May 23: I have now been walking for one month. To celebrate I will give my feet a deserved rest. If you had me at one month in the over/under contest, you lose. Please contribute my winnings to the Wounded Warrior Project. Here is some information on Parsons, West Virginia to keep you busy while I do errands, courtesy of my father:
"As you are there, you might want to know that the town of Parsons is the county seat[3] of Tucker County, West Virginia. The population was 1,463 at the 2000 census [surely much bigger now]. The town was named for Ward Parsons, described by one source as having once owned the land on which the town was built, and by another as having been an aged wilderness pioneer in the area. The Cheat River is formed at Parsons by the confluence of the Shavers Fork and the Black Fork.[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²), of which, 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (9.17%) is water."
On a less boring note, the main claim to fame of Parsons is the battle (skirmish) of Corrick Ford, which took place in 1861. The fighting is notable for one reason - one of the casualties was Confederate General R.S. Garnett, the first man of such rank to be killed during the Civil War.
Parsons has also been the victim of a natural disaster. Not surprisingly given the amount of water surrounding the area, the culprit was flood, the year 1985. The devastating deluge destroyed most of the buildings in town. The librarian showed me the high water mark inside the Five Forks Library, about seven feet high. She said they were only able to salvage a total of three volumes from the thousands in their collection.
0 total miles/364 total miles
2 comments:
Glad you were able to hike some nature trail instead of the road, at least for a while. Best wishes for a great week!
If you get a chance, ask one of the locals about the flood of 1985...scary times!
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