Walking In Welch, West Virginia
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- A walk around the town of Welch, in McDowell County West Virginia.
Welch is is the county seat of McDowell County in West Virginia.
The coal industry supported the growth and success of McDowell County. Due to the decline of coal and coal jobs, this once thriving community has seen a slow and steady decline over past decades. In Welch’s heyday it was a bustling town with many businesses and residents. It’s little more than a ghost town now. Most of the structures in this video are either abandoned or in desperate need of repair.
At 10:28 we can see the McDowell County courthouse. On the steps of this courthouse on August 1, 1921, detectives from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency assassinated Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield and his deputy Ed Chambers , famous for the Matewan Massacre.
At 20:17 we can see the first municipally owned parking building in the United States, first opened in September of 1941.
Recorded July 27, 2019 around 12:30 PM
Map: drive.google.c...
If anyone hasn't, I recommend reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls. Part of it takes place in Welch, and I think a lot of people who grew up in West Virginia can relate to parts of it.
Thank you for the video!!
Carter Woodson I am reading this book currently. I am not an avid reader, so I get tempted checking the videos and pictures the author is describing. The author has painted a real bleak picture of this town. But it looks amazing. As a person from a developing country, this looks like a heaven. I know only good infrastructure is not enough, there are many basic issues here like unemployment. But I am still not convinced.
Great book!
I'm an avid reader. Just ordered this one from Amazon and will read it ..... we were from War (1950"s) and moved North for work for Dad. Love books written from this area.
There's also a post apocalyptic movie named Z for Zechariah that starts in Welch but the main cast filmed in New Zealand. Look up the trailer and you'll see most of the footage shot on lower McDowell Street. Amazing how much New Zealand feels like southern WV once the movie starts
czcams.com/video/bxw4KFxPcoY/video.html
Ladys and Gentelmen, I was born in this little town of Welch, West Virginia. It was the year of 1944. The place Welch Grace Hospital. Which was torn down long ago. either Fire or Flood. It's strange to watch this video, because as a young boy with a paper route I would walk this very road coming into Welch everyday delivering the evening paper to the folks that lived along the way. A lot of the homes have been torn down but the route is still the same. I remember how hard it was to get the folks to pay for the delievery of the paper they would just about every time put me off to the next day to collect for the paper. I ended up having to give up delievering the paper because my mother got tired of paying the News Paper for them. lolAs the video comes on down the road to where the walker cross's the road to the right. That bridge which he walked across is over the ElkHorn River. which flowed from north to south behind a large Apartment Building which faced old Train station. NOW a police dept sets there. and the station is gone along with the tracks. Even the Apartment Building I'm talking about is gone to, torn down. I lived at 65 and 1/2 Elkhore st. welch , W. Va. . The hill behind the police dept is where the old Court House Stood. Couldn't tell of it is still there from the Video angles. the fella walking , never took the time to pan the camara , he just held the thing straight ahead. lol As the Fella proceeded up the street towards the next hill, I could tell that the First Babtist Church still stands, It was just as pretty back then as it's today, the structure is built out of granite. I was babtised in that church.I was just 4 years old. I remember going to the Flat Iron Drug store for MILK SHAKES , the best milk Shakes ever made. just can't buy one today that tasted as good a those milk shakes in Welch. I went to gradeschool on the hill behind the east bank of the Elkhorn river. that's in front of the police station. The walker never turned to the left during his walk. Some time I miss Welch, and some times I'm very happy I no longer live there. The times of living in Welch were good and bad especially for a little child. Back then millions of tons of coal went through Welch, and the train's would stop at the station to take on water. All of them were coal burners. and the town had a layer of fine coal dust over every thing. The Town of Welch , truly was the hub of commerece and wealth for southern West Virginia alright. The town had 2 movie theaters many dept stores major names. My father worked in the coal mines. and we had a fairly good life . until my sister was kidnaped and murdered down a lonly dirt road just out side of welch. It was at that time , I learned who true friends were and who the fakers were. not long after that we moved away. Since then , I have seen that God as taken his rath to Welch. multiple Floods and fires to change the face of Welch.The people have scattered to the 4 winds of the earth. I don't care how many books are make about Welch. I don't care who reads them. All I know is I LIVED WELCH. to me it's just another place that God got tired of and destroyed. Who in their right mind would want to live in Welch. where you don't see full sunlight until 10 oclock in the morning. or with stand a cold bone freezing winter in a place like that. There IS A REASON the stores are still closed. NO ONE WANTS to live there anymore.JOB? what jobs , there are none , All that is there now is a hole in the road and no one who gives a shit. MY advice , If you want some where to live ,Go where people treat you with respect. move to Virginia, and buy a farm . learn how to grow your own food and take care of animals. Because the end of days is near and you don't have a lot of time left.
Thank you for sharing your story and your very right about the end days
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister! I hope justice was served.
Did you know any Mullins' from there? My uncle and cousins lived there. I think their kids still do.
We are now in the last minute of time. You will see your sister again.
@@clairemontanaro4985 you people are batshit crazy trumpeters batshit crazy
I attended Welch High School in the 60’s Welch was a thriving little city , all the mines were working it was a great place to grow up and some of the greatest people you could ever meet
What a cool looking little town, I want to visit it. Greetings from San Diego CA.
I was born in Welch also in 1957. Always loved to visit McDowell County. Great memories
Welch is my hometown. However, because of schooling and employment I have spent all of my adult life in the north. Frankly if you blind folded me and dropped me in the middle of town I would have no clue of where I was. I remember when they built the by-pass to take the traffic congestion out of downtown, when you had to step off into the street to get around the press of people on the sidewalks. I remember the packed dances at the Moose Lodge and the American Legion, hanging out the Sterling and West Virginia Drive-Ins, shooting nine ball at the “Rec”. What a pity; if Welch was like it was when I was a lad I would move back in a heartbeat.
I wish everyone in a small town would do this for future generations to see. Great job and thank you for uploading!
My dad was born and raised in Gary, several miles outside of Welch. It was a big deal to go to Welch when he was young. It was the “big city” to him... busy and bustling with action and commerce. After college he moved back to the area and coached basketball and football at Gary HS. Lots of stories about playing Welch, Ieagar, Big Creek and others. After many years in Maryland he and my younger sibs moved back to Welch where he taught at Mount View HS
Very interesting, quite a few motor vehicles around, but hardly anybody walking around there. Kind of like a modern day ghost town.
Why?
6:30 and 8:47 I see dirt bikes and quads.
Hey man you are bringing back memories👍🏿, my grandmother stayed at No.7 mountain in Gary West Virginia however she left this Earth in 1995😢
enjoyed the walk havent been there in years but it sure brought back memories
You need to pan your camera more while doing these tours. I vaguely saw some beautiful brick homes on the first part of your tour. Same with the Gary, WV, tour.
Thinking of relocating and watched this twice. It is so quiet over there like a ghost town
i mean it basically is
Lots of drugs!!! Talk to law enforcement before you consider that.
@@stormy8092 I had a great aunt who's deceased now, tried to get me to come live with her back in the early 80's, 82 or 83 to be exact. I'm so glad I didn't because there's no telling what I would have became of with there being nothing to do there. I was a little curious and bad around those times. Who knows, I would probably gotten hooked on drugs or ended up in prison or maybe I would have moved back to the city I was living in.
My dad's family is from there, and everyone who could got out years ago. The crime rate is horrible, you have to drive a long way to get to anything and there are scarcely any jobs since the mines were shut down.
I am going to Welch this weekend to check out a few homes for sale.. Nice scenery and looks bigger than Quinwood where my previous house/hideaway was.
THIS IS WHERE I WAS BORN IN WELCH WEST VIRGINIA , I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE ONCE N MY LIFE , I WANNA GO BAK THERE JUS TO REMINISCE MY CHILDHOOD DAY'S & SEE MY GRAND PARENTS & GREAT GRANDPARENT'S GRAVESITE & GET MORE PICTURES OF PLACES AROUND THERE I'M MISSING IT I BELIEVE IT WOULD DO ME GOOD TO GO AGAIN I LOVE THIS VIDEO U MADE I JUS LOVE MY BORN PLACE TOWN IF NOBODY DUZ OR NOT I WANNA LEARN MORE OF IT
I went to Welch to visit kin way back in the late fifties to early sixties. It was a great town with even greater people. I lived in Big Rock, Buchanan county Virginia as a kid but had kin all around here.
Wow I love those big houses..so beautiful.
Hollywood should make movies here. A good Steven King movie......I can see it.
Wow! my grandparents were coalminers in wv. i will always remember going to welch to shop ❤❤
McDowell county is where I was born but olny stayed till I was 4yrs old then was raised in Chicago now live in mi.im very proud of where I came from an was born
Thank you i work for Sperry rail service on the Norfolk and Southern Railway been to a lot of these small coal-mining towns brings back memories
West Virginia almost Heaven
really cool upload James East. I crushed the thumbs up on your video. Continue to keep up the exceptional work.
Thank you very much for your walking tour! It is a beautiful part of our country! God bless you!
My Grandmaw is from english and my grandpaw from war, but my dad was born in welch in 1961 kind wish i had grown up there and not here in Boston, haven’t been there in 25 years would love to go spend a few weeks roaming around taking photographs
Thank you for this work. Welch is interesting.
scarcely a soul, if not for the traffic, you would think no one was there...
I really enjoyed the video.I have some family members in Welch,but have never been there.Sad that it isn't populated more,as it was years ago.It looks very clean,although most buildings are abandoned or need repair.Thank you!
Ann T What happened?
@@HardKore5250 coal mines Nationwide were on the decline since the forties the only thing that saved them was World War II a lot of people were switching over to Natural Gas a lot less work overall mining it and fueling your furnace Natural Gas you don't have nothing to do
It's a beautiful place to live an the people are wonderful
Glass castle has certainly said otherwise
I’m interested in moving here, tired of the heat and rudeness of California. I’m looking at a houses on summer’s street, but the pictures look like it’s built under a bridge. Would you if it is? 127 Summers st
A very nice city well kept up but were are the people
this Georgia boy loves WV
The buildings are gorgeous but the towns are nearly deserted.
I spent a lot of time in Welch and surrounding Tug Fork communities after the April 1977 flood. Welch was a vibrant community back then and its discouraging to see how empty it looks now. Beautiful stone and brick buildings and the riverfront park is wonderful. Hope that this classic Appalachian town is revived someday. Thanks for this walking tour.
I think I should move to that town for retirement. I dig the vibe of the town and the location in the mountains.
This is my home town lol
I was born in Welch and raised in alittle place called Mohegan no one has ever heard of in between Welch and Davy but I live up a holler
My great grandma, grandfather, and grandmother are from there, shade and Nellie McCall. Mabel Akers was my grandmother.
This place is beautiful but strange like a episode from the twilight zone no people any where yet someone must be running the town? We want to move from calif to WV because of one main thing they say that WV has the nicest people and that is really important to me and my wife we are in our 70 's and have had it with the hateful people in southern calif. I dont care if your dirt poor as long as you are half way moral another words you still treat older people with a little respect and kindness. We went to tenn looking for better folks was disappointed
After checking out WV seen this town but of all the videos on Weltch there has not been one with a person talking. This lends to the mystery and I guess hesitance to come see the place . . Is there any apartments for rent ? where do you shop for groceries?
Cleve Hubbs well, there is no more Walmart in the county. There are dollar stores and you have Goodsons which is the staple here in Mcdowell. You can drive about more than an hour or two to the nearest bigbox store in Beckley. Regarding about the people, as long as you are not an asshole and make fun or look down to the lifestyle/culture or mountain mannerisms folks from here has, you’ll be okay. Simply put, people here will treat you nice if you are nice too. I think it is kinda basic and simple like that almost everywhere or anywhere. About the hotel and such too, I believe there are some properties for sale here, you can inquire about them online or just check the county yourself, I highly recommend the latter cause you can at least form some idea from your own experience and just not “hear-says” , of how the life is here in this part of the state. Just do a drive by and check it. We have a good number of pawpaws(gramps) and meemaws(grannies) here so people your age bracket is somehow well represented here, you just wont see them frolicking around. People here are kinda sparse, come election season, town hall meetings or some kind of events (i.e. Veterans day, 4th of July or any major holidays or events) you might see them.
If you want to have somehow an idea of what the county is, check the facebook page Mcdowelll Matters. The latest video, the last time I check it was the Veterans Parade in downtown Welch. 👍
I thought Tennessee was southern hospitality.
As long you come with a Jack Daniels in your hand.
As someone who has lived in many parts of Wv, having moved a lot, I would recommend somewhere with more people and more stores. If you end up living in a not so populated town, the chances of there even being a grocery store is very limited. Most times it’s just a gas station. And if you want anything more than a bag of chips, you have to drive several, several miles to go get more food. In Boone county the closest thing we had was Jeffrey market. It only had a couple forms of meat, bread and some packaged food. If you wanted any more than that, you had to go to Chapmanville. Chapmanville is in the next county over with a couple of gas stations and a few fast food restaurants. With one grocery store. If you wanted more than what Chapmanville had, you had to go to Logan. If you’re in places like Ranger, they have no cell service. To communicate with other schools or 911, they had to have radios. If you want anything more than Logan has to offer, you have to go all the way Huntington, or Charleston. Not to mentions the drug epidemic we face, and how poor we are. Most of us live off of food stamps just to get by. Not even including car payments and house payments. Most of our kids go to summer programs just so they can have food and some extra activities. Either because their parents are drug addicts or because they’re simply too poor. There’s also constant flooding, tornados, a lot of snow and fires. There’s also political issues and a lot of racism here. Chapmanville has a total of 10 people of color. A lot of people here just aren’t worth your time. I’d recommend you move to a bigger city if you plan on moving to Wv. Try Charleston, Morgantown, Fairmont, or Huntington.
Thank you so much
Thank you for posting this!
I loved working there at SSA 3/13/78-11/22/78. My wife didn't care for it.
Cool, i had an 'encounter' with someone in Welch about 8 years ago, she had a nice house and the neighborhood was fine, a drug store down the street had the 1908 flood marked on their building, wondering if thats the same drug store?
I was born in Welch Wv,,raised in Michigan
Hello James East,
Nice video
What is the name of that street at the start that you were walking on?
Is it near Stewart Street?
Thanks
parking meters at the church 😵💫😵💫
Municipal Parking is chained off 😵💫😵💫
That First national bank building looks nice, anyone knows when it closed and is it abandoned?
I love these videos
Great video.
Apart from the guys on the quad tracks….there were only 5 people in the entire episode
One man stranding on the sidewalk and a man and woman sitting on a park bench and a two persons walking near the end
There were 3 guys sitting on the curb.
@@billkea7224 ok 👌 the outside population is now up to 7! Hehehe
My mother was born in Welch...1928.
My dad was born in Gary in 1923. Good chance they knew each other as it seems everyone in that area were connected by the mines in some way or another
@@mikehall2646 ...possibility! Phyllis Lamp was her maiden name, mother Della.
Where the heck are all the people ?
No jobs, meth, opiates, most are dead or if smart, moved on to where they could support their families and be happy. Getting the kids AWAY from all the drugs is priority number one.
WOW!!!!! WEST VIRGINIAAAAA
Love there ,Born there ! Viki m montague
what a cool video
sad...the economic destruction...west virginia deserves better
economics maybe but the drugs....meth and opiates ruined this part of the country. My cousin was back there and stopped at the police dept....they told him the drugs had ruined the entire county. Good people won't move in because the drugs and crime are everywhere.
A very unique video. 💚.
just out of curiosity, what camera was used to record this?
A Yi 4k+
I went in Aug. Saw about ten people down town at the one gas station. Maybe there are more at night when the zombies come out. I dunno...
As far as u can see…. Not one person in site
Strange
I know right
I think I would lose my mind if I had to spend 24 hours here
They did make a movie glass castle it was a good movie rented from CZcams
What waz no longer is. What IS will never B the same. What will B the SAME, IS not told NO LONGER. Life like time is over the moment it is given...
Couldn’t imagine walking around there at night 🤭
"Walking" some side streets would be helpful too, get off the main routes, please. Carry on!
They sure don’t believe in sidewalks.
I thought he was my only friend, and he gives me his middle finger
Steve Harvey
Yeah 1958
West Virginia reminds me a lot of a poor Eastern European country - like Moldova or Bulgaria.
All those empty buildings would be perfect for make shift COVID-19 quarantine facilities.
Covid 19 facilities will be concentration camps.
Build that shit in your State!
How has the most junk car in town 'The car guy'
Is that where Biden sent Commander?
no pedestrians. only unnecessarily loud dune buggies.
Is that water nasty or what??? My God it's black! Is that from coal? No way could I live there.
the water is very clean in WV as far as the places l have been to. That's the color of the soil you see at the bottom. Has nothing to do with coal. Filters on fish tanks use coal to filter the water. I painted automobiles for over 26 years and l am still alive today because my respirator mask was full of coal that filtered the air to keep me alive.
@@lilbo1Y1 are you sure about that
@@lilbo1Y1 That is activated charcoal.
THERES A SAYING WHEN YOU VISIT THE COUNTRY. GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED STACK UP N THE PARTY WILL NEVER STOP. UURRAA. 1