The Irish Corner district of Greenbrier County, West Virginia is dominated by large family farms, the remains of early mills and industries, country churches, and stately residences. Initially isolated by rough terrain and a lack of good roads, the rural setting is seeing an uptick in residential development that could potentially change the character of the region. Many years ago, I visited the Irish Corner region and documented some of the churches and houses I came across while randomly driving down the back roads. More recently, I trekked through the area with my girlfriend to see what’s changed. We started the morning making an impromptu visit to the Prince train station as the Amtrak Cardinal line made a brief stop to allow for the departure of a few passengers. Constructed in 1946 for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, the Art Moderne depot was designed by the Garfield, Harris, Robinson & Schafer architectural firm of Cleveland. It features Streamline Moderne stainless steel lettering spelling out Prince on the exterior, and terrazzo flooring inside with an embedded “Chessie” kitten logo. Up the hill from the Prince train station along Route 41 is the ironic Laurel Lodge No. 104 with its iconic lettering set in blond brick. What I assumed was an older building was actually built in 1964 to replace a burned Masonic facility in Lawton. Interestingly, furnishings and floorings for the new building came from the Thurmond Lodge in Thurmond, while brick, roofing materials, and slate came from the old McKendree Hospital. We…