Where were you born?

[Acts 2:38 girl]

Wow!  I wish I were as traveled as some of you!!  I was born in MA, married and had 4 kids in MA, then we moved this year to CT!  We would've stayed in MA, except the prices for houses were to high!  Oh well!  

[LoadedCamera]

Very interesting thread.. Its nice to know just how well traveled people are..
 
I was born in Lodi California and lived there for a short time (About a year) then it was off to the midwest and Missouri for a year or so (lived with my Grandmother), then up to Chicago for a couple.. then it was out to Rockford, Il, before hitting the Country and Farms..
 
Lived in a small farm area outside of Kirkland, Il for a bunch of years, then back to Rockford for the forming years (Middle School).  After learning all the bad city habits, it was back to the farm country of Kirkland, Il. to finish up High School and hang around for a few years after.  Moved to Linden, NJ when I was 21 years old and never looked back.  It was 4 years of NJ, then off to Austin, Texas for the big promotion and salary increase.  Decided to take a transfer to Kansas City, MO and found out that was the worse choice I could have done.  Ended up move to Florida, where things got better.  Lived there for a couple of years, met my Wife, moved to Arlington, Texas, back to Florida, then up to North Carolina where I am content to stay forever and ever!!
 
Whew.. its seems alot more when its written down..

[labontefan]

I'm a Virginian born and bred! I'm just a little ol' homebody hillbilly compared to many of you!

I was born in the bustling metropolis of Appalachia, in the far southwestern corner of Virginia. (Yes, there really is a town named Appalachia, not just the "poverty pocket".) My family lived in Big Stone Gap, but it didn't have a hospital at the time and Appalachia did, so I was born in Appalachia (2 miles away) instead of BSG.

Grew up in BSG, then headed out to Williamsburg to attend college (William & Mary). After college, I moved to Winchester in the northern tip of VA. Taught school there for four years. Decided that maybe I really didn't want to be a schoolteacher as much as I had thought I did! So I quit teaching, and moved back home to Big Stone Gap to consider other options.

That was in 1976. Three apartments, one house, and five jobs later, I'm still here!

(BTW, for the record, the town of Appalachia is pronounced "apple-at-cha", not "apple-lay-sha" like the poverty region.   )

And if any of you have read Adriana Trigiani's best-selling novel "Big Stone Gap", yes, it's about my hometown! Adri grew up here and her family still lives here. A lot of the places in the books are real, and many of the characters are based on real people.

[Starcraft Dad]

Lebontefan,

I have relatives that live in a teeny tiny town called Keokee, not to far from Big Stone Gap.  I love that area.  Very beuatiful place.
 
Brainpause,
I know where Franklin is.  We spent many happy hours there.  I loved what they do for Christmas.  Actually planned on building a house there but decided to move back to Michigan.  Now sometimes I wish I had built that house.  Can camp most of the year, a bit cool in the winter but not like here in Michigan.

[garym053]

I was born in Alexandria, Virginia, Lived in Kensington & Silver Spring, Maryland, Framingham, Massachusetts, Haverhill, New Hampshire, Orlando, Florida (Navy), Burlington, Vermont (IBM), Sarasota, Florida (Mostly to get away from a divorce!), and Bradford, VT (Mostly to come back and stick up for my rights during the divorce!).
Spent summers in Hazleton, Pennsylvania (with grandparents) when I was a kid.
My Father was a Credit Manager for Sears, Roebuck & Co. then left bought a store in NH and we packed up our things and moved to Haverhill, New Hampshire that is.

[Camperroo]

Wow so many people from so many places!! I love the names of the towns!!   Some places you can just close your eyes and picture what it must be like!

[tricia hicks]

I was born in Dickson, Tn. 44 years ago.   After a couple of years in Lyles, TN and one (1) winter in Detroit, we moved to Nashville.   Have lived there ever since, until last year.  We now live in Hendersonville, TN, a small town about 20 miles from Nashville.

[jpreiser]

I was born in Philadelphia PA, the city of brotherly love (yea right).  When I was 6 my family moved outside of a spot in the road    called Trout Run, still in PA.  Moved into the big city of Williamsport after high school.  I lived at 3 different places there, and then to where we live now in central PA.

Trout run??/ I  Think I may have actually see a sign for it before!! Near Benton? WE go to my parnets cabin in Elk Grove, year round population of about 50 on a good day!!

[Sltrawick]

Born in Detriot Michigan.  Moved in 1976 to Panama City Florida and loving every minute of it!

[gsm x2]

Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan
At 6 was moved to Lakewood, CO
By 10 was in Southern California
Move briefly to Loma Mar, CA in the Redwoods of the Bay Area about 1978.
Been in the Ventura area of Californina since 1979.

Scott

[labontefan]

I have relatives that live in a teeny tiny town called Keokee, not to far from Big Stone Gap. I love that area. Very beuatiful place.

Wow, Starcraft Dad! Keokee??? I'm always amazed when people have heard of Big Stone Gap, let alone someplace like Keokee.

Keokee and most of the other tiny little towns around Appalachia are really old mining camps, or "coal camps". Since this is coal mining country, all the miners and their families used to live in "the camps". That way, the men could walk to work. Everyone bought all their groceries at the "company store"--usually with scrip. The miners didn't get paid in money, they got paid in scrip. Scrip was like vouchers that could be used at the company store. (The old song "16 Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford had the line, "St. Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store.") If the miners were short of funds between paydays, the company store would extend credit...so some of the miners spent years trying to pay off what they owed the company store.

The camps were usually named after the mine they were closest to. My mother grew in a coal camp in the same area named Derby--her dad was chief electrician at the Derby mine. She said she remembered how they would blow a whistle every morning to let the men know it was time to go to work. My dad worked in the mines for several years, but got out after he lost the fingers on his right hand in a mining accident. I never knew my maternal grandfather--he was killed in a mining accident in 1944--way before I was born.

I never lived in the coal camps. My dad had been out of the mines for several years, and my parents had moved to Big Stone Gap before I was born. But I've heard my mom and dad talk about living in the camps. Even though the houses and land are no longer owned by the coal company and many of the mines are closed, people in the area still refer to places like Keokee and Derby as "the camps."

I worked at (not in) a coal mine for almost 17 years. I started out as a supply clerk, then moved over to the mine office to help the superintendent with all the paper work. It was the same coal company that my dad and both my grandfathers worked for.

[Flacamper]

I was born in Logansport, IN.  Moved to Florida when I was 13 with the family.  Got married and moved back to Logan for about 8 years.  DW said she had enough of the snow, so we moved back to Florida. After retirement (In 6yrs)  I would like to move around the north eastern Georgia, Tenn, NC or Virginia area.  Haven't talked the boss (DW) into it yet.  Any suggestions on how to do that without getting cursed out?

[Starcraft Dad]

The one thing I found interesting about Keokee is that it is basically a bend in the road with one store and gas pumps.  My aunt lived right across the road from it next to a church.  It has been a long time since I have been there.  She is gone now but I still have some cousins that live there.  I'm hoping to be able to get there this year.  I loved coming to Big Stone Gap. It's such a wounderful town nestled in the hills.  I remember one time we went to a fair in Pennington(sp) Gap.  They had a double ferris wheel on top of a mountain. As I can remember, it seemed you could see for miles up there.  Scared the heck out of me.  I thought the thing was going to fall down the hill.  I was not used to the mountains and can remember the waterfalls that fell down the cliffs next to the roads.  My cousin told me that the water didn't always flow because it was water from the mines.  When the mines were closed the water wasen't there.  Maybe if we come down that way this year, with your permission I could look you up.  But I have a son graduating this year so it may be late in the summer if we can.

[tlhdoc]

Trout run??/ I  Think I may have actually see a sign for it before!! Near Benton? WE go to my parnets cabin in Elk Grove, year round population of about 50 on a good day!!

Trout Run is further west off of US 15 north of Williamsport, PA.  The cabin is in a beautiful area. :W

[tlhdoc]

Do you get paid in script? :p