Stroll around Williamson West Virginia

[@jjschannel6532]

I was in Williamson a couple days ago. I threw a bag in the car and hit the road. I saw the hospital then Matewan and the museum, it was all fantastic. I spent several days just driving those mountain roads. I wanted to look you up but decided against it because I know you both work and you're busy. I recently lost my hubs of 55 yrs so instead of sitting home crying like I was doing, I'm out exploring.

[@someonesprincess3]

❤👍🏼👍🏼🤗

[@candacefarmer9269]

Godbless 🙏

[@charlessirois7627]

Sorry for your loss, My wife of 55 yrs. past 2yrs. ago, I now take care of my bro. who is 92 yrs. young, so now I sit and watch these young'uns travel. I like their stories....

[@jjschannel6532]

@charlessirois7627 thank you, I'm sorry for your loss too. After a lifetime of having them by our side, it is hard to function alone. He made me promise that I wouldn't curl up and stay that way. I did for a while, but now I'm honoring his wishes and trying to find things to keep me busy. Sending blessings

[@charlessirois7627]

@@jjschannel6532 🙂

[@susiek.johnson3923]

Small town USA, stories, legends and history. Every small town in our country, it's what made America.❤

[@barb5404]

My husband and I love your channel! You’re like an old friend to us! The stories that you told us about setting your sister up to get in trouble about your socks and the tape that you recorded about the school being closed for snow…we laughed and laughed!!! We loved it! Thanks Friend!❤

[@kevinstrait4805]

Leo, I can relate. I grew up in the sixties and seventies. I was a michevious little boy. I'm a much better grand dad now. Great job brother.

[@allennezi1674]

My first job driving a eighteen wheeler was in Cincinnati hauling produce. One of the routes I had was to deliver at the produce market in Huntington, West Virginia then to Charleston, and back to the market in Huntington in the morning to load up for Williamson. What a beautiful place that I’ll never forget.

[@charliepc56]

Nice to see some business' still there in your home town. I loved the old town of Grundy Virginia, Barber shops, Pool Halls, Beer Joints, restaurants, Jewelry Stores, Drug Stores, Magazine stands, just to name a few. The crowded streets and Shoe Shine boys on Saturdays. Soon there will be no more stores, just websites like Amazon and Ebay. I mis those old days. Thanks for the trip down memory Lane!

[@judypierce7028]

You are so funny! Love your laugh.

[@cindymeyer5585]

Thank you Leo for showing us your hometown it really looks like a nice place to live.

[@anthonyhlau]

Hi! My sister found this video and forwarded it to me tonight. I very much enjoyed the video and stroll down memory lane. We lived in South Williamson in the 70's - 80's through the floods of '77 and '84. It was awesome to see James Pajarillo in your video! (Hi James!) We were neighbors and childhood friends at Wilson Drive next to Appalachian Regional Hospital. Fond memories growing up in that area! Watched 'Superman' and even Buddy Rich the drummer in concert at the Cinderella Theater! My father's office was next to the Cinderella Theater. Picking up catalog orders (particularly snow pants for sled riding for snow days!) at the local Sears store, roaming through the Sundry Store for candy and comics, marching by the Coal House during Christmas parade with the Cub Scouts, shopping at the A&P, eating pizzas from Little Venice and The Walnut Room and of course Sacred Heart Church and School. Just a flood of memories (no pun intended) watching this video! Thank you! God bless you and the our old hometown from years ago, Williamson, WV!

[@quebot1111]

That was a very uplifting video. I caught myself smiling and laughing thinking back to my childhood. This was a video of quality. Thank you both for working so hard and it shows.

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@bethgiesey9405]

Leo, this was awesome. We still have a church that rings the bells. I laughed till I cried about the sock story

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Thanks Beth!

[@Zoeebella]

My hometown!!! I thought they were still going to open the Mountaineer back up. It's pretty devastating for the tourism seeing that the closest hotels are now in Pikeville :(

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Yes it's sad

[@beverlydixon5921]

It's a beautiful small town Virginia quaint and homey .... Virginia is beautiful State...

[@normajeanhedlund7429]

Really appreciate the tour. Got us interested in looking into maybe getting one of /those empty store fronts. Cant find a listing yet but will keep searching. Would love to live in your town. (Actually on outskirts but you know what I mean). Thank you for the tour Leo. You and Heather have a great day, see you next time. Jim and NormaJean

[@leela715]

Oh the stories this town could tell.... I remember all of the stores and movie theater, and my favorite was the bookstore, where I would get my reads for the month, because I lived on the other side of Matewan, (and still do, which is another beautiful place called Beech Creek.... too far away to come to town that often... but when I did, I had fun! I remember, G.C. Murphy's submarine sandwiches, I remember the Lock, Stock, and Barrel, the best restaurant in town, and the Day and Night Restaurant... you need to do some stories about them.... what fun it was growing up in the area.... those were the good ole days... makes me so sad sometimes to see how much it has gone down. Glad I still have the memories. The mall up on the hill kinda shut the town stores down, didn't it? 🙂P.S. And Justice Drive-In, the best drive-in ever! 🙂

[@nyatvtrailhogs6927]

Thank you for the visit.

[@lisacooper3991]

Happy Saturday mornin y'all... great view..i sure love the mountains.. and hikin when I was living in Tennessee.. just getting out riding 4 wheeler is awesome way have fun 😊 spend the day...

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Good morning!

[@SteveLuchner]

Love ur history I wish I can help with funds 😢 I'm on low income

[@chuckthomas8176]

Thank u . I grew up in the 60s an 70s .. hahah small farm town n oklahoma.. 🤣 pretty town u have there .. thanks for sharing. Hopefully some day city folks will see the benefit of small town USA . And rejoin and help build them back to a better state.

[@louellenrichard2807]

I love watching your videos, your Town is so beautiful and you have many good memories. Love all the Hatfield and McCoys stories, what intriguing history. Thanks for the info 😊

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Thank you so much!

[@donkear7133]

I was there 3 weeks ago. We had a great time riding the trails.

[@crimsoncrime007]

I love your childlike laughter. Its very genuine and real. I love it. Realism is something missing today...

[@thehillbillyfiles]

😊 thank you

[@sherricoomes]

Love the tour , would love to come and visit. I love the old town feeling

[@sherrilee230]

Thank you for showing us your home town. What's the population there. My home town is about 500. Thanks Leo

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Somewhere around 5k

[@joeanderson8839]

I used to play in Williamson West Virginia back in the 1980s with a top 40 band. I thought it was the most unique and beautiful place I had ever been. I know things have changed since then. But back in the 80s it seemed like stepping back in time to the 1920s or 30s. I could walk everywhere I needed to go in town. Everything I needed to shop for was right there. I could look down from the top of the mountain and see the whole town. And the ladies treated us as if we were superstars. Everything was so old-fashioned, except that it was the 80s, and there was a sexual revolution going on in those days. So things were a little wild. And we used to buy our weed from a drive-through drug window. The line stretched all the way around the house. If they ran out, they would hang a sign on the door that read, " Out of weed, back in 5 minutes."

[@svenomick5857]

Great stuff Leo cheers Mick Australia.

[@samscaggs2270]

Heartbreaking to see what's gone. I remember where things were too!

[@thomasmcminn6620]

Leo I grew up in a place in pickens sc. And remember western auto. Otasco pick and pay shoes. Anyway this video brought back cool memories. Thank you brother.

[@kerrydennison7947]

Almost any of the little small villages up in Michigan's upper peninsula that has a Catholic Church most of them still have the Bell Tower but normally now they are only used for call for mass services, and the little volunteer fire departments use a large foghorn with a series of codes to call in volunteer firefighters and what part of the county the fire is in, Leo it looks like your hometown is growing up quite a bit, but have you got yourself a Farmer's co-op store yet? But unfortunately it seems like small-town America now is defined by how many Dollar general stores you have, Ontonagon Michigan has one ace hardware,one dollar general,one iga food store,two small gas stations/ convenience stores and most of the other businesses are geared toward the tourist bars and gift shops, I remember when we had the Western Auto in dahlonega Georgia, I purchased my first shotgun there back in 1957, A Western Field Brand 16 gauge bolt-action shotgun, and I later purchased a Western Field bolt-action deer rifle in 30-06, which was nothing more than a Winchester model 70 with a different name brand stamped on the barrel, the bolt-action shotgun was nothing more than a Mossberg that has a different brand name stamped on the barrel, and believe it or not these firearms were of the same quality as the brand name rifles and shotguns, those two sporting weapons and a Ted Williams 10 gauge double barrel shotgun that I purchased at the Sears store along with a Ruger 22 caliber pistol put a lot of fresh meat on the table for a mountain family, in the 1950,s n 1960,s and these old guns are still the most treasured firearms that I own, Good times😊😊😊😊❤

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

I’m sure loved Strosnider’s growing up. I loved their ham salad sandwiches and ice cream! Weren’t the Michael’s Syrian or Lebanese? Remember Piggly Wiggly across the bridge 🌁 n South Williamson, KY? Pinson Motors? Bought 4-5 Volkswagen’s there. (The whole family had one.

[@RCaddictions74]

Are used to live there when I was a kid in 1982 when the big flood came in in 1984 we moved out wish I would’ve stayed

[@lazarusmesserian8186]

John, Thanks for the stroll through town. That was my old stomping grounds as I grew up in the building you said you spent a lot of time in. By the way, I know you know better than to stand on 2nd Ave and call it "deep 3rd". For Suzy's question, yes Michaels were Lebanese. His dad use to have a pop corn machine in front of store and sold popcorn for 5 cents for a small bag and 10 cent for a box.

[@thehillbillyfiles]

I pointed right at 3rd. Who is john??

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

Thanks! ❤️

[@annehorstman6071]

lmao, no you did good. To funny Leo, funny. My town now has no church like yours. Where I was born and went to high school those towns have beautiful old churches that toll the hours.

[@gailweikelcorrea]

I remember coming up here on video with you during winter but you were in your element...Special times !!

[@susanrains284]

Cool little town!!

[@someonesprincess3]

Lol @ the cassette weather tape that you used for 4 yrs..lol I’m not far from Williamson. I’m a hillbilly person also. ❤👍🏼👍🏼✌🏼

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Very cool!

[@bobbyadkins6983]

Thanks for sharing. 🙂

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Thanks for watching!

[@dennissellards9249]

My dad was born in Williamson and worked the coal mines. Used to go to Turkey creek Kentucky and spend the summers with my grandparents great place to stay😅

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

The old depot is where my Papaw Brooks and his brothers rode into as young fellas from Richmond, Virginia in 1921-22. They all came to work in the mines down at Nolan.

[@ladonnakoenig4915]

I have actually stayed in this hotel. 2011 October when my grandmother was in the hospital and then died and buried in Canada Ky with my grandfather.

[@tim2269]

Very cool.I looked you up because I found a picture of a cute girl taken in an Arcade there 1979

[@melaniegudgel1]

Does your town have the noon siren? I lived in a town that did for about 3 years, Ainsworth Nebraska population is less than 1200. I always lived in in a city before that. I could never get used to the siren. I don’t need to be told when it’s lunchtime. Now I only go back there for funerals.

[@thehillbillyfiles]

No. Our town has church bells

[@corinnestearns6661]

Love the history

[@melaniegudgel1]

Omg Kings used to have a sandwich called a cheese frenchy. They were so good. It might not have been the same restaurant. Ours was in Lincoln Nebraska. And Boulder Colorado.

[@michaelbedinger4121]

Nice little town, and so full of history! It looks like a nice place to live. It is unfortunate about all those businesses going away, 😢 I guess it is the time we live in. The coal house was particularly interesting. Thank you very much Leo, for a great walking tour. Oh, are you going to talk to Heather about buying a red hot, sports car? Good luck! 😊

[@clarehuyck5298]

Western Auto was the pre-runner to Ace Hardware.

[@sherricassady873]

Omg, i just noticed the pastors last name.. My great granmother was an Acord. 😊❤ He might be related to me... 😊

[@sandyworkman9110]

I remember the 77 flood and I know there was one after that and I remember being at the moviehouse my mom did the seats at the movie house reupholster them

[@chistinecox368]

Your rich in so many ways, you don't even know, I live in Northern Kentucky but drive an hour up in to Cincinnati, Freaking rat race. When you talked about hating the red light, made me laugh, I play Russian Rulet every day trying to get home. You got piece and Beautiful mountains, count your Blessings.

[@corinnestearns6661]

Love y’all

[@florancechapman6481]

😂😂😂 hey a mans gotta do what a man gotta do. My mommy was a hilly billy hell cat to my friend. My grandfather used to take me on a train to Kermit west Virginia to visted my mom she worked in a bar. And he and my aunt his baby daughter raised me.

[@lindeejones1980]

Hi Leo,,have you ever heard tale of any Letchoe Family living around that area,maybe another town,,but none the less,,jus thought I'd inquire,I'm on my ancestry ❤ take care hope to hear back from you,,or anyone on here.Thanks❤

[@jimd8008]

Remember Western Auto carrying tools, firearms, ammo, housewares etc. If they didn't have it they would order it for you. Higher priced but like a small department store.

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

Almost Heaven❤

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

My favorite ❤️ place was always the Mountaineer Hotel growing up and Harvit’s clothes store for my poor boy shirts and bell bottom pants. Leo, Crystal Block Coal Company was right down the road from Hatfield Museum site.

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

The women fought also in Logan County! 😂😂😂

[@charlessirois7627]

I call them ghost buildings.. when you see the outline of a building on the other.

[@cherylmanning9172]

Beautiful

[@melindaschluter1669]

Yay, number 18!

[@paulacollins3223]

Should see where your watchers are from .. some of us don't have a chance to ATV ride like that. Enjoy the fun.

[@thehillbillyfiles]

I know that, that's why I show it

[@eugene4528]

Cheap Roman and supposed to be buried in Auburn New York they got a big obelisks in fort hill cemetery

[@dontaylor3039]

Oops your in trouble leo

[@joeanderson8839]

I stayed in that Hotel.I could see the jail house outside my window.

[@BonnieKetterman-qw8vd]

Do u happen to know anything about Belle WV or Glasgow WV that's where my family is from

[@thehillbillyfiles]

I don't, I'm sorry

[@charlessirois7627]

Sad to say no😔😔😪😪😪😪😪

[@thehillbillyfiles]

Who said no?

[@truthjunkie63]

So beautiful

[@jasonrunyon2663]

Did you graduate from Williamson High School? If so, what year?

[@ninaellyson814]

Leo, does your town accept outsiders? We live California and we can’t stand it here anymore. It’s too hot and dry. No seasons to speak of. My ancestors are from the south. We don’t have a ton of $ but it looks like a nice place to live. Hope one day we can relocate. Sometime soon!❤

[@kimberleyannedemong5621]

I love the story of setting up your sister. When i was 4 & my brother was 2 we were sleeping in my parents bed. The upstairs was being remolded & their room was the only ine finished. They had company that night so we couldn't sleep downstairs. I don't remember what he did but i took a statue of the Madonna & whacked him in the face. He had to get stitches on his cheekbone. I told my parents he fell out of bed. I don't know if they believed it but i didn't get in trouble. Talk about a fast track to hell hitting your brother with the Blessed Virgin & lying about it 😁

[@suzybailey-koubti8342]

🤣🤣🤣

[@charlessirois7627]

if you have a PC with a cd slot you can play it or in your pony's cd player....

[@thehillbillyfiles]

We don't listen to cds, you want it?

[@LeslieMartin-zg5qd]

Leo did you every hear name Joe Tate Jr. Live in late 60's and 70's

[@melindaschluter1669]

You was brat, lol.