A photo from my hometown of Princeton. They are working very hard to revitalize downtown and great progress has been made. That street, like most downtown southern WV streets were once bustling with activity. Businesses flourished in the 1970s, then Walmart came to town and when flooding was alleviated along Stafford Drive and the strip centers became a thing. My heart hurts when I go home and drive that street remembering how it used to be.
It's great to see revitalization efforts happening in so many Appalachian towns. There's always an internal struggle for me between memory and the present, of holding on and letting go. Thanks for reading and for your support, Jim!
Absolutely I so enjoy your posts. West Virginia is truly a diamond in the rough. When I was a young Realtor in Princeton I was amazed when people would return home after years of living in a city. I once ask why, now I fully understand it and if I could talk my lady into leaving Florida we’d move back home tomorrow. “You can take the body out of the Appalachian Mountains, but you can never take the Appalachian Mountains out of the soul,” ~ Jim Owen, a proud West Virginian.
A photo from my hometown of Princeton. They are working very hard to revitalize downtown and great progress has been made. That street, like most downtown southern WV streets were once bustling with activity. Businesses flourished in the 1970s, then Walmart came to town and when flooding was alleviated along Stafford Drive and the strip centers became a thing. My heart hurts when I go home and drive that street remembering how it used to be.
It's great to see revitalization efforts happening in so many Appalachian towns. There's always an internal struggle for me between memory and the present, of holding on and letting go. Thanks for reading and for your support, Jim!
Absolutely I so enjoy your posts. West Virginia is truly a diamond in the rough. When I was a young Realtor in Princeton I was amazed when people would return home after years of living in a city. I once ask why, now I fully understand it and if I could talk my lady into leaving Florida we’d move back home tomorrow. “You can take the body out of the Appalachian Mountains, but you can never take the Appalachian Mountains out of the soul,” ~ Jim Owen, a proud West Virginian.