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    Rufi the Ruby Throated Hummingbird's Tale 

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    Willis
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    Published on 04-25-2012 07:15 PM
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    A poignant tale. I'll relate it primarily in photos
    Rufi, The Ruby Throated Hummingbird


    One of our website's members, "9933", came upon a Hummer Tuesday morning, April 24, 2012. This elegant bird had apparently recently flown into a window.

    The little fellow was barely alive.
    ...
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    Capital Airliner Crash of 1947 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 05-28-2010 08:41 PM
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    Prologue
    Before there was a much development on our Mountain, tragedy struck atop the Blue Ridge.

    On Friday, June 13, 1947 the second worst commercial airline crash (at that time) occurred just below the crest of the mountain on its western slope. Bad weather contributed to the tragedy as the plane pancaked into cliffs at full throttle.


    This WAS big news. The account made the front page of The New York Times. The Forty-seven passengers and 3 crew members all died instantly. The plane’s impact showed no signs of any evasive measures being taken, a faulty altimeter being the suspected cause. The crash was so intense that six bodies could not be identified and two were never recovered.

    We’ve published this account in an effort to honor the memories of the dead and give as best a description of the events as the news articles of the time allow. If anyone who knows more about the tragedy would like to add to this story, please contact us.

    The tale is told in two parts, the first by newspaper accounts and the second by the employees of the airline company who sought out the site of the wreckage nearly 60 years later. As a youngster, I recall visiting the site of the crash about 12 years after the fact. It’s been a privilege to find out some of the details, albeit so much later.

    The Tragedy



    On Friday, the 13th, in June of 1947, an airliner crash

    involving the second largest loss of life at that time

    occurred atop the Blue Ridge Mountain directly above

    what would in 10 years, become the Shannondale

    Subdivision. 50 passengers and crew members

    pancaked into a cliff face just a few hundred feet from

    the summit. The story by way of newspaper accounts

    and stories of former members of the airliner company

    is recounted below...


    Introduction
    Note: Some thumbnail photos in the article can be enlarged by clicking

    On the evening of Friday the 13th of June, 1947, there was an Airliner crash of epic proportions. At the time it was the second largest loss of life in a commercial passenger flight in the United States. We have accounts from two newspapers which reported the event,
    ...
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    The Blue Ridge Mountain's Watershed 

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    Willis
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    Published on 05-10-2011 06:10 PM
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    CLICK THE PIC & SCROLL FOR A CLOSER VIEW

    The Blue Ridge Mountain's Watersheds in Jefferson County WV

    Showing the sub-watersheds of the western slope of the Blue Ridge mountain
    ...
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    Official Flooding/Erosion Thread 4/16/2011 

    by
    katybelle
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    Published on 05-04-2011 12:45 AM
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    NOTE:
    I've endeavored to combine the threads and posts showing storm damage from the 4/16/2011 rain.
    ...
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    Video Snippets from Jefferson County History 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 06-07-2010 07:53 PM
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    Welcome to one of the most extensive history presentations ever assembled for our county of Jefferson, West Virginia. The presentation, which presently consists of 190 YouTube film shorts and links to 2 websites, is a labor of love by Jim Surkamp. To describe Jim as an ardent lover of history would be an understatement of the greatest magnitude.

    In Jim Surkamp's own words:

    Our County's Stories in 1000 minutes via YouTube



    Our Story
    BEFORE 1700 IN JEFFERSON COUNTY'S REGION:

    1) Pre-History - Story of colliding continents and mile-high glaciers in Pennsylvania

    The Shenandoah River - "daughter of the stars" - her story:
    2) Oh Shenandoah! 1
    3) Oh Shenandoah! - 2
    4) Early Tribal Life - 1
    5) Early Tribal Life - 2
    6) Explorer John Lederer wrote down how Native Americans lived in Virginia before the 18th century


    THE 18th CENTURY IN JEFFERSON COUNTY:

    Massive migration of the Scot-Irish prompted Lord Fairfax to affirm property titles to his seven million acres - 1700s:

    7) Scot-Irish - 1
    8) Scot-Irish - 2

    Harpers Ferry's first settler was a "squatter" - 1730s:
    9) Peter Stephens - 1
    10) Peter Stephens - 2
    11)
    Peter Stephens - 3

    George Washington Survey Diary - He surveyed the southern part of the County entering the County at Long Marsh in Kabletown. Five Washington brothers bought some 10,000 acres of the land he surveyed - March, 1747:
    12) Washington's Diary - 1

    13) Washington's Diary - 2

    14) Peter Burr House

    15) George Washington's Masonic Cave - Used for another 180 years - 1750 - 20th century

    Adam Stephen - Revolutionary War general, physician, Washington executive officer for over twenty years, founder of Martinsburg, delegate to Virginia Constitutional Convention - 1750 - 1800.
    16) Adam Stephen - Credit - 1
    17) Adam Stephen - Before Virginia - 2
    18) Adam Stephen - Frontier with GW - 3
    19) Adam Stephen - Fort Duquesne ...
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    New Rt 9 @ Keyes Gap + Construction Photos 

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    Willis
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    Published on 12-20-2011 08:23 PM
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    New Rt 9 @ Keyes Gap + Construction Photos

    Click on the image above to see a larger version

    Courtesy of Commissioner Lyn Widmyer
    While ...
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    StormWater RunOff Control Measures-A Useful Link for Our Viewers 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 12-08-2010 03:16 PM
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    Received from Jennifer Garlesky, Conservation Specialist with the Eastern Panhandle Conservation District:

    THE LINK
    The
    ...
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    The Shannondale Iron Furnace 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 09-14-2010 12:10 AM
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    The Shannondale Iron Furnace
    Near the Horseshoe Bend of the Shenandoah River

    A Very Brief History

    In the early 1700's, William Fairfax became the owner of 29,000 acres of the Virginia Colony. The land was referred to as Shannondale. Early in the area's history it became known that copious deposits of a superior grade of iron ore were present and readily available. That fact, in conjunction with the presence of the area's convenient proximity to two rivers made the area highly desirable for iron
    ...
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    Blue Ridge Acres (& surrounds) History 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 08-29-2010 10:22 PM
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    From the Pages of History
    A Short History of Blue Ridge Acres, West Virginia
    by Ruby Browning

    Reprinted with the Permission of the Author


    The Former Sales Office (Now Clubhouse)

    Dear Readers:

    I told Bettie LaMotte that my first retirement project was going to be writing local history for my grandson, Christopher Barnes Robinson.

    She asked me if I would agree to have the history printed in the Blue Ridge Acres News. These first eleven chapters were written between May 1986 and September 1988.

    All of Part I was edited and expanded during April and May of 1989.

    We are very indebted to Ellie Piper Clemons, Robert O. Cronise, Beatrice Everhart, Vanessa Everhart, John Hawk, Mike Jenkins, the late Hilda Piper, Thermon Piper, and Leona Staubs for permitting us to record their remembrances and family traditions.

    Both Leona Staubs and John Hawk were born in 1896 and continue to have surprisingly good recall of their younger years on Loudoun Heights. Our friend, Hilda Piper, died on April 8, 1989.

    We also thank Larry Gaffney for editing this work.
    -Ruby Browning


    CHAPTER I
    By the time the Shenandoah River has reached the banks of the picnic grove of our Blue Ridge Mountain Country Club, the river has flowed northeasterly for about one hundred and fifty miles from its two sources. The river drains an area of about three thousand square miles. The North Fork and South Fork of the Shenandoah River begin in the Appalachian Mountains and join at Front Royal, Virginia. From Front Royal this beautiful Shenandoah River travels to Harpers Ferry. It ends as the water merges with and becomes the Potomac River.

    Several
    ...
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    The View From Lover's Leap 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 06-08-2011 01:11 PM
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    So,
    I finally was able to coordinate with my friend and arrange a visit to the summit of Lover's Leap. The view was simply breathtaking. The first two images show the panorama of
    ...
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    Willis & Cpl Sell 10/7/2011 LE Ride-Along 

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    Willis
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    Published on 10-10-2011 01:18 PM
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    Willis & Cpl Sell 10/7/2011 Ready to Hit the Road
    click the pic

    The Report



    I arrived at the sheriff's office in Bardane a little before 3PM or 10 hour shift (3pm-1am) and was assigned to ride with Sergeant Sell, probably so they could keep me out of trouble.

    We left the lot a little before 4PM after the Sgt. had checked logs and given me a short course on what to expect as a "ride-along" and I had staged the photo op above.

    The Sergeant introduced me to the “cockpit" of the cruiser, packed with electronic equipment and pointed out how to “light up” the cruiser
    ...
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    The Bloomery of Bloomery Road 

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    Willis
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    Published on 09-23-2010 08:30 PM
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    From the Jefferson County Sesquicentennial issue of the Jefferson Republican 9/20/1951


    "The Bloomery" As Washington Saw It

    On Friday, May 9, 1760, George Washington "called at the Bloomery and got Mr. William Crawford to shew me the place that has been so often talked of for erecting an Iron Works upon.".

    He didn't say Vestal's Bloomery or Mayberry's Bloomery or just
    ...
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    Kabletown/Middleway District Schools1860's-1933 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 09-30-2010 09:45 PM
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    The following material was originally contained in the Jefferson County School News Vol. 2, No. 7 dated April 1976 and graciously provided by its Editor, Mary Stocks.
    In 1976 Jefferson County School News was a monthly publication sponsored by the Board of Education as a public service to Jefferson County residents.

    Superintendent - Harold L. Pickens
    President of the Board - Richard Neal
    Editor - Mary Stocks
    Special thanks to the following people who so willingly supplied information to the editor of this paper for this special publication:



    Mrs. Beverly Huyett, Mrs. Norval Johnson, Mr. James Ernest Watson, Mr. and Mrs. James Grantham,
    Mrs. Margaret Kilmer, Mrs. Caroline Wesco, Mrs. Virginia Burns, Mrs. Holmes White, Mrs. Nancy Sardone, Mr. Lyle Tabb, Mr. James Snyder, Miss Edna Farnsworth, Mrs. Gertrude Rowland, Mr. Charles Whittington, Miss Shirley Macoughtry, Mrs. Margaret Banks, Mrs. Georgia Timbers, Mrs. James Locke, Mrs. Louise Bradley, Mrs. James Strider, Mrs. Carrie Strider Lynn, Mrs. Marianna Smallwood, Mr. Howard Bush, Mrs. Doris Moten, Mrs. W. L. Barron, Mrs. C. H. Hamilton, Mrs. Edna Pifer.

    Jefferson County Public Schools
    Kabletown/Middleway District School History
    1860's-1933


    KABLETOWN SCHOOLS


    Kabletown School - 1885

    Pictured is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rowland of Kabletown, but the building was once the Kabletown Graded School which was built in 1885.

    The home is located directly across from the ruins of the Old Stone Church. The school was built on a lot purchased by the Board from a Mary Wilson for $100. Originally it was a one-room school, but a partition was later added.


    The school was used until 1915 when it was replaced by a new brick school still standing today in Kabletown. In
    ...
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    Harpers Ferry District Schools 1889-1933 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 09-23-2010 10:30 AM
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    The following material was originally contained in the Jefferson County School News Vol. 2, No. 5 dated February 1976 and graciously provided by its Editor, Mary Stocks.
    In 1976 Jefferson County School News was a monthly publication sponsored by the Board of Education as a public service to Jefferson County residents.

    Superintendent - Harold L. Pickens
    President of the Board - Richard Neal
    Editor - Mary Stocks

    Special thanks to the following people who so willingly supplied information to the editor of this paper for this special publication.
    T. A. Lowery, Lewis Nichols, Betty Kidwiler, Edith Bragg, Mrs. W.P. Fleming, Mrs. Brian Houser, Mrs. Lester Moler, Mrs. William Hoak, Mrs Mae Ramey, 0scar Jones

    Jefferson County Public Schools
    Harpers Ferry District School History
    1889-1933


    Prior to 1889

    0n June 3, 1847, Jefferson County citizens voted to establish a district free school system. One year later, 23 schools with an enrollment of 1,100 were active. Thirteen of these schools were new buildings. Jefferson County was at this time still a county of Virginia.

    After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, a movement began to establish the state of West Virginia. The writing of the constitution started at Wheeling on November 26, 1861, and the document was ratified on June 20, 1863.


    In December of I863, the West Virginia Legislature passed an act establishing a free school system under the new constitution, with one of its provisions
    ...
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    St. Andrew's Church & Mountain Community Center 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 08-27-2010 11:22 PM
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    St. Andrew's & It's Mt. Community Center


    The First Incarnation


    In 1886 a few young men*, communicants from Zion Episcopal Church in Charles Town WV, began a Sunday School in a schoolhouse east of the Shenandoah River and southeast of the city. The area was near Mannings, a community at the toe of Jefferson County's Blue Ridge Mountain. The young churchmen's ...
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    Schools of the Blue Ridge, Reminiscences 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 09-19-2010 05:30 PM
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    Introduction

    The editors are trying to piece together a history of the schools of the Blue Ridge. We've been able to collect a few items and would like to enlist the help of all our readers in this effort. The old schools are gone. There may be some few structures left that once served as "seats of learning", but by and large they've disappeared. Several are mentioned, The school in Silver Grove's School, Manning's School, The School at St Andrew's Community Center, Fairmount School and a school near Pine Grove in Va.

    The authors of the newsletter mentioned below obviously had information AND photos of some schools and pupils of yesteryear. Hopefully we or some of our readers can persuade sharing of information. The images included are scans of photocopies and leave much to be desired. But we do KNOW that photos existed at one time.


    We've included what little info we've had time to gather
    ...
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    Septic System Maintenance and Pumping Program 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 08-16-2010 04:51 PM
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    The Jefferson County Health Department's Dif-Sip Program

    The Jefferson County Health Department with input from the Water advisory committee has adopted a program, set to go into effect
    ...
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    The Locavore Project - WV 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 08-18-2011 10:15 PM
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    The Locavore Project - WV

    What is The Locavore Project?
    We'll let Ms. Stolarski speak to that question
    SO,
    What can YOU do?

    Get on board the Locavore Project WV's Train and join in the fun. The project's Blog is linked above and
    ...
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    The Morrisey Report: “State Redistricting Looms Large in 2011” 

    by
    Willis
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    Published on 01-21-2011 04:22 PM

    The Morrisey Report: “State Redistricting Looms Large in 2011”
    Also Published in the Spirit 1/19/2011

    While the State Legislature and the West Virginia Supreme Court determine whether the Mountain State will hold a special gubernatorial election
    ...
    Read More Read More 2 Comments

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