you're a true West Virginian if you tear up when you hear that John Denver song.

[@FrankFrank266]

yea saying you're from Pennington Gap is terrifying once you know what it is like.

[@jameshayden6891]

I've lived in all parts of VA. Southwest is what I call home. Originally I'm from the Shenandoah Valley, but moved to SW Franklin Co as a teenager. Beautiful area. That and Floyd Co, Monty Co, Craig, etc.

[@loadedfun4764]

My family come from Appalachia then moved to the big city of Lynchburg WV. I think it was around the 60’s my aunt & Grandmother moves to the sewing mills in Philadelphia for work.

[@marksanders5542]

My family the sturgills are from Derby and that's where we lived when I was born I now live in Indiana and have for the last 50 years but I still miss down home

[@frankdelph6677]

My home town for ever. I will never be ashamed to say that. I had to leave to get a job.But I am going to retire soon and I will move back home.Tired of this big city living.

[@rabokarabekian409]

It's so refreshing to find that n o one had any reason to talk about th4 entire Appalachian mountains" dire poverty, disease, drunkenness, drugs, death, depression, depravity, destruction of environment, ignorance, or corruption.

[@terrenceking5855]

Thanks. I grew up in Maybeury 54 to 72 and never heard of Appalachia!

[@Chrrinfj]

There's no recreating the kind of natural beauty that is Appalachia

[@dimbulb23]

I was born in Appalachia. I left after high school. That was about 60 years ago. What can I say about it... local school were better than you might imagine. The town popped up about 120 years ago because of coal and it's not likely to last much longer. Most of buildings, both homes and businesses are gone. I left because I wanted to live in the 20th Century, that wasn't possible there. My childhood was okay, the mountains, playing in the polluted creek. Lots of kids after WW2 to play with. It was a nice place to be poor, it had that going for it. All who lived there came from other places and not that long ago. But they want to stay there, even though there's nothing much there. I will never understand why, there's nothing for young people. It was a tiny, tiny world in my time there. And it's been shrinking intermittently for 60 years.

[@deneensmith8130]

I live 10 minutes from this little town...Appalachia Virginia. It’s pretty much a ghost town now.

[@EvermontKing]

How about now?

[@vickyrussell1672]

I Just Love this Area

[@mikefannon6994]

S.W. VA is where my people are from. As a young boy in the 50s my Grandaddy had an old-time general store in the small Scott Co. town of Duffield. He would take me along on his trips to the bank in Appalachia - a thriving town then. The bank manager would greet us and talk with Grandaddy. (Unlike today where you are just a number) I sure do miss those beautiful mountains and lovely people.

[@BowtechShooter45]

Born and raised in jonesville Virginia, live in Chatsworth Georgia now. But nothing else compares to the mountains I grew up in

[@SouthwestVirginia]

Thanks for sharing those fond memories with us Mike! One of the things we love about the region are our small towns and the good folks who live in them. There's nothing like good old southern hospitality and being somewhere that everybody knows everybody!

[@trishhill7563]

I'm not from Appalachia but a town close by & I wouldn't leave Big Stone Gap for any amount of money.

[@mikefannon6994]

My Dad's family is from Duffield, just down the road from Big Stone Gap. Know it well. My greatuncle and uncle had a junkyard there. When I was a kid in the early 60s Uncle Kenny would take cousin Jack and I in his dump truck around the mountain towns buying scrap metal. Seems like he knew everyone in that part of VALUE and KY. A great time and place!

[@BobPapadopoulos]

Could've done with more on the camps. That's where most of the town lives anyway, and without em this just kinda bled into the BSG one.

[@chelseac2190]

Lovely.

[@arkie74]

when steam died, and the depression hit, so did thousands of towns. there are towns around where I live in nw Arkansas that are all but gone. others are on life support....sad. one town, Westville Ok. that before the depression was a booming town. now its a fossil of what it was.

[@delorsegreene4106]

Whitewood viriglna

[@delorsegreene4106]

Whitewood 😃😘

[@delorsegreene4106]

Whitewood Virigina

[@delorsegreene4106]

!

[@josephpenley4283]

One thing u don't c ALOT of even today box cars. Coal train from a load out, headed out. To trucking in from BRISTOL ECT.

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

So I have a ? Are all the rivers and streams polluted from the coal mines like in W Virginia?

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

@@michaelsaunders289 who's that?

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

@@michaelsaunders289 Oh I drink that water hope it's not polluted.

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

@@michaelsaunders289 if it's deer park water like you buy bottled water yes .

[@randomvintagefilm273]

The difference between Western and Eastern Virginia couldn't be more different.

[@ridor9th]

5:40 to 5:46. Never thought it'd happen in Appalachia. Progress is great, is it?

[@BobPapadopoulos]

+ridor9th Then you must not know the area, as Miss Caboose has been an annual thing for about three or four decades.

[@ridor9th]

+Bob Papadopoulos Of course I do not know the region very well. I only knew the region through my late father and relatives. Duh.

[@marcdewey3848]

But this progress came with a price,a lot of men died building that railroad.

[@bobdobalina839]

It's not progress, it's a joke to them. Dumb bigoted hicks

[@sgshaday]

@@bobdobalina839 Says the user who goes with "dumb bigotted hicks". Never leave mainland US or wherever you live. You won't survive in the rest of the world. Not even in Puerto Rico, where we are proud to be "jibaros". Learn to take a joke, or the world itself will continue to offend you, Karen.

[@anthonyeaster362]

🤝📈

[@SundryGirl]

💖🙏

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

Hi sister I see you already watched this. Nice little town.

[@debroahisaacs2452]

I'm right from a little towel between Big Stone Gap and Appalachia....called Pennington Gap ...no better place on earth southwest Virginia

[@tarlcabbot6880]

Well, those mountains used to look very good. I grew up in Roda Holler and camped out upon a mountain that the last time I checked 8 yrs. ago, the very top was gone. In fact, not sure when this was filmed, but I highly doubt that Powell river stays nice and full year round. With the water shed all but gone, it floods in Spring and practically dries up in fall and winter. Ariel views will show over 160 mountain tops gone completely. It looks more like a lunar landscape. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but come on, they've torn the mountains all to hell.

[@jeffharvey8412]

thats whe i live

[@catboy9066]

I love appalachia 💚💚💚 but we need a flag my profile pic is just a proposed flag for appalachia but we need an official flag

[@ChrisWilbur]

This place is literal crackville😂

[@jeffscott8323]

And coalminers.

[@brandonhill3739]

That white haired fella wearing the brown hat in the beginning is actively overdosing on pain killers in this video. His pupils are pinpoint in size and super slow speech. Indicative of opioid OD. That’s wild, but also expected from Appalachia.

[@coolbreeze1627]

Idiot

[@ChrisWilbur]

This place is literal crackville😂