Alleghany Living 2019 - 34

HERITAGE

VOICES OF THE
ALLEGHANY HIGHLANDS

The "What's
Your Story?"
Project

COMPLETE WITH PROFESSIONAL
portraits of the storytellers
and historic photos, the
"What's Your Story?" oral
history books share the stories
of the people who lived them.
Volume I shares the
memories of the Historic
Masonic Theatre, re-opened
in 2016 for a new life. Volume
II-Of Time and Trains-
includes stories of railroaders
reaching back to the 1930s.
Volume III captures the
stories of the Depression-era,
segregated Green Pastures
recreation area. Volume IV
focuses on the fifty-year
history of Dabney S. Lancaster
Community College. Upcoming
volumes will focus on the
stories from Highlands first
responders, and from the
area's many artists.
"What's Your Story?"
books can be purchased at the
Alleghany Highlands Chamber
of Commerce office and in
shops in Clifton Forge and
Covington.

34 Alleghany Living

(which produced much of the pig iron used
for Confederate cannons, munitions and train
rails), brick making, tanneries, lumber mills,
the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company,
and the area's film and fiber industries.
The history of labor unions and the
environmental impacts of manufacturing
in the Industrial Age will also be part of
the Center. It will, says Historical Society
President Paul Linkenhoker, be a complete
history of industry...designed for those who
want "to push buttons, turn cranks and pull
pulleys."
Those looking for family history and
records will find a helpful volunteer staff
waiting at the Genealogical Society, where
rooms of documents, letters, ledgers,
photographs and newspapers can be accessed.

The C&O Railway Heritage
Center and Historical Society
Relive Railroading's Glory Days
If trains are your fascination, head to
Clifton Forge, home to the C&O Railway
Heritage Center and Historical Society.
During the heyday of the railroads,
a hundred trains a day passed through
Clifton Forge, on their way east along the
James River to the coast and west over the
Allegheny Mountains to the coalfields of
West Virginia and Kentucky.
With the advent of diesel engines, the
machine shops grew quieter. But the presence
of the railroad is still felt in town, with
Amtrak servicing the station three days a
week and two destinations where rail history
buffs can relive the glory days.
The C&O Railway Heritage Center gives
visitors the chance to climb aboard a variety
of railcars-the massive steam locomotive
Engine 614; a 1949 caboose; a renovated
dining car from the 1920s (Gadsby's Tavern,
which can be rented for events); and the last
known surviving C&O wooden boxcar among
them. Soon to arrive is the elegant, woodpaneled Chessie 29, built in the 1950s and
used by railroad officers for meetings and
travel...as well as by President Eisenhower
as he traveled from Washington, D.C. to the
Greenbrier.
The restored 1895 freight depot houses
the Henry Hoffman Museum, where visitors

Oakland Grove Presbyterian Church

can see a detailed rail history display and a
working, O-scale model railroad.
Here, you can also ride the Little C&O train
that circles the museum grounds. You can blow
steam whistles. You can shop for everything
trains in the replica 1900 passenger station.
A few blocks west, the international
headquarters of the C&O Railway houses a
treasure trove of rail history, as well as an
impressive collection of train paintings in the
main office.

The Wrightsville Community
Don't Miss the Festival in August
Settled in 1867 by freed slaves Archie and
Mary Wright, Wrightsville is home to the
annual Wrightsville Renewal Festival each
August, a Homecoming celebration not to
be missed. Under the direction of Dr. Calvin
McClinton, the Festival features a week of
activities including slave cemetery tours,
concerts, lectures and food.
The Wrightsville Heritage Museum
contains memorabilia from African-American
families in the area, including a first-edition
book of poetry by Paul Laurence Dunbar,
paintings by Cleveland Wilson, artifacts of
the Wrightsville settlement from community
residents, and information on the founding
of the Wrightsville Baptist Church.
Wrightsville restoration and preservation
of this historic community is underway:
Currently, it's undergoing a comprehensive
planning project for community revitalization.
Alleghany Living 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Alleghany Living 2019
