September 1, 2014

What Happened to Horntown?


abandoned house When we drove through the small town of Horntown, Virginia, I noticed several abandoned houses on the main road. I don't know the story behind them.



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17 comments:

  1. TexWisGirl9:47 PM, September 01, 2014

    the 2nd one is quite lovely in its age. sorry about the damage on the first.

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  2. William Kendall9:54 PM, September 01, 2014

    Nature is slowly taking over.

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  3. Halcyon3:51 AM, September 02, 2014

    How very sad. :(

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  4. Lisa @ Two Bears Farm6:31 AM, September 02, 2014

    So much potential there.

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  5. Hilary12:43 PM, September 02, 2014

    It's sad to see the decline of a one-time community. It makes you wonder about the story behind it all.

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  6. HappyK3:01 PM, September 02, 2014

    Such a shame to see the old houses go back to nature.

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  7. Linda W.3:22 PM, September 02, 2014

    If only those walls could talk....

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  8. Connie10:24 PM, September 02, 2014

    It's kind of sad to see these. Makes you wonder about the stories and people behind them.

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  9. Ida3:36 PM, September 03, 2014

    Wow that is pretty sad and so many different homes. I wonder if they were damaged by a storm.

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  10. Eat To Live7:45 AM, September 04, 2014

    Could the State have bought them up to widen the road? Makes you wonder what is going on.

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  11. Unknown4:51 PM, April 08, 2016

    The story is simple. After WWII people moved away. That generation went to the cities in search of opportunity. Horntown was a thriving place 100 years ago. But it declined, especially after the 1960's. The older folks died, and their children already had established their lives elsewhere.

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  12. Unknown8:50 PM, July 19, 2016

    I was born and raised there. It was a wonderful town to grow up in. Another 1974, people just started going to move to bigger towns for job opportunities. My father died in 1970 and he had a body shop and my grandparent moved around 1976 due to health issues. My mother and I moved to Delaware because of jobs also. Wish I could back time up. Horntown was just so peaceful and beautiful. Have many memories of living there.

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    Replies
    1. Linda10:09 PM, July 19, 2016

      Thank you for the story of Horntown. The area has a lot to offer.

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    2. Unknown11:38 AM, February 03, 2018

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    3. Unknown11:49 AM, February 03, 2018

      Debbie - I knew your grandparents, parents and was your sister's childhood BFF in the middle 1950s when my family lived in the house that's burned. In those days folks referred to this house as either The Big House or Grandma Parker's Place (some thought she still walked throughout the house). The house was a grand dame of pre Civil war architecture with glorious woodwork throughout, wrapping porches and for the inquisitive child a playground of hidden cubbies and stairwells. I went back in 1990 for the 1st time to find they removed all the wrapping porches and and turned it in to a mulifamily place. Sad to see she's burned beyond repair and to see so many homes boarded up.

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  13. harleyrideriam62@gmail.com10:44 AM, November 28, 2019

    What happened to Horntown is what happens to any place or person whom are forgotten. Once the useability or the need of it's resources are no longer needed, it takes a back seat. The need to be needed has a double edge. People want to be a part of something bigger than what they currently see before them so we search. Searching takes us away from where we currently are and sometimes we never look back. Horntown was and still is a minority town. The tax dollars flow out but not many flow in. Just recently they upgraded the main road in from US 13 and thus started what soon will be a revival...but for whom? It won't be those who lived or grew up in the town years ago, they have moved on. It won't be those that are currently there, they will be financially forced out. Soon taxes will not allow them to enjoy the boom soon to be realized. But that's progress so you take it as it comes. But it's still a little sad.

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