new deal at the crossroads

SECOND POSTING (February 21, 2012)

Heather B. is getting ready to go to WV History Day in Charleston this Thursday, February 23. She wants to tell all about the NEW DEAL AT THE CROSSROADS event that Kump Education is planning for September 1 on Labor Day Weekend. So she’s been out here looking for pictures from the early days. She found my favorite picture of myself. Below is the drawing done by Clarence Harding, the architect who drew it when H. G. Kump asked him to design a home for his large family. As we buildings get older, we like to look at pictures from an earlier time.

You would not believe how nice it was to stand among the trees on 11 acres of farm land and enjoy the peace and quiet of rural life. Before highway 33 cut through the property, the land sloped gently from Goddin Creek up to the railroad track. The Kump kids would stand on the back porch and wave to the railroad engineer as the train went by at regular intervals.

In 1939, highway 33 cut right through the middle of the pasture, and the highways have been getting closer and dumping more water on my property ever since. There was some noise from the trains in the thirties, but it was nothing compared to the racket from the traffic we have now. I can’t get a good night of sleep.