TRAVELING 219 ~ EXCUSE FOR AN EXCURSION

By Alex, PAWV VISTA

While events and adventure sports take a brief hiatus around November in the Mountain State, the beautiful hills and winding roads remain for West Virginians to enjoy.  This November, take a trip down Route 219. However, don’t just drive down this route, learn about the deep, rich history in this part of the state at “Traveling 219: The Seneca Trail,” found at http://www.traveling219.com/. The project “Traveling 219” is a history and writing project following the tradition of the Federal Writers’ Project from the 1930s. Those working on the project collect stories and help put more local voices from those communities on the radio, newspapers, and the web. 

This website is full of oral histories, photos, and written stories about the history along this route. It covers everything from carriage houses to black bear hunting. Read about these great buildings and locations and then proceed to visit them in person along Route 219.  Take a short afternoon to see a few of the sights or a few days’ vacation exploring the whole stretch.

Those located more north in the state for whom 219 is a bit too far for a short excursion, can peruse the original 1930s documents written on onion skin paper in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection in the WVU Library. The archives of the West Virginia Federal Writers’ Project are stored here and can be view upon request. The West Virginia and Regional Historic Collection is open to the public and contains floors of archives, history books, and microfilm about the history of the state.