In relation to my last Post about the J.W. Cooper building I noticed some other strange things while walking around Shenandoah, PA. I noticed a lot more empty homes. More than usual, I would venture to say. Like I have stated before, the Coal Mining town of Shenandoah is very Historic in the day’s when Coal was King. I have been up to this town on 3 or 4 different occasions, but never really noticed what I did now.
It seemed to me that there were many homes that were falling apart from sitting around with no one there. This is just one of the 3 that I saw. Years ago, I don’t think that Shenandoah was ever like this. Yes, there might have been some homes being neglected, but not this many in my opinion. I think that I may know why, but not sure.
Over the passing years, the town started getting “other” people moving in. Most of them were from New York or New Jersey, but not sure. The long time residents of Shenandoah, started moving out and buying another home someplace else. Most long time people stayed here, because it’s their Home for many years. I was told that drugs & crime were on the rise here and that just made things worse than what they already were. People didn’t like that at all! The people of the Coal Region were always a hard working, beer loving’ people and would give you the shirt of their back to help you out. I’m not so sure that this is still true up here. There have been many changes.
Here is just one example of what I mean. I had stopped in a local eating place to ask some questions. Usually the people are very friendly. However, this time I had a “feeling” that I was not welcome. The 4 Patrons in the eatery looked at me as to say, “Who are you?” “Your not from around here!” “What are you doing with all that fancy camera stuff?” This is what I felt. Maybe I was just letting my mind run to far, but locals up there know “who is who” They know just about everyone in or around the town. It’s just the way it is up there. So, when a stranger appears, the people know it. Now, I’m hoping that the friendly part of Shenandoah will never stop.
PHOTOJOURNAL OF CORKER2 