Switchbacks and Wagon Tracks      Downloads
Switchbacks and Wagon Tracks - $16.00
(audio CD)
Switchbacks and Wagon Tracks - $12.00
(audio cassette)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $52.00
(audio CD - A $12.00 SAVINGS)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $40.00
(audio cassette - AN $11.00 SAVINGS)

Holding Rugged Ground      Downloads
Holding Rugged Ground - $16.00
(audio CD)
Holding Rugged Ground - $12.75
(audio cassette)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $52.00
(audio CD - A $12.00 SAVINGS)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $40.00
(audio cassette - AN $11.00 SAVINGS)

We'd Be Millionaires If We had It Now      Downloads
We'd Be Millionaires If We had It Now - $16.00
(audio CD)
We'd Be Millionaires If We had It Now - $12.00
(audio cassette)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $52.00
(audio CD - A $12.00 SAVINGS)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $40.00
(audio cassette - AN $11.00 SAVINGS)

Model Ts and Model Roads      Downloads
Model Ts and Model Roads - $16.00
(audio CD)
Model Ts and Model Roads - $12.00
(audio cassette)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $52.00
(audio CD - A $12.00 SAVINGS)
Set of All Four Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Recordings - $40.00
(audio cassette - AN $11.00 SAVINGS)

More Details:

1.) Switchbacks and Wagon Tracks: The Building of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
The rugged mountains of western Virginia were settled by hearty souls whose lives were very different from those on the large plantations of eastern Virginia. Transportation was difficult but essential. Improved roads to bring in supplies and to export goods to market were the lifeblood of these frontier communities. The political and logistical difficulties that had to be overcome to build the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike illustrated many of the challenges and difficulties of mountain life and set the stage for the bloody conflict to come in the American Civil War. The story of building the Turnpike, along with the railroads in its wake, shows how vital such transportation arteries were to the life and growth of western Virginia.

You are invited to witness the evolution of animal and Indian trails into the region's premier highway linking western Virginia from the Shenandoah Valley to the Ohio River. Listen to the tales of early transportation, trade, and migration across the Allegheny Mountains in this gripping audio history from the Voices of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike.


2.) Holding Rugged Ground: The Civil War Along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
Civil War enthusiasts will be captivated by the unfolding story of the Allegheny Mountain campaigns of early 1861 punctuated by lively West Virginia fiddle tunes and songs, cradled in the ambient sounds of the surrounding country side. Digitally recorded interviews with Pocahontas and Randolph County West Virginia elders detail memories of their families’ first-hand encounters in historic battles and their efforts to carry on daily life amidst the bloody War. The social divisions, passions and violence of the era left deep traces among the citizens of the new war-born state of West Virginia still resonating in recollections of their aging descendents. This production will engage listeners through its action-packed account of the Civil War in western Virginia, told by those who carry the tales forth from earlier times.


3.) We'd Be Millionaires If We had It Now: Reconstruction and Industrial Revolution Along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
In the aftermath of the Civil War, life in the new state of West Virginia changed forever. With the help of a booming railroad system, it became possible to extract the abundant natural resources of the region. By the end of the 19th Century, timber and coal were being exported from West Virginia in astonishing quantities. Capitalists of the Gilded Age found it simple to exploit cash-starved mountain families, and vast tracts of land and mineral rights were purchased for a pittance.

By the early days of the 20th Century, a previously agrarian life was transformed as farmers became loggers, miners, mill hands and railroaders to keep food on the family table. Dangerous working conditions, inclement weather, and the Flu Epidemic of 1918 compounded hardships.

Stories of fortitude through hard times live on in this audio history production, the third in the four-part series, Voices of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. Join us as local elders recall with a grim chuckle that, "We'd All Be Millionaires If We Had It Now!"


4.) Model Ts and Model Roads: The Bumpy Ride into the Modern Era Along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
Listen while West Virginia elders reminisce with a chuckle and a tune about the first time they saw "one of those blasted automobiles." Some hid, and others ran to hitch a ride.

Hear the songs and stories of the days when all the neighbors gathered at one family's farm to wait for a train or to hole up for a Saturday night music jam.

Join in the boisterous accounts of West Virginia towns on a Saturday night when the boys came in from the log woods.

Feel the mixed emotions revealed through depictions of close knit communities centered around work in the tanneries and hard scrabble towns.

Hear the accounts of a 101-year-old gentleman whose wife helped him keep the faith during the long years of the Great Depression until the President and Mrs. Roosevelt brought hopes of better times to West Virginia.

Recall for yourself the reasons why we keep passing on the stories and music of earlier times, tales of fortitude and songs about spending time with friends and neighbors.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.