Browse Exhibits (21 total)

Here you will find interviews with Bland County residents that served in the Persian Gulf War. 

Here you will find interviews with foreign-born women who married Bland County restidents during the Korean War. 

This is a collection of self-narratives and Oral History Interviews from people who live or lived at one time in Rocky Gap, Virginia. 

This is a collection of self-narratives from citizens of Mechanicsburg, Virginia. 

This exhibit contains oral history interviews from Dry Fork, Virginia. 

This exhibit contains oral history interviews from townspeople about their experiences in Bastian, Virginia. 

Bland County is the only county in the United States that is entered and exited via Interstate Tunnels. Big Walker Mountain located a few hundred yards from the Wythe County line and East River Mountain,which forms the Virginia and West Virginia border, are the locations of these tunnels. They began construction of these tunnels in 1967 and 1969. They were both finished in 1972 and 1974 after five years of work. The cost to build both structures was around 90 million dollars. The tunnels allow lane changing, which is an unusual feature for vehicular tunnels in the United States. They carry Interstate 77 through East River Mountain and Big Walker Mountain. These tunnels are among the top ten longest two lane interstate tunnels in the country. Before the tunnels were built, travelers to Bluefield and Wytheville had to cross these mountains. The tunnels are currently under reconstruction where they are widening the sides for safety reasons. Bland County was a very isolated place before these tunnels were constructed. Now Bluefield and Wytheville are just minutes away.

For thirty-two years in the early 1900s, folks in Bland County had a taste of what other people had experienced for several years before. From 1914 to 1946, a railroad track stretched from Narrows to Suiter, Virginia. The railroad helped create new jobs, citizens were able to sell their goods to distant markets, and it was a gateway to other parts of Virginia.

At the turn of the century, Narrows was in need of a new industry to stimulate its economy. In 1903, Lees and McVitty of Salem, Virginia agreed to build a tannery. Tan bark from white oak and hemlock would be used to tan leather. At that time, the largest industry in Bland and Giles County was timber. Therefore, Lees and McVitty constructed three miles of railroad track up Wolf Creek to haul timber to the tannery.

New River, Holston, and Western Railroad Company continued the railroad all the way to Rocky Gap in 1912. This came about because of a purchase by W.M. Ritter Lumber Company called Buck Horn Timber. The railroad was built to Suiter in 1914, when Mr. W.E. Mingea, Jr., of Abingdon, Virginia, owner of all the big survey in Bland County, built it to help the lumber and bark industry. In 1919, it was sold to Norfolk and Western Railroad Company.

During the railroads first several years, the train ran five days a week. After much of the timber was hauled out it reduced its run to three days a week. The trains hauled an assortment of goods including cattle and sheep, manganese, general freight, and the mail. Gene Davidson said, "For the holidays ... we shipped turkeys. Usually went to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. We picked the turkeys, bled them, and I don't think we dressed them." He also remembered his family receiving living room furniture from a mail order catalog by the railroad.

The train also pulled one passenger car. Mrs. Mabel Pruett used to ride the train home from boarding school. She said, "Well, it was always exciting to ride the train, and to stop at the stations and see the people that came to meet the trains." There were twelve stations from Narrows to Suiter. Beginning from Narrows, they were: Talmash, Penvir, Bridge No. 2, First Ford, Chappel, Nidey, Round Bottom, Rocky Gap, Novis (South Gap), Hicksville, Bastian, and Suiter.

During the time the trains ran, there were two post offices on Wolf Creek. The post office at Round Bottom was managed by Booker Pilliam. He managed the post office and a small store there. Later, that post office was moved about four miles down to Nidey where it was managed by Bill Wonsley. Mrs. Pruett remembered that "most of the farmers would come down there to pick up the mail and stand there and talk for hours at a time.

With the advent of big trucks to the area, it became cheaper and easier to haul freight by truck and the train reduced its run to three days a week. The trains hauled an assortment of goods including cattle and sheep, manganese, general freight, and the mail. Gene Davidson said, "For the holidays ... we shipped turkeys. Usually went to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. We picked the turkeys, bled them, and I don't think we dressed them." He also remembered his family receiving living room furniture from a mail order catalog by the railroad.

During the time the trains ran, there were two post offices on Wolf Creek. The post office at Round Bottom was managed by Booker Pilliam. He managed the post office and a small store there. Later, that post office was moved about four miles down to Nidey where it was managed by Bill Wonsley. Mrs. Pruett remembered that "most of the farmers would come down there to pick up the mail and stand there and talk for hours at a time.

With the advent of big trucks to the area, it became cheaper and easier to haul freight by truck instead of train.

Agriculture was once the primary occupation of the people of Bland County. Ridges were once sprinkled with hillside farms and every holler had at least one homestead. These are forested and overgrown now and the sound of children's laughter and the lowing of farm animals only a distant memory. Thousands of Bland Countians followed that great Southern migration to the industrial Midwest and Northeast. Those that remained, remember what it was like.

Religion has always been central in the lives of the people of Appalachia. Life was often hard and short and the church was the rock that gave purpose and comfort. The church buildings in Bland County are an architectural treasure. The spartan beauty of their utilitarian form reflected the lives of those who worshiped within their walls. Today many still are located along the winding country roads and the people attend them just as they have for over a century or more

The archives contain church histories and stories of church experiences. Here are a few of these stories.