My father told me that at one time, Matoaka was so busy on Saturday night, you couldn't get down the street because of the crowds. I can remember when the new road was built that bypassed part of the town. I was last there about a year and a half ago. I'm originally from Princeton, which doesn't look like it used to, either, since the railroad shops closed. Neither does Mulllens. This is just about the saddest video I've ever seen on TH-cam.
@Kenneth Quesenberry...I remember my dad driving to Matoaka on a Saturday night parking the car sitting there and with mom and my sisters and I watching people walk by on the street. That was their entertainment not so much us girls.
@@rachelc.5463 Thanks for the comment. Some of Mr. East's videos are not exactly pleasant to watch. He has one of Princeton, my hometown. He started at the train station. In the 1950s, when I lived there, that part of town from the train station for the next four blocks was already practically dead or soon would be. Passenger service had been eliminated. The next five or six blocks was the main business district. Now it's dead, too. But the town is still pretty prosperous, except that all the activity is outside of the city limits. I thought things changed because the railroad shops were moved to Roanoke. But then I realized that all small towns and even larger towns look the same. It's the big chain stores or a nearby mall that drains the life out of the center of town. I'm referring to Home Depot, Lowes, and of course, Wal-Mart. Stores were closed on Sunday when I lived there, too. A small town like Princeton used to be very city-like. There was even a streetcar line, from the train station to the courthouse, and then on to Bluefield (to the train station there). The high school in Princeton that my mother graduated from in 1932 had no parking lot. It was the junior high when I went there. Things change.
I like the theme of your videos. Walking town streets is a novel idea and a great way for viewers to get a feel for unfamiliar places. Looking forward to seeing more!
That's the Methodist Church at 15:00. It's closed now . Watching this brings back good memories but it's also sad to me. Haven't been back to Matoaka since 1986 but it was my home from 1971-77 & 1982-84 & back in the 60's me & my sister would go to Matoaka for the summer to stay with my Grandmother who back then lived in the hotel in one of the apartments there. The hotel then was owned by a sweet lady named Mrs Webb. Good times. Back then it was a busy place & even when I last visited there in summer of 1986 it wan't too bad then. Most of the stores were still open & it had it's busy moments.
My Mom n I lived in an apartment in the Hotel, it was a hopping town in the 60's I left the State in 66 but would LUV to go n just see the place, I think I would but this video looks as if it's a sad place to see when you once remember wht it was
@@tiggers84 There was a big hotel in Princeton, owned by the same man who (I think) operated Shawnee Lake (swimming pool, amusement park, and live music), Conley Snidow. The Virginian Hotel had a restaurant and at one time had dance bands, which would probably have been before 1950. It closed in 1978. There was also a big hotel in Mullens, which I believe was where Kennedy stayed when he toured the area electioneering. Both buildings are still standing. I believe the one in Princeton was converted to apartments, the one in Mullens is empty. Mullens had a bad flood some years ago.
West Virginia suffers from the resource curse they want coal to strive but lack a understanding of a new world of West Virginia would hop on the cannabis train they could easily bring money into the state sadly only money coming into the state is going in Jim justices pockets this state has potential but our leaders are idiots
At one time, way back in the 1910's to 1920's; Matoaka had more millionaires per capita then any other town in USA. Crazy but true. Matoaka was the town where the coal firm execs lived. It was like Aspen, Colorado: super rich. In fact: there were luxury items that could be purchased in Matoaka that could only be purchased otherwise in New York City! French fur coats, grand pianos, Cuban cigars, and Model T Fords.
Im a Descendant of people of this town Mercer County Princeton and Roanoke with a Family tree dating back to 1690, Grandmother Iris Elaine "Basham maiden name" ...was born here and her husband my grandfather Arnold C McElyea and her Mom and Dad was from Matoaka. His Name Was Arley Basham " he was a Pastor and Jeweler and jewelry store owner and her momma was Aiola Shrewsbury "Maiden name" they left town in the 1950s after my grandfathers service in US Navy WW2 to move to Toledo ohio to then work at Libby glass. If she were still alive to see this drone footage of her old mountain home, she'd probably cry with Joy and sadness. To see it still here but see it the ghost of what it used to be. Thanks for sharing. ❤
I was born and raised in this town. Back then everyone new everyone and their kinfolks. Many memories were made walking the Hollars and railroad tracks. I lived up church holler with my family
Walking in memories….sad little town it seems, but it gave me some wonderful memories in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The streets are so familiar, and my friends and I would walk all the way up the street many times. Lunch break from High School, and we would sometimes go to William’s Cafe, then on up to the drugstore. Bailey’s Funeral Home was just past the drugstore. Easy Street was where Dr. Butte’s office was. Once we walked up the hill at the end of town to the top where the ruins of the very old Matoaka School were strewn. Bet some of the bricks are still there. Hall’s was so crowded at lunchtime, there was no where to sit. Thanks for the video, because I live out of state, and will probably never see that town again. Some of my best memories were lived out right there with great teachers and good friends.
@@shirleydenton4747 I can barely remember seeing the old high school on top of the hill, although I was never up there. I used to ride with my father when he had a laundry route from Princeton to Mullens. There were a few coal camps along the way, all beyond Matoaka that had all but disappeared, although I think the names are still on the map. I remember Arista especially, for some reason. I also remember Aker's store at the top of Hernon Mountain (also called Arista Mountain, I think)--if I'm remembering Aker's store correctly. A number of those places along the road had a school, most of which are either in ruins or have been demolished. But some coal camps are hanging on, like Bud, over in Wyoming County. Somewhere along the road to Mullens, there was a drive-in movie theater, although I had never been there. There was also a place called the Beanery somewhere around Elmore. It was mainly for railroad men who would lay over. There were rooms to rent and a restaurant. But the last time I was there, before Covid, I couldn't even remember where it was. Gone without a trace. So is the house where we lived in Basin (in Wyoming county), and the grade school I attended in Princeton. But most things are still there. Mullens used to have a railroad yard, but no more.
I was recently there and I have a question for anyone that knows about the town’s historic past… There is a huge brick building just past the post office, the middle of it has fallen in what looks to be old fire damage. What was that building back in the day?
How I dreaded going out of that area getting ready to cross Herndon mountain. Ughhh car sickness every year to visit my aunts at christmas in Pineville and Mullens... couldn't wait to get back to flat Washington DC area....
@David Lusk...I can relate with car sickness as a child crossing Herndon mountain my dad would need to stop and buy for me a soda pop for my upset stomach and headache.
I've been there 3 times to take photos and there was always a big yellow dog running around next door to the church, you really luck out in your videos not having dog encounters!
Basketball back in that time was boss. Late 60s early 70s. Teams like matoaka. Spanishburg. Oakdale. Athens. We played. In the Charleston. State. Basketball tournament in 1975. Lost. To. A team call Kermit. That was so long. Ago .great memories 👍😂🤗
Its sad seeing this town go down hill i grew up here and just live 2 miles out of town i used to go down there everyday to hangout with old friends its just so sad now.
Lord have mercy it hurts my heart to see this town so run down so broken so empty I grew up in Matoaca there was a lot of good people there hard workers my grandmother was a preacher in Matoaca Miss Reverend. Minne Tibbs my first grade teacher was Miss Francis Woods I used to come home from time to time I can't remember when that town was really really busy we lived in apartment over the stores dang it's so hard to believe all these years it went by I've lost a lot of deer friends from there Matoaca will always be home sweet home to me and I am a Coal Miner's Daughter thoughts and prayers to everyone from my little town😢💔🙏
I live in bluefield wv. matoka has nothing. It's a ghost town no stores no gas no food. Pocahontas is a better place to walk around though as it's creepy and they have or had one gas station. Go to the grave yard look for the Italian section graves alone are worth a few hundred grand very nice.
I bought a half acre lot there from a tax lien investor for $550. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars.. Basically, the county can't even auction off properties claimed for non payment of taxes.. There is no demand. Nature will tear those buildings down eventually...
I once drove to matoaka to try to get laid went down this girls road potholes the size of comets I turned around went back to lerona lol 😂 it’s pretty nice and country out there but the rest of Mercer county is junk
Thank u so much for posting this I grew up here in the 60s and 70s had a lot of good times here
Was there people with the last name Godfrey there?
My father told me that at one time, Matoaka was so busy on Saturday night, you couldn't get down the street because of the crowds. I can remember when the new road was built that bypassed part of the town. I was last there about a year and a half ago. I'm originally from Princeton, which doesn't look like it used to, either, since the railroad shops closed. Neither does Mulllens. This is just about the saddest video I've ever seen on TH-cam.
Matoaka was booming when my mom, step dad, maw maw and paw paw were growing up.
@Kenneth Quesenberry...I remember my dad driving to Matoaka on a Saturday night parking the car sitting there and with mom and my sisters and I watching people walk by on the street. That was their entertainment not so much us girls.
@@rachelc.5463 Thanks for the comment. Some of Mr. East's videos are not exactly pleasant to watch. He has one of Princeton, my hometown. He started at the train station. In the 1950s, when I lived there, that part of town from the train station for the next four blocks was already practically dead or soon would be. Passenger service had been eliminated. The next five or six blocks was the main business district. Now it's dead, too. But the town is still pretty prosperous, except that all the activity is outside of the city limits. I thought things changed because the railroad shops were moved to Roanoke. But then I realized that all small towns and even larger towns look the same. It's the big chain stores or a nearby mall that drains the life out of the center of town. I'm referring to Home Depot, Lowes, and of course, Wal-Mart. Stores were closed on Sunday when I lived there, too.
A small town like Princeton used to be very city-like. There was even a streetcar line, from the train station to the courthouse, and then on to Bluefield (to the train station there). The high school in Princeton that my mother graduated from in 1932 had no parking lot. It was the junior high when I went there. Things change.
Tht was in the 60's for sure, I moved outta State in 66 it was still going strong but sooooooo sad to see 👀this
Sad to see where it's at now.😢
I like the theme of your videos. Walking town streets is a novel idea and a great way for viewers to get a feel for unfamiliar places. Looking forward to seeing more!
That's the Methodist Church at 15:00. It's closed now . Watching this brings back good memories but it's also sad to me. Haven't been back to Matoaka since 1986 but it was my home from 1971-77 & 1982-84 & back in the 60's me & my sister would go to Matoaka for the summer to stay with my Grandmother who back then lived in the hotel in one of the apartments there. The hotel then was owned by a sweet lady named Mrs Webb. Good times. Back then it was a busy place & even when I last visited there in summer of 1986 it wan't too bad then. Most of the stores were still open & it had it's busy moments.
It is run down now and sad.
My Mom n I lived in an apartment in the Hotel, it was a hopping town in the 60's I left the State in 66 but would LUV to go n just see the place, I think I would but this video looks as if it's a sad place to see when you once remember wht it was
I didn't know there was a hotel there.
@@kennethquesenberry2610 Yeah, it'd been there since the 20's. It, along with several other buildings, burned down in August of 2014
@@tiggers84 There was a big hotel in Princeton, owned by the same man who (I think) operated Shawnee Lake (swimming pool, amusement park, and live music), Conley Snidow. The Virginian Hotel had a restaurant and at one time had dance bands, which would probably have been before 1950. It closed in 1978. There was also a big hotel in Mullens, which I believe was where Kennedy stayed when he toured the area electioneering. Both buildings are still standing. I believe the one in Princeton was converted to apartments, the one in Mullens is empty. Mullens had a bad flood some years ago.
This is my home town. Haven't been there in years. Sad to see it so run down
It is sad.
so utterly quiet compared to where I am, Los Angeles, looks so peaceful
Hahaha, its not.
Peaceful but boring and creepy at some secluded places
Peaceful isn’t great it’s nice occasionally but it’s nice having job opportunities and public transportation
Very interest to me as cultural anthropology is a hobby of mine. But man, watching this video "post-apocalypse" is what comes to mind.
Lots of old run down vacant properties. So sad because you can tell some of these old homes were grand at one time.
West Virginia suffers from the resource curse they want coal to strive but lack a understanding of a new world of West Virginia would hop on the cannabis train they could easily bring money into the state sadly only money coming into the state is going in Jim justices pockets this state has potential but our leaders are idiots
At one time, way back in the 1910's to 1920's; Matoaka had more millionaires per capita then any other town in USA. Crazy but true. Matoaka was the town where the coal firm execs lived. It was like Aspen, Colorado: super rich. In fact: there were luxury items that could be purchased in Matoaka that could only be purchased otherwise in New York City! French fur coats, grand pianos, Cuban cigars, and Model T Fords.
Im a Descendant of people of this town Mercer County Princeton and Roanoke with a Family tree dating back to 1690, Grandmother Iris Elaine "Basham maiden name" ...was born here and her husband my grandfather Arnold C McElyea and her Mom and Dad was from Matoaka. His Name Was Arley Basham " he was a Pastor and Jeweler and jewelry store owner and her momma was Aiola Shrewsbury "Maiden name" they left town in the 1950s after my grandfathers service in US Navy WW2 to move to Toledo ohio to then work at Libby glass. If she were still alive to see this drone footage of her old mountain home, she'd probably cry with Joy and sadness. To see it still here but see it the ghost of what it used to be. Thanks for sharing. ❤
I was born and raised in this town. Back then everyone new everyone and their kinfolks. Many memories were made walking the Hollars and railroad tracks. I lived up church holler with my family
Just wanted to thank you very much for posting this there's no place like home sweet home no matter what God bless you all😭❤💔🙏
This video makes me feel uneasy
I wish you would go and show easy street how it is now
spend a lot of my childhood in that town. Lot if great memories of the house in the hill!
Hello, I like your videos , you should mention what county each visit is in, Thanks Lewis
@Trudy Burns...Matoaka is in Mercer County, West Virginia.
Walking in memories….sad little town it seems, but it gave me some wonderful memories in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The streets are so familiar, and my friends and I would walk all the way up the street many times. Lunch break from High School, and we would sometimes go to William’s Cafe, then on up to the drugstore. Bailey’s Funeral Home was just past the drugstore. Easy Street was where Dr. Butte’s office was. Once we walked up the hill at the end of town to the top where the ruins of the very old Matoaka School were strewn. Bet some of the bricks are still there. Hall’s was so crowded at lunchtime, there was no where to sit. Thanks for the video, because I live out of state, and will probably never see that town again. Some of my best memories were lived out right there with great teachers and good friends.
@@shirleydenton4747 I can barely remember seeing the old high school on top of the hill, although I was never up there. I used to ride with my father when he had a laundry route from Princeton to Mullens. There were a few coal camps along the way, all beyond Matoaka that had all but disappeared, although I think the names are still on the map. I remember Arista especially, for some reason. I also remember Aker's store at the top of Hernon Mountain (also called Arista Mountain, I think)--if I'm remembering Aker's store correctly.
A number of those places along the road had a school, most of which are either in ruins or have been demolished. But some coal camps are hanging on, like Bud, over in Wyoming County. Somewhere along the road to Mullens, there was a drive-in movie theater, although I had never been there. There was also a place called the Beanery somewhere around Elmore. It was mainly for railroad men who would lay over. There were rooms to rent and a restaurant. But the last time I was there, before Covid, I couldn't even remember where it was. Gone without a trace. So is the house where we lived in Basin (in Wyoming county), and the grade school I attended in Princeton. But most things are still there. Mullens used to have a railroad yard, but no more.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve got chased or stopped or jumped
By who? By what? When? Why?
????????? Noone jumps you in this town anymore.
@@therocknroller184 Really cause I can even name three people that did Kelsey Kaylee and rain
@@therocknroller184 you’ve never seen a wild pill head after dark
I would like to have that caboose! Is it for sale?
I was recently there and I have a question for anyone that knows about the town’s historic past… There is a huge brick building just past the post office, the middle of it has fallen in what looks to be old fire damage. What was that building back in the day?
Apartments
WHY is the town in such decay? Economy? Drugs? Gangs?
A LOT of drug use
@@JamesCampMusic what happened before the drug use? Weren’t their jobs in this town?
@@Marcus-sk2xf not really
@@JamesCampMusic Sad. It looks like there was life SOME time ago...
@@Marcus-sk2xf oh yeah. It used to be a nice little town back in the 50s-60s
Sign that reads 'Groceries' was once Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
My Mom shopped at Piggly Wiggly
How I dreaded going out of that area getting ready to cross Herndon mountain. Ughhh car sickness every year to visit my aunts at christmas in Pineville and Mullens... couldn't wait to get back to flat Washington DC area....
@David Lusk...I can relate with car sickness as a child crossing Herndon mountain my dad would need to stop and buy for me a soda pop for my upset stomach and headache.
Are you related to Elizabeth Lusk? She was from Pineville. She has a sister Janet and a brother Brian
I've been there 3 times to take photos and there was always a big yellow dog running around next door to the church, you really luck out in your videos not having dog encounters!
Well
Come to Fayetteville, AR. It’s the opposite of this
Basketball back in that time was boss. Late 60s early 70s. Teams like matoaka. Spanishburg. Oakdale. Athens. We played. In the Charleston. State. Basketball tournament in 1975. Lost. To. A team call Kermit. That was so long. Ago .great memories 👍😂🤗
Wow my home town. I can't believe. It. 😮
Its sad seeing this town go down hill i grew up here and just live 2 miles out of town i used to go down there everyday to hangout with old friends its just so sad now.
Its true.
I grew up there
Lord have mercy it hurts my heart to see this town so run down so broken so empty I grew up in Matoaca there was a lot of good people there hard workers my grandmother was a preacher in Matoaca Miss Reverend. Minne Tibbs my first grade teacher was Miss Francis Woods I used to come home from time to time I can't remember when that town was really really busy we lived in apartment over the stores dang it's so hard to believe all these years it went by I've lost a lot of deer friends from there Matoaca will always be home sweet home to me and I am a Coal Miner's Daughter thoughts and prayers to everyone from my little town😢💔🙏
I live in bluefield wv. matoka has nothing. It's a ghost town no stores no gas no food. Pocahontas is a better place to walk around though as it's creepy and they have or had one gas station. Go to the grave yard look for the Italian section graves alone are worth a few hundred grand very nice.
Wow really looklike old base of American here, in subic Bay philippines
The dogs barking in the background are my dogs.
Is there still any Godfreys that live in Matoaka?
@@accordiontravelguy4280 my uncle Richard Godfrey lives in Princeton wv, was Spanishburg forever
There use to be a family tht lived in a hse on the corner in town, Joyce East/Brenda Brim they were related, I'm sure they're no longer there as well
Do any of those buildings have an actual store that is operational? Is the thrift store open? Do you have a gas station?
Nope.
I still. Have family there. We go back from time to time best place to escape city life. That's for shure. 😅
Use to play. Here in the 1950slol
This town has gone down the gutter but still is a nice town.
I live near there and there's soooooooo many used needles in that school lol
@Ikey...Dillard Shrewsbury came from Lashmeet Elementary to be principal at Matoaka Elementary in early 1960s.
Are there plans on tearing these building down?
Not to be a wise guy but who would bother? Sad, very sad state of decay but what can a person do? Things change and not always for the better.
Hecht no
Heck
There’s no money to rebuild the houses
I bought a half acre lot there from a tax lien investor for $550. Yes, five hundred fifty dollars.. Basically, the county can't even auction off properties claimed for non payment of taxes.. There is no demand. Nature will tear those buildings down eventually...
Boa noite daqui do Brasil!!!
Wrecked my Regal in late eighties!
Ghost town. Sad
# 9999 X 9999🎉
I once drove to matoaka to try to get laid went down this girls road potholes the size of comets I turned around went back to lerona lol 😂 it’s pretty nice and country out there but the rest of Mercer county is junk