greetings from Grundy, pt. 2
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 09:29AM 
;)
click 'er for bigger
Despite what may be claimed by John & Margaret Peters in their book Virginia's Historic Courthouses, that Buchanan County became one of the wealthiest in Virginia after the oil "crisis" of the early 1970's, the Wikipedia entry lists the county as the poorest in the state and among the 100 poorest counties in the country. A cursory afternoon drive by viewing from this past weekend also confirms that it is one of the ugliest places in the state. Not the landscape itself, which is a warren of mountains and streams in the eastern Appalachians. As per usual, it's how humans have shaped it that has made it such an atrocity.
With only about 29,000 residents in an area of 504 square miles, there is a population density of about 54 people per square mile. Compare that with Arlington County's 7000 per square mile. The problem appears to be that 90% of those individuals live in mobile homes, surely some of the least attractive housing ever developed for humans. Buchanan County really has no flat land on which to build dwellings, so the housing/trailers are grouped along the stream beds. While there may be a population density of only 54/sm, the ubiquitous trailer and the associated debris of modern life contribute to an environment that is overwhelmingly visually polluted. In the summer it may be less obtrusive, hdden by foliage. But at this time of year, without any snow to hide its ugliness, the intrusion of humans on the land is blatantly obvious.
NOTE TO SELF: spend more time in Buchanan County to see if the above impressions stand up with repeated visits & further photographic exploration
Reader Comments (2)
I love this shot, the sign along with the bulk and strength of the shovel says something.
Don
Thanks Don. I'm wishing now that I had stepped back a little more to get the entire CAT logo on the arm of the excavator.
What it says to me is something about the condition of the "rock solid" mountains around Buchanan County that are being slowly torn apart by machines such as this Caterpillar. Will there still be a bank when the mountains are gone?