This article was sent to me by a cousin in Charlottesvile. I thought some of the readers of this list would find this article interesting in light of our discussion over the past few days about the "two Bluefields." -----Robert Perry, Bluefield, WV. From: The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, Friday October 24, 2003---- “Cities in VA, WV divided by economy”----from the ASSOCIATED PRESS BLUEFIELD, WVa. It seems like a cruel joke designed to exasperate tourists: Two identically named cities in adjacent states are separated only by a border routed through a shared city park.. But there’s another unique twist here: Unlike Bristol in Tennessee and Virginia, Texarkana in Arkansas and Texas, or the Kansas cities of Kansas and Missouri, the states’ names are confusingly similar, too. Welcome to Bluefield, WVa. Or is it Bluefield, Va.? “People don’t know if they’re in West Virginia or Virginia,” said historian Eva McGuire of Bluefield, WVa. It wasn’t always this way. Originally named Graham, the Virginia city switched its name nearly 80 years ago, marking the event with a wedding to symbolize the marriage of the interstate communities. The cities share the Bluefield name, but they have separate governments, infra structures and identities. Still, some Virginia residents want their old name and their sense of individuality back. “Some people think they should have a divorce and go back to the old name,” said Stuart McGehee, chairman of West Virginia State College’s history department. Incorporated in 1883 as a market town, Graham adopted Bluefield’ s name in 1924 to capitalize on the West Virginia city’s acclaim as a coal town, historians say. Bluefield was the nerve center of the then-booming southern West Virginia coalfields. “Bluefield grew spectacularly,” McGehee said. “It forced Graham to acknowledge that the town was growing. Bluefield looked like it was going to be the next New York City.” As trains carrying bituminous coal from the Pocahontas No. 3 seam regularly rumbled through the valley, Bluefield threatened to gobble up several towns and possibly expand across Virginia’s border. Afraid their town would be annexed, Graham residents voted 291-227 to switch the name to Bluefield, Va. What eventually became the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce took the lead in commemorating the switch. The chamber proclaimed the marriage of the Bluefield’s on July 12, 1924, “Greater Bluefield Day” and marked the event with the wedding of a man from Virginia and a woman from West Virginia near the state line at Bluefield City Park. When Lorenzo Wingo Yost of Graham wed Emma Smith of Bluefield, Graham shed its maiden name and took Bluefield’s. Unique geography is responsible for several quirks in the Bluefield’s. The state line passes through the infield at Bowen Field, home of the Baltimore Orioles’ rookie league team, “where if you were on second and stole third, you could tech economically be cited for interstate theft,” Bluefield State College spokesman Jim Nelson said. Employees at the two colleges in the area routinely for ward misdialed phone calls between the unrelated campuses, Nelson said. Bluefield College, a private, Baptist school in Virginia, is 3 miles across the border from Bluefield State. The cities’ police departments work together to assist lost outsiders, said Bluefield, Va., Police Chief Jack Asbury. Asbury appreciates the con fusion that accompanies the towns’ shared name because it’s a conversation starter. “I’m aware that there are two Bluefield’s, and I get to tell them about our side of the line, too,” Asbury said. While the names are the same, the cities differ. Bluefield, WVa., is larger but generally poorer than Bluefield, Va., U.S. Census Bureau statistics show. With a population of 11,451, the West Virginia city is more than twice the size of its Virginia counterpart (pop. 5,078). But annual per capita income in Bluefield, W.Va., is $4,000 less than it is in Bluefield, Va., which has an average of $21,755. The median family income in the Virginia city is $44,000, compared with $36,508 in Bluefield, WVa. And 13 percent of families in Bluefield, W.Va., live below federal poverty standards, compared with 3.9 percent in the Virginia town. With a population of 11,451, the West Virginia city is more than twice the size of its Virginia counterpart (pop. 5,078). But annual per capita income in Bluefield, W.Va., is $4,000 less than it is in Bluefield, Va., which has an average of 21,755. The median family income in the Virginia city is $44,000, compared with $36,508 in Bluefield, WVa. And 13 percent of families in Bluefield, W.Va., live below federal poverty standards, compared with 3.9 percent in the Virginia town.

This was very interesting, thanks. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert L. Perry III" <robertperry@citlink.net> To: <VATAZEWE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 9:12 AM Subject: [VA-TAZEWELL] The two Bluefields > This article was sent to me by a cousin in Charlottesvile. I thought some > of the readers of this list would find this article interesting in light of > our discussion over the past few days about the "two > Bluefields." -----Robert Perry, Bluefield, WV. > > From: The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, Friday October 24, 2003---- > “Cities in VA, WV divided by economy”----from the ASSOCIATED PRESS > > BLUEFIELD, WVa. It seems like a cruel joke designed to exasperate tourists: > Two identically named cities in adjacent states are separated only by a > border routed through a shared city park.. But there’s another unique twist > here: Unlike Bristol in Tennessee and Virginia, Texarkana in Arkansas and > Texas, or the Kansas cities of Kansas and Missouri, the states’ names are > confusingly similar, too. Welcome to Bluefield, WVa. Or is it Bluefield, > Va.? > > “People don’t know if they’re in West Virginia or Virginia,” said historian > Eva McGuire of Bluefield, WVa. It wasn’t always this way. Originally named > Graham, the Virginia city switched its name nearly 80 years ago, marking the > event with a wedding to symbolize the marriage of the interstate > communities. The cities share the Bluefield name, but they have separate > governments, infra structures and identities. Still, some Virginia residents > want their old name and their sense of individuality back. > > “Some people think they should have a divorce and go back to the old name,” > said Stuart McGehee, chairman of West Virginia State College’s history > department. Incorporated in 1883 as a market town, Graham adopted Bluefield’ > s name in 1924 to capitalize on the West Virginia city’s acclaim as a coal > town, historians say. Bluefield was the nerve center of the then-booming > southern West Virginia coalfields. “Bluefield grew spectacularly,” McGehee > said. “It forced Graham to acknowledge that the town was growing. Bluefield > looked like it was going to be the next New York City.” As trains carrying > bituminous coal from the Pocahontas No. 3 seam regularly rumbled through the > valley, Bluefield threatened to gobble up several towns and possibly expand > across Virginia’s border. Afraid their town would be annexed, Graham > residents voted 291-227 to switch the name to Bluefield, Va. > > What eventually became the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce took the > lead in commemorating the switch. The chamber proclaimed the marriage of the > Bluefield’s on July 12, 1924, “Greater Bluefield Day” and marked the event > with the wedding of a man from Virginia and a woman from West Virginia near > the state line at Bluefield City Park. When Lorenzo Wingo Yost of Graham wed > Emma Smith of Bluefield, Graham shed its maiden name and took Bluefield’s. > Unique geography is responsible for several quirks in the Bluefield’s. The > state line passes through the infield at Bowen Field, home of the Baltimore > Orioles’ rookie league team, “where if you were on second and stole third, > you could tech economically be cited for interstate theft,” Bluefield State > College spokesman Jim Nelson said. > > Employees at the two colleges in the area routinely for ward misdialed > phone calls between the unrelated campuses, Nelson said. Bluefield College, > a private, Baptist school in Virginia, is 3 miles across the border from > Bluefield State. The cities’ police departments work together to assist lost > outsiders, said Bluefield, Va., Police Chief Jack Asbury. Asbury appreciates > the con fusion that accompanies the towns’ shared name because it’s a > conversation starter. “I’m aware that there are two Bluefield’s, and I get > to tell them about our side of the line, too,” Asbury said. > > While the names are the same, the cities differ. Bluefield, WVa., is larger > but generally poorer than Bluefield, Va., U.S. Census Bureau statistics > show. With a population of 11,451, the West Virginia city is more than > twice the size of its Virginia counterpart (pop. 5,078). But annual per > capita income in Bluefield, W.Va., is $4,000 less than it is in Bluefield, > Va., which has an average of $21,755. The median family income in the > Virginia city is $44,000, compared with $36,508 in Bluefield, WVa. And 13 > percent of families in Bluefield, W.Va., live below federal poverty > standards, compared with 3.9 percent in the Virginia town. With a population > of 11,451, the West Virginia city is more than twice the size of its > Virginia counterpart (pop. 5,078). But annual per capita income in > Bluefield, W.Va., is $4,000 less than it is in Bluefield, Va., which has an > average of 21,755. The median family income in the Virginia city is $44,000, > compared with $36,508 in Bluefield, WVa. And 13 percent of families in > Bluefield, W.Va., live below federal poverty standards, compared with 3.9 > percent in the Virginia town. > > > ==== VATAZEWE Mailing List ==== > TAZEWELL UNSUBSCRIPTION DIRECTIONS > VATazewe-L-request@RootsWeb.com UNSUBSCRIBE [in subject line} > VATazewe-D-request@RootsWeb.com UNSUBSCRIBE [in subject line] > >