A Tour of My Hometown

February 17, 2014 by

I used to play in this little house when I was a child.  It had a living room, kitchen and a bedroom upstairs.  Rather than dolls, it had bears to play with.  It seems so small now, but I was able to stand up in it as a child.  I grow up in a small town in WV where everyone knew everyone and we ran around the town carefree. I wanted to share some of my fondest childhood memories with you.  So I thought we would take a tour of my hometown.  


I loved this little house.  It was open to the public on certain each week.  On the days that it wasn’t open, we looked at the bears through the window.  My fondest memory of the bears was them having a tea party.  


This stream ran behind the Little House.  We would take our shoes off and stand in the water.  It seemed so much deeper as a child.  

Oh the memories of Betty’s Restaurant.  We hung out here as teens.  Betty was the owner and cook.  She made the best cheeseburgers, fries and chocolate shakes.  The restaurant is still in business.  Occasionally, I will stop by for breakfast.  They still have the same booths and bar stools, lol.  I’m squeezing in the booths now rather than sliding in, but the hometown atmosphere is still the same.  

This is where a our town newspaper was printed.  Mr. Charlie was the printer.  He was always covered in black ink as he rolled the newspaper off the printer.  We would look through the window as he was working. Mr. Charlie never allowed us to distract him from his work.  He just smiled and kept the printer rolling.  It is now a 5 star restaurant called The Press Room.

This is the Rumsey Monument. We spent hours here climbing the steps to watch trains cross the bridge behind it and cars cross the bridge on the other side of it.  This monument is dedicated to James Rumsey, who launched the first steam boat on the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, WV. According to the history books, Robert Fulton was given credit for the first launch, but residents of Shepherdstown, WV know better.  

                                                                               


This is a view from the Rumsey Monument.  Absolutely beautiful and more so in the fall.  The local Girl Scout and Brownie troops walked across the bridge shown so we could hike along the C & O Canal Towpath.  My sister was a Girl Scout and I was a Brownie.  I have to admit I crossed it, but I was scared to death.  My troop leader would allow me to walk in the road until a car came and than I had to get back on the sidewalk.  Her kindness sure helped ease my fears.  Because of it, I was able to take the hike along with the other girls.  

       
I spent many days at this little library reading or going to story hour.  I remember my mother scrubbing me until I was as shiny as a new penny and sending me off to story hour each week. Books were big in my home.  We had library cards, so my friends and I would head to the library until closing during the summer.  I also remember not returning books on time, and having to use my allowance to pay the fine.  I learned early to pay my bills on time.  

This is The Wall and my sister posing.  We spent hours sitting on this wall people watching and playing games.  Residents have been banned from sitting on The Wall on now, what a shame.  It was a great gathering place for chatting, eating an ice cream cone or just passing time away.  

We would leave the house early morning most days and just walk around town heading nowhere in particular.  Our parents never worried, they just wanted us back in time for dinner.  If we missed lunch, someone in the community would feed us and they in turn would do the same for the kids who where out of their neighboring area.  What a great era to be a kid.  We didn’t have children being kidnapped or harmed in any way, it was the least of anyone’s worries.  

We gathered pop bottles to cash in at the local store for money.  We had a red wagon that we pulled to the store to cash in our goods.  Back in those days, candy was a penny.  We would have candy for days with a quarter.  My best friend’s Uncle owned the candy store, he would always give us extra when we visited.  My favorite was the chocolate covered peanuts.  Yes, I was a chocolate addict at an early age.   

I loved my childhood.  We weren’t rich, but we had a great community.  Everyone knew what community meant, and looked out for each other.  Lend a handing hand, wasn’t a saying when I was growing up.  It actually took place.  We were raised by the community.  We trick or treated with brown paper grocery bags until midnight.  Our parents purchased sleds, Lighting Guiders, every Christmas.  Daddy gave us sand paper to sharpen the blades, and sharpen we did.  We stayed out until we damn near froze sled riding, and nobody called us in.  What are some of your favorite childhood memories?

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Comments

  1. rmgales says
    February 21, 2014 at 1:23 am

    @Cascia Talbert – I do have fond memories of my childhood. It was carefree; the best.  I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. 

  2. Cascia Talbert says
    February 18, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    It sounds like you had a lot of fond memories from your hometown. I enjoyed looking at your beautiful photos! Have a terrific Tuesday!