Hi guys! I was really excited when I received these cool videos of yesteryear from an old highschool friend.

This town is Gary, WV. and it is one of the towns in the county that folks from back home call the lower end of the county where I grew up. I suppose that was because any place on Rt. 52, (which is a main route that runs south of Bluefield, WV.) and continuing on south without turning up and then backtracking into the hollers, was thought of as lower end. Those holler roads led up into other mountain roads which led into other counties; and we always referred to those as the upper end of McDowell County--heh. I think it's kind of funny because as you will see, there are potentially lots of lower and upper end roads all over the county! And even in the so-called lower end of McDowell County, there are plenty of connections into other counties there as well.

These are really some of the best postcard photographs I have seen from down home. which really brought back some great memories of my time growing up in the coalfields; though most of these photographs were taken before my time there.

I wanted to share them with you; my blogging buds. 

This one is a compilation of  places in the town of Northfork, WV. (in between the lower and upper ends of the county) where I attended senior highschool.

And this, is Welch, WV. ( also lower end) where our county courthouse and other offices were located. As you can see, the major hospitals that served the people of the county, were also located in Welch. The county offices are still in Welch today as far as I know. Steven's Clinic and Grace hopitals have long since closed their doors. The Welch hospital is still in operation for now. Part II of the photos of Welch are also something else! Many of the spots in all these photos are so familiar to me, because many of the old buildings and railroad crossings were still around long after I left home to go to college.

I'm not too proud to tell you that when I viewed all these treasured places, chills ran up my spine. It was a good life there when I was growing back in the 60s and 70s. Businesses were booming because all the mines were in operation, and most every family there had at least one, if not more members of the family who worked full time.

One of these days I will find some great photographs of some of the upper ends (in the hollers of the county of McDowell; such as the town of Crumpler, WV. where I lived and played as a child.