Lets take a walk down memory lane to McComas, West Virginia a place many people CALLED HOME at one time.  Although we no longer live there we'll never forget the time we spent there.                      

McComas Reunion

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Glenwood Park 4H Building

Covered Dish Affair

Eat at 1 pm

Come early and visit with your friends

Contact

Betty Harless 304-327-6755

or

Julia Barrett 304-589-5281

Friends come home for third annual McComas Memory Walk

McComas is actually a collection of several coalfield communities that appeared seamless three score years ago, but was made up of several distinctively different neighborhoods that included Pinnacle, Connor Mountain, Pinnacle Hollow, the Station or Main McComas, Sagamore, Crane Creek, Windmill Gap, Church Hollow, Red Hollow, Thornhill, Godfrey and Crystal.

"I lived up in Red Hollow," Tim Wellman said. Wellman now lives in Bland County, Va. "About everything is gone up there now, but the foundation of my grandfather's home is still there. They're getting ready to strip mine all of this up in here so it will all be gone soon."

The group of Greater McComas refugee expatriates have been using the Crane Creek Pentecostal Holiness Church as its base of operations for the memory walks. The church is located in the former Pinnacle Elementary School building. Along with providing a hearty meal for the refugees, church members Vickie and Micky Kennett created McComas Memory Walk t-shirts to sell as fund raisers.

"It's great coming back here every year," Smith said. "I've had the web site for about 15 years, and in all that time, I've heard nothing but 'Thank yous' from the people who have e-mailed me about the site.

"There were more than 6,000 people living in this community when it was really booming," Smith said. "I was born in 1946 and left here in 1963, so I really missed the best of the boom years, but there were still a lot of people here then."

Melva (Farrington) Roberts lived in the area during the last of the boom years and worked at the company store in Sagamore for a few years starting in 1951. "Sagamore was very pretty," she said. "It was a clean little town." Her husband, Bon Roberts was from Piedmont, near Matoaka. "This is the first time we've come to the reunion."

In addition to walking through the town and sharing memories and photos, Smith had a slide presentation running on a desktop computer featuring photographs Garland Edwards took inside the old power house at Crane Creek and the Memorial Church in Main McComas.

"The interiors of these old buildings are just beautiful," Smith said. "All of this brings back a lot of good memories."

Friends gathered throughout the day to share memories of the community's storied past.

--Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com To see more of Bluefield Daily Telegraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bdtonline.com/ . Copyright (c) 2010, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.

Area Info

August 11, 2010 by Wilson Butt Bluefield Daily Telegraph Curtis King provided me with a history lesson on McComas last week. He shared many stories about the community’s glory days as he and I climbed to the top of the ridge near his home to document the location and existence of an old family cemetery. Now in a state of neglect, the old field provided a final resting place for many members of his family. Most of the graves were unmarked and those that were had only a stone. He figured that in a few years there may not be anyone around who would know about the cemetery or any of the stories about those buried there.

The same might also be true about much of the rest of the community. Hillside farms that once provided much of the food families depended on are now overgrown. His stories about having to carry potatoes from the field to the house and helping his father were reminiscent of a bygone era. Too many similar stories will soon be lost to a generation intrigued with cyberspace. However, I have one young friend that knows her garden vegetables and can easily identify a half runner or a pole bean. She often spends time helping he grandfather tend his garden. The library in Bluefield Va., has a gardening program for youngsters and several participate. It is through these youngsters that I am reminded and confident that there is hope for the next generation.

April 25, 2009 Former McComas residents join for walk down memory lane By Bill Archer Bluefield Daily Telegraph read more...

February 2009 I don't know how many of you remember the old Payne House at Pinnacle across from the Pinnacle Store down across the little bridge and just before you passed the garages it sat on the left (leaving Pinnacle) It  burned down recently.  Another of our memories of McComas now gone..

February 21, 2009 Family’s McDowell County roots extend to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame  By Bill Archer  Bluefield Daily Telegraph -  Maybeury   read more...

November 14, 2007  Solving a difficult problem— Windmill Gap ATV solution a precedent read more...

2009 McComas Memory Walk  photos click here... (photos supplied by Pat & Jim Smith, Garland Elmore, Judy Cole Dodd , Chris Tooley Whitmore)

McComas Memory Walk how it started  click here.. (Jim Spencer's background on the 1st walk)

I have been promised more photos from several people and I will post them when their received.  Garland Elmore  took the great shots of the insides of the Church, Marrioti Store and Power House and he spoke of the great architectural presence still showing in those crumbling remains.  Wonderful shots Garland thank you very much for sending them. 

Dear Pat,

I attended the McComas Walk but didn't get an opportunity to talk with you. I am the youngest of 5 children of Garland and Helen Elmore, who lived in McComas from their early years through 1950. My sisters grew up there, but I was only 4 years old when we moved. I thought you might be interested in some of the photos I took while visiting last week and also a few of the Elmore family when they were in McComas. You're welcome to use any of these photos that might be of interest. Thanks for taking the initiative and for your work on the McComas Web site.

Garland

McComas 1920-40s Photo Gallery   click here...   (photos supplied by Garland Elmore) 

My memories of McComas were instilled in me in a large part by my mother Helen Ann Huffman Spicer.  The early beginnings of this website were inspired by all she introduced me to before her untimely death in 1957.  So I dedicate this website and all it's beautiful memories to my mother.  She loved McComas and all the friends she had there.  webmaster Patty "Spicer" Smith