ya'lls from the hills darlin'

this past weekend Miss V had a swim meet down at Ohio University. It was a nice time for the two of us to be together alone and have some mom and me time. She swam well and got some good Long Course times on the books.

while we were there we got to enjoy the International Students Street Fair and got to walk the campus area a bit. we had a lovely lunch at Brennen's Deli and got to stay at a hotel friday night.

on our drive back up to Columbus sunday we passed a sign that said Murray City 7 miles.

Murray City is where my fathers family settled when arriving to the United States from Germany about 4 generations ago. (my cousin Marybeth has a firmer handle on these details..i'm not so eloquent) Murray City was a thriving mining town then and my great great grandfather Conrad Wein was a weights and measures employee there.

anyway...
when i saw the sign i asked Victoria if she wanted to drive thru the town from which her family had come from. she was game..but i could tell she was a little hesitant...the view was none too sexy...

we turned off the Route 33 and headed up into the hills. the road wound around slowly upward as we passed some shacks and some well kept homes - one even had an out house to which i heard her gasp.

it only took a few minutes until we saw the sign for Murray City.
it has been many years since i've been there.
in fact, i may have been V's age when several of the Wein's headed down there for a day trip..we took the historic railway from the Murray City Ohio Depot.

it didn't seem there was much going on up there in the hills.
there is some construction underway to develop better water systems..
the school - a lovely old red brick building is all boarded up
there were plenty of houses boarded up as well.

i don't think she was much impressed..
i guess i wasn't much either..

as we made our way back down toward 33
i told her..
well.... now you know you's from the hills darlin'...

she grunted...and then said...
please tell me it didn't look like this when they lived here...

indeed it didn't...
During the early 1900s, Murray City was one of the largest coal mining towns in Ohio and in the entire United States. The coal mines in Murray City were so popular and well known that miners came from all over the country for the opportunity to work there. Located in Hocking County, the town had a population of over 2,000 citizens during the 1910s, and despite its popularity, for a long time the town was only accessible by train. (the depot train that i rode as a young girl)

Despite its popularity, Murray City slowly lost more residents as the coal mines closed their doors, and the company left town. In 2000, the census listed the town's population as just over 500. With a handful of residents left, Murray City is not technically a ghost town, but it is easily on its way.