Tag: Community

The mountains and hollers of West Virginia are dotted with the remnants of communities past, reminders of earlier times when gossip was exchanged at post offices, when general stores were locally owned, when education was tailored, and when neighbors knew their neighbors. Braxton County is no exception, with the region’s heyday coming in the early parts of the 20th century when employment was mostly centered around extractive industries: coal mining, timbering, and natural gas production. Its population peaked decades ago with nearly 24,000 residents. Today, just a few small cities call this mostly rural county over 12,000 home: Sutton, Gassaway, Burnsville, and Flatwoods, primarily nestled along the Elk River and Interstate 79. With 516 square miles to explore, you don’t have to travel far to get away from the hubbub of activity, and that’s where you encounter Wilsie. Located at the juncture of two branches of Dry Fork, not much remains other than an old general store and an old post office that closed in mid-2005, surrounded by the remnants of an old school and several shuttered houses. Interestingly, the false front of the general store was cut off and tagged with the name of the store and a reminder that it was “closed for remodeling.” It doesn’t appear that any work has been completed on the buildings which are in a state of severe disrepair. In the vicinity of Wilsie is a long-abandoned two classroom school, one of hundreds that dotted the hollers and hilltops of the state. Simple…