Congrats to RHS
- Thread starter Trevor_Cash
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I did too. I cold-called the manager at the IGA there . He's a cool dude my age and a high school football fan. I should totally follow up with him this week. The town has a really cool "small town but not dead yet" vibe. A lot of the little towns in central Virginia, between Charlottesville, Richmond, and Roanoke, unfortunately have that "fully dead" vibe.
Yes exactly. If I thought I could find something decent paying in Staunton I would seriously consider moving to Craigsville and driving over to work. I'd love to see something move in that big empty plant.
The most interesting thing about VSDB is that their old coach from the 60s (Rocco Devito) is still around Staunton and I swear he has not changed a bit!
The plant in Craigsville was called Stillwater. It was explained to me once that there were three of them at one time...one in Augusta Springs, which is the town just before Craigsville, and one in Goshen, which is about 8 miles beyond Craigsville. They made some kind of textile products I believe and the three plants acted like an assembly line....something would first be made in AS that would go to Craigsville and from there the product would be sent to Goshen to be finished. It is my understanding that the Goshen plant still operates but I have to admit I don't know where it is.
There is another long-abandoned factory about a mile east of Craigsville, heading toward the prison that was called Lehigh Cement. Unlike the one on the main road, this one looks downright scary now and I cannot believe it has been allowed to sit there in that state all these years. It is huge but very dilapidated. It was once so big as an employer that an entire community called Fordwick was built around it. The 1960 census showed Fordwick as having 600 people but now it is just a few ramshackle trailers.
Sorry to get off the subject of football, but history can be just as fascinating sometimes!
The plant in Craigsville was called Stillwater. It was explained to me once that there were three of them at one time...one in Augusta Springs, which is the town just before Craigsville, and one in Goshen, which is about 8 miles beyond Craigsville. They made some kind of textile products I believe and the three plants acted like an assembly line....something would first be made in AS that would go to Craigsville and from there the product would be sent to Goshen to be finished. It is my understanding that the Goshen plant still operates but I have to admit I don't know where it is.
There is another long-abandoned factory about a mile east of Craigsville, heading toward the prison that was called Lehigh Cement. Unlike the one on the main road, this one looks downright scary now and I cannot believe it has been allowed to sit there in that state all these years. It is huge but very dilapidated. It was once so big as an employer that an entire community called Fordwick was built around it. The 1960 census showed Fordwick as having 600 people but now it is just a few ramshackle trailers.
Sorry to get off the subject of football, but history can be just as fascinating sometimes!
Xcross posted while I was typing my reply. The old Daniel Motors as well as the old Craig Theater are still visible in "downtown" Craigsville, but I am pretty sure that mmqp was asking about the Stillwater plant that is on the right side just as you head out of the town right after the pretty decent country restaurant.
The old cement factory is probably the building you are referring to. Lehigh cement I believe. There was an old stillwater plant as well, closer to goshen I believe. Of course the prison is still there, and that used to be ROUGH. The old warden wanted the worst of the worst at that place, and I have a buddy who was on duty when those insane prisoners tried to riot, and he tells a pretty wild story from that day. The old drive in theater is on the way to the wetlands in Augusta Springs, on the left headed towards staunton. One thing about the folks in craigsville, they love their school (craigsville elem and buffalo gap high) and their sports (baseball and football). They are one of the anchors of the Buffalo Gap community, and i feel like those types of small towns are what makes small town football great; towns like craigsville, churchville, greenville, middlebrook, etc. There used to be a good restaurant just outside of buffalo gap on the way to craigsville but it has been closed for years.
I was typing my reply as you posted and didn't see your post longtimerhsfan, but you seem to have covered the details a little better than I. The restaurant I think you are talking about is BGs and I ate there a few years back and I want to make anothe trip over to craigsville to eat there. The scary factory you speak of used to go all out for halloween and they would do a smaller scale scare event like a fear forest, twisted creations type thing there. People now think it's haunted for what it's worth, but this new generation is a bunch of sissies lol jk!
About 15 minutes south of craigsville, there is a place known as Goshen Pass that I would recommend visiting in the summer for a day. Beautiful scenery and nice place to go for a swim
We got a drive in out here between Stephens City and Middletown on Rt. 11 in Frederick County. They've even gone digital! http://www.thefamilydriveintheatre.com/
Stillwater Mills, they had plants in Craigsville, Augusta Springs and Goshen.
I did not know Craigsville had ever had a football team until you posted that a couple of years ago. I had always assumed there was no football ever played at any of the small Augusta County high schools such as Craigsville, North River etc.
I did not know Craigsville had ever had a football team until you posted that a couple of years ago. I had always assumed there was no football ever played at any of the small Augusta County high schools such as Craigsville, North River etc.
There's the difference in generations for ya!
See for my generation Craigsville is a place you stay away from! Lol Craigsville is like Elkton, be gone when the sun goes down
The drive in at eastside speedway was way before my time but I wish they'd bring it back!
See for my generation Craigsville is a place you stay away from! Lol Craigsville is like Elkton, be gone when the sun goes down
The drive in at eastside speedway was way before my time but I wish they'd bring it back!
There's the difference in generations for ya!
See for my generation Craigsville is a place you stay away from! Lol Craigsville is like Elkton, be gone when the sun goes down
The drive in at eastside speedway was way before my time but I wish they'd bring it back!
Elkton isn't really like that anymore. My wife and I spend a pretty good amount of time there "when the sun goes down"! If you really want to visit a nice small town, I suggest you all visit Luray. Shopping, recreation, and a couple of good places to eat- plus you can walk or run (as you see fit) on the Hawksbill Greenway!
I honestly love Elkton! It's amazing the cars that come out from hiding up there on the weekends
It's just funny the stereotypes of my generation (late 80s child) that these towns have gotten and how different they are from the generations before.
It's just funny the stereotypes of my generation (late 80s child) that these towns have gotten and how different they are from the generations before.
It is interesting how that works out. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the city of Staunton, but there are areas just outside of 'downtown' that used to be pretty desirable houses in nice neighborhoods and are now fairly undesirable and people see them as 'the hood.' Granted that has been years ago now, but those areas used to be seen as a neighborhood like Hillcrest (one of the desired neighborhoods in the city of Staunton) and now they practically give the houses (the ones just outside of downtown, not HIllcrest) away in an effort to sell them.
Lol so many posts I want to reply to but I wont fill up this thread with post after post.
Thank you Longtimer for the info on Craigsville. I had no clue there was so much going on there at one point (I swear you can feel the potential when you drive through there though)! And yes, I'm talking about the factory on the right as you leave town going towards Goshen. (P.S. Goshen High played 6 man football at one time)
And Keith, Goshen Pass was part of my impromptu tour of Rockbridge back in August. My significant other had never seen that part of the country, and I had been wanting to show her for quite some time. I think I scared her when I started talking about wanting to leave Fairfax and move back there LOL!
I've been wanting to try BG's forever. And Longtimer touched on it; talking about old towns and restaurants, thats part of the allure of small town football for me! Getting out and seeing new places. Or familiar places where you know exactly which restaurant you're going to eat at every time you go! (Country Cafe in Bath County comes to mind). Heck, for years that was the highlight of our trips as Blues fans! Once you got a belly full of food it was all downhill from there Haha!
I never realized Elkton was a rough place. I know one thing, when I used to be an independent vendor I could make $70 an hour every time I delivered to the Elkton Food Lion. Wish all my stores had done so well! Or even HALF as well!! The Food Lion near the Mall in Staunton was a real bummer.
Thank you Longtimer for the info on Craigsville. I had no clue there was so much going on there at one point (I swear you can feel the potential when you drive through there though)! And yes, I'm talking about the factory on the right as you leave town going towards Goshen. (P.S. Goshen High played 6 man football at one time)
And Keith, Goshen Pass was part of my impromptu tour of Rockbridge back in August. My significant other had never seen that part of the country, and I had been wanting to show her for quite some time. I think I scared her when I started talking about wanting to leave Fairfax and move back there LOL!
I've been wanting to try BG's forever. And Longtimer touched on it; talking about old towns and restaurants, thats part of the allure of small town football for me! Getting out and seeing new places. Or familiar places where you know exactly which restaurant you're going to eat at every time you go! (Country Cafe in Bath County comes to mind). Heck, for years that was the highlight of our trips as Blues fans! Once you got a belly full of food it was all downhill from there Haha!
I never realized Elkton was a rough place. I know one thing, when I used to be an independent vendor I could make $70 an hour every time I delivered to the Elkton Food Lion. Wish all my stores had done so well! Or even HALF as well!! The Food Lion near the Mall in Staunton was a real bummer.
Last time I went through Craigsville, I saw a couple signs in people's yards in the shape of a bison with their son or daughter's name and number on it. Very cool, had a hint of "Texas high school football town" to it.
Sounds like lots of us know a lot about small town living and we could probably go on for hours. I know I could! In reference to someone's (Trevor maybe?) comment about places having bad reputations, that can happen to a town and once you get one, it is hard to shake it. But on a positive note, once you are perceived as a "nice town", that can stick with you as well. So I guess it all balances out.
Craigsville has had its not-so-perfect reputation, and maybe Elkton has too, for longer than I can remember (and I am older than most of you!) but I am sure there are wonderful people in both places. But then you can name any town that is considered nicer and find lousy people in that one.
Craigsville has had its not-so-perfect reputation, and maybe Elkton has too, for longer than I can remember (and I am older than most of you!) but I am sure there are wonderful people in both places. But then you can name any town that is considered nicer and find lousy people in that one.
Stafford? Street might be the name of one of those streets in Staunton.
I honestly love it downtown. I don't like Craigsville at all but of course the one I know is MUCH different than the one you know. I love Elkton though. Beautiful town with a beautiful view of the mountain.
I'll gladly still with my little ol town in dooms though
I honestly love it downtown. I don't like Craigsville at all but of course the one I know is MUCH different than the one you know. I love Elkton though. Beautiful town with a beautiful view of the mountain.
I'll gladly still with my little ol town in dooms though
Ive always heard Goshen used to be a roughneck little place. They used to have 2-3 bars there back in the day and all those logger type dudes were always ready for a fight!
I've also been told that Buena Vista used to be rough way back in the day. Growing up there, I remember a story about the fans getting rowdy at a PM-Natural Bridge game and flipping a police car over. Lo and behold, I did find a write about it in one of the old News Gazettes. I wish I had taken the time to Print that article. I did not and now I cant remember which year that happened. Shame on me.
Strasburg is another town that has an ominous history from what I've been told.
Any of you guys ever been to Marlinton or Franklin over in WV?
I've also been told that Buena Vista used to be rough way back in the day. Growing up there, I remember a story about the fans getting rowdy at a PM-Natural Bridge game and flipping a police car over. Lo and behold, I did find a write about it in one of the old News Gazettes. I wish I had taken the time to Print that article. I did not and now I cant remember which year that happened. Shame on me.
Strasburg is another town that has an ominous history from what I've been told.
Any of you guys ever been to Marlinton or Franklin over in WV?
It seems like a lot of little towns participated in that league at one time or another!
I've found write ups about the Glasgow "Rugmen" and the Big Island "Paper Makers", probably dating back to mid-30's in some of those old Lexington newspapers. Vesuvius had a team as well.
I've found write ups about the Glasgow "Rugmen" and the Big Island "Paper Makers", probably dating back to mid-30's in some of those old Lexington newspapers. Vesuvius had a team as well.
I think in some of the other threads on here, Keith_Stone and I and a few others were chatting about the Military academies there in Augusta County. I dug through a lot of the old SMA yearbooks years ago and came across their 1917 football schedule and wanted to share it with yall.. Now, can you imagine racking up these type of numbers, just to blow it all in the last game to your arch-rival??
http://www.sma-alumni.org/1918-2.pdf Scroll down to page 25 to see what I mean
http://www.sma-alumni.org/1918-2.pdf Scroll down to page 25 to see what I mean
I actually have a good friend who lives in Franklin! Was there not to long ago. It's like bluefield, blink and you'll miss it
True Story -- many many many years ago I saw a fight at the Hardees in Buena Vista where a guy was thrown out of the front window...
I've been to Marlinton many times and have close friends in Franklin. Marlinton had a pretty decent football history before consolidation, they were the Marlinton Copperheads. The flood of '85 tore both towns up pretty badly, and both had Hanover shoe plants that closed in the mid 90s. Franklin's rivalry with Circleville was a big one, even though pretty one sided in favor of Franklin. I think Circleville was the smallest football playing school in West Virginia when they consolidated with Franklin (major controversy). The consolidated Pendleton County High School has a reputation for having some of the best concession stand food in the state - I can recommend the ribeye steak sandwich!
Have you ever thought about creating a website and putting all of your stuff on there? You have some really great stuff. The amount of history you have is simply awesome.
Ha! Yea those are the type of stories I've heard about BV. Things have changed a lot there. Now you're more likely to get harassed by some Mormons or the BVPD than anything else LOL.
One of these days I'm gonna make the trip out and see both of these places.
Marlinton used to battle it out with Covington all the time as well as all the little Greenbrier County schools before they all consolidated. Circleville played VSDB a time or two as well. I'm surprised PM has not picked up either Pendleton or Pocahontas here in recent times. We scrimmaged Pendleton this year so I have a feeling they'll end up on the schedule soon enough.
I have. But I'd like to work with others on it. Something where not only scores can be found, but stats as well. And stories from old-timers. And pictures...MANY pictures! So it would take a lot of effort.
Plus I'm a completist. I have tons and tons of scores, but there are still so many I dont have. So it would feel odd posting incomplete data haha!
Also, I'm attempting to compile all the soccer and lacrosse scores for the VHSL as well. One of these days I may even try to do basketball..but that would be one heck of a task. Also, I'm working on WV, Md, and DC schools as well. Maryland used to play a girls sport called "Fieldball", sort of like what we know as Speedball these days.
If you're ever serious about doing that for football, I'll volunter to help with the research. I'm old enough to remember quite a few schools that no longer exist (Fries, Laurel Park, Central-Painter, Montevideo, etc.). There's a lot of untold stories and traditions. It would be fun to resurrect their memories for the fans that haven't forgotten them.
