Article Discussion

Recently, I wrote Growing Up Appalachian. In the book I write about the Van Camp Methodist Church, part of the pre-Civil War Van Camp community along Route 180 south of New Martinsville and near the Tyler County line. The church was part of my childhood in the community. Preachers from Paden City served the church when I was a child. All my Van Camp ancestors are buried in the Van Camp cemetery, which was adjacent of the church. The building was torn down in the 1970s, much to my regret. The cemetery still remains not far from the Van Camp historical marker along Route 180. I surely hope that the old church will always be part of West Virginia history. I donated one of my books to West Virginia Wesleyan to be part of Methodist archives there. If I can do more to make the Van Camp church more firmly part of West Virginia history and that of Wetzel County, please let me know.

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