Wandering Tucker County, West Virginia

Tucker County, W.Va., is home to Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley Resort state parks. It receives a million visitors each year, people who come from the region to enjoy the shopping on East Avene in Thomas, the Blackwater Canyon and Trail, Monongahela National Forest, Canaan Valley, Purple Fiddle music venue and so much more. This book, authored by a son of a Tucker County mother, takes the reader behind all these attractions and natural beauty to the gritty stories of exploitation, immigration, hard times and revival. These stories are told through the people of Tucker County, who are even greater assets than the natural resources and beauty of this special place.
Lavishly illustrated with images by the photographer and archives, the book does what histories and trail guides cannot do--connect the reader to the back stories and people who refused to give up on Tucker County and transformed it from a devastated county to a vibrant arts and recreation destination.
Three chapters are devoted to Thomas, the former railroad and mining town with a vibrant downtown. A mid-20th century view of the town is given, followed by interviews with the shopkeepers like John DePollo and Jim Cooper, who were still working at their family stores in their late 80s. Long-time residents share their stories of Thomas in at its zenith and explain what brought them back to help the community re-invent itself. You meet the artists who discovered Thomas and filled the empty storefronts with galleries that contribute to the town's authentic vibe that makes it a favorite destination of visitors from Washington, D.C., northern Virginia, Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio.
The book explores lesser known nooks and crannies of the county, as well, such as St. George, Hendricks and Hambleton. Climb the clocktower of the county courthouse and visit with members of the oldest Methodist Church still holding services in West Virginia. Hear the stories of destruction from the 1985 Cheat River Basin Flood that wiped out much of the county seat and meet the third-generation store owner who refused to have the family's store razed.
Ghost towns are explored as well, and in these towns you'll discover a true hillbilly campground, a back-to-the-land couple who made it work, and the people who once inhabited the author's hometown of Sissaboo.
The book is set against a backdrop of projects that threaten the authenticity and rural nature of Tucker County. Corridor H is nearing completion through the county, which is expected to bring corporate development and chain stores, as well as much more motorized traffic. And the Davis/Thomas area has been pegged for a huge gas- and diesel-powered data center that will sprawl over more than 1,000 acres of land near the state park. Wandering Tucker County is thus a portrait of a community and people at a crossroads, a documentation of a way of life that is threatened and will never return.
Carl E. Feather has written extensively about West Virginia for the former Goldenseal print magazine. He is a volunteer writer and photographer for the Tucker County Observer, which won a silver award for best small newspaper in the state after just 18 months of publication. His Substack, Wandering Back-Roads West Virginia, keeps subscribers informed about the everyday happenings and people of the region. And he is the author of four Wandering Back-Roads West Virginia books that cover the entire state.
Wandering Tucker County is the fifth, largest and most comprehensive book in the series. Whether you are resident, native or visitor to this county, this book will be of interest and provide many hours of reading pleasure. It makes a great gift for any person who owns a vacation home in Canaan Valley or skis at White Grass, the state park or Timberline.
In the future, look for individual volumes drawn from this massive, 550-page book!