Travel Green in Grafton, WV

by Kristina Sandi

Downtown Grafton

Grafton, West Virginia first gained a name for itself way back in 1852 as a prominent railroad town when the B&O railroad arrived. The B&O line was important for the movement of troops and supplies during the Civil War and Grafton became an important strategic point during the early stages of the insurgency.

Both the Confederate and Union armies fought hard to control the town and following a small skirmish on May 22, 1861, the first soldier killed in the Civil War, the bloodiest campaign in U.S. history where over 600,000 soldiers perished, died 16 miles north of Grafton and was buried in its National Cemetery. This led to a “flower strewing day” in 1867 which would later gain recognition as Memorial day.

This makes Grafton the home of the longest ongoing Memorial Day observance in the country.  That’s pretty cool.

Grafton also houses another obscure claim-to-fame as the birthplace of Mother’s Day! The holiday was first held in 1908 at Andrew Methodist Episcopal Church on Main Street at the request of Ms. Anna Jarvis. A shrine and gift shop are in place at the church today, and the Anna Jarvis house is open for tours as well.

Driving through Grafton, I became overwhelmed by a feeling that important things had once transpired on the land around me. I could sense the rich history as I stared out of the car at railroad homes etched with the mark “Good luck. 1860,” and at the ornate bank and courthouse- all seemingly forgotten by the hands of time. Most of Grafton was built between 1890 and 1930 and though historic buildings are rampant, the natural beauty of the town cannot be ignored either. The downtown area is situated on a hillside above the Tygart River and is embraced by lush mountains in every direction.

The intrinsic beauty of Grafton is undeniable- and although the community has experienced some hard times in the past few decades, this quaint Appalachian town still has plenty of attractions to offer visitors…

So Just What’s Here for the Green Traveler?

Arden Falls

• Two National Cemeteries are located in Grafton and happen to be the only national cemeteries in the state of West Virginia. These are great historic landmarks for anyone interested in history or culture-based traveling.
  
• Arden Falls – this scenic spot on the Tygart Rivers is just a few minutes drive outside of downtown Grafton. Giant rocks and cascading waterfalls provide a beautiful place to spend an afternoon soaking up sun or swimming. Known mostly by locals and a few West Virginia University students – it has yet to experience a full blown tourist following.
• The Grafton 123 Coffee House completely exceeded my expectations. The beautifully remodeled historic building is home to some seriously tasty cuisine for meat eaters or vegetarians. Many of the fruits and vegetables come from local organic sources. The café also showcases local art and provides live music on the weekends.
• The Drive-in Movie Theater – enjoy a movie while surrounding yourself with the great outdoors! This place really adds to the nostalgic quality of Grafton.
• Tygart Lake State Park- While it is more “touristy” than Arden Falls, I feel like it’s a better option for families, as Arden can sometimes become a party scene. The park provides fishing, boating, several hiking trails, a lodge, a restaurant offering “original local fare“, and camping spots. I was impressed to find out that a park naturalist provides free guided nature programs for all guests!
• The Anna Jarvis Mothers Day House is yet another opportunity to gain insight on Grafton‘s unique history and the woman who created Mother‘s Day.
• Grafton is not the most easily accessible place. This keeps it free from a lot of the commercialization, fast food, and big-box stores that you often find along major thoroughfares.

What’s Not So Green?

• Grafton is not the most easily accessible place. Though it can be reached by several exits on I79, it still takes a minimum of 20-30 minutes to reach the downtown and traveling by car is pretty much the only way to get there.  The train or bus aren’t options though you could always carpool.
• TRASH. Although pollution does not seem to be a huge problem in the downtown area or in the heavily monitored Tygart Lake State Park, Arden falls has suffered from increasing amounts of visitors. Despite signs against pollution and trash dumping, I saw entire bags of garbage left along the river and even on river rocks. Unfortunately it seems that many visitors to this place are not familiar with the “Leave No Trace” principles of traveling.
• Condemned houses and dilapidated buildings are a common site in downtown Grafton. Lack of attention and investment in the community have allowed many historic structures to degrade to the point of no return. This is not only an eye sore, but a seriously unfortunate waste of history and material.

Though Grafton experienced great prosperity throughout the early 20th century, the railroad relocated hundreds of jobs to Florida in the early 1980’s causing an economic downturn that is characteristic of many rural West Virginian towns. Nowadays, the city of Grafton continues to encourage new opportunities for economic development specifically in the form of tourism with support from the main street streetscape project and many other development efforts.

I suggest that you stop by to visit this incredibly historic community, enjoy the many natural and historic features that Grafton has to offer, and encourage them to continue to develop tourism assets that complement their sense of place, unique history, and beautiful natural environment.

See you there!

Tags: Grafton, green travel, travel green appalachia

This entry was posted on Friday, August 13th, 2010 at 6:10 am and is filed under Blog, TGA's Travelogues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.