Over my spring break, I had the great honor of serving the people of Clintwood while on a service trip with my college. While there, I completely fell in love with the town! Here are ten reasons why ...
1. "It's a good place to live."
That is their town motto, and it could not be any more true. I was there for one week and did not ever want to leave.
2. All of the people are extremely friendly, and there is a sense of community that can be felt immediately.
In Clintwood, everyone waves to you even if they don't know you. That is not the case where I come from. While visiting Virginia, there was a small mishap that landed us on the side of the road for almost an hour. During that hour, about five different people pulled over and got out to see if we needed help. One gentleman even stayed until everything was fixed! This would never have happened where I live. In addition, since the people of Clintwood allowed us to come into their town, we were given the opportunity to lend our services to others.
Above is a picture of the group of students who did service in Clintwood over spring break 2016.
3. You feel a sudden sense of home when you enter the town.
As soon as you enter the town and drive through it, the sense of a small town feeling comes to mind and nothing feels homier than that.
4. Bad cell phone service and spotty Wi-Fi connection allows one to go through life without being connected to an electronic device 24/7.
At first I was a bit sad that I could not use my phone; however, as the week went on, I found that I didn't need or want to use my phone nearly as much as I thought I would.
5. It's in Appalachia! What more could one want?
The official coordinates for Clintwood are 37.150054, -82.456698. The roads leading to and from Clintwood are winding and offer an amazing view, for those who don't get car sick. Being right in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains means that the scenery in Clintwood and the view just outside of it are absolutely gorgeous.
6. The entire population of the town is less than the population of my very small private college.
The census taken in 2000 reported that there were 1,549 people, 672 households and 426 families residing in the town. This makes it so all of the residents basically know one another and they can tell when people enter the town who aren't from around there, which is kind of cool.
7. It's located in Dickenson County, which is nicknamed "Virginia's Baby," and who doesn't like babies?
Dickenson County is called "Virginia's Baby" because it was the last county that formed in Virginia. The little red dot on the map above is Clintwood! Another advantage of being located in Dickenson County is that is is about a 15-minute drive from the state of Kentucky!
8. It's a stop on the Crooked Road Trail.
The Crooked Road Trail is a music heritage trail in Virginia, and the Ralph Stanley Museum is the first stop on the Crooked Road Tail. This is located at 279 Clintwood Main Street, Clintwood, Virginia, 24228. The museum is named after musician Dr. Stanley and allows visitors to learn about traditional Appalachian and American music.
9. It was a huge manufacturer of both coal and timber back in the day.
One can't help but think of the tremendous amount of energy, resources and money that the American economy received from the town of Clintwood. It is a shame that the money and resources were not returned to the town.
10. You could jog the perimeter of the town every morning!
The town has a perimeter of 1.9 square miles, so go ahead and jog around it!
Overall, this is one of the best towns to live in the country in my opinion! Go ahead and visit Clintwood for yourself and experience it all first-hand.
"Clintwood was and always will be a good place to live," and I hope to be able to go back very soon!
