Truckin' on the Western Branch

Preface

Perhaps Don Comer, one of our storytellers, said it best—People are connected to each other here with great stories and a big history.

Truckin’ on the Western Branch is a nontraditional history book, one that captures the stories as well as the history of the greater Churchland area—Churchland, West Norfolk, Western Branch, and Bower’s Hill.

You’ll find here the documented history of the area and you will also find the stories of those who helped shape this unique community.

Our timeline and The Story Place section set the stage where our stories played out. Our storytellers—more than 100 of them—are lifelong residents with generations of family ties behind them, and the come-heres, those of us who came and stayed. Their stories are enlightening, sometimes dramatic, and frequently fun. They tell the rest of the story, beyond the recorded dates and events.

How better to capture the flavor of the community than in the foods they loved and remember best? The Recipes from Our Storytellers section shares a few of those favorites. You might not remember events in the same way our storytellers do, but those are the shades that color our history. You will also notice that spellings of places and names vary as we tried to capture the spelling of the era. We know there are hundreds of other stories out there, waiting to be told. We hope that this book will encourage people to get to know their neighbors, share a few stories and treasure the heritage they find.

Phyllis Speidell John H. Sheally II Karla Smith

Image by Sheally

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