Published 2016, revised and expanded from the 1999 original. 7 x 10 inches. Paperback. 379 pages plus introduction, 30 illustrations, 419 endnotes, indexed. ISBN-10: 1517268001. ISBN-13: 978-1517268008.
.Along the Dry Fork Road is for readers who are fascinated by Southern life. The book is a delightfully readable history of how one community functioned in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It includes anecdotes, stories (many derived from a lifetime of close kinship and friendships with numerous Dry Fork residents), genealogy data, and information from newspapers and courthouse records. Thoroughly researched, the revised and expanded edition is over three times the length of the 1999 original.
Chapters include: Dry Fork — A Little Place; A Brief History of Dry Fork; Railroads and Train Depots; Law, Justice, and Posses; Medical Care; Post Office and Mail; Blacksmiths and Wheelwrights; Country Stores; Ladies' Shopping; Distilleries and Alcohol Distribution; Mining; Mills; Enterprises; Churches and Community Organizations; Community Schools; Radio Station WJOY; Baseball; War Years: Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War; Dry Fork Voter Lists from 1902 and 1903; Compiled List of Dry Fork Voters; Elections and Voting; The 1910 Census; The 1920 Census; Cemeteries.
Settled in the mid-1700's, Dry Fork has served in several capacities: a farming community, a railroad stop, a distillery and milling town, and today a quiet residential area. It lies along the north side of White Oak Mountain (made famous by the song “Wreck of the Old 97”), with the city of Danville to its south, and the Tightsqueeze crossroads and town of Chatham to its north, all along U. S. 29 in Virginia's “old Southside.”
S. Dail Yeatts was born at Dry Fork, Virginia, the son of the Rev. G. Dewey Yeatts and Artie Watlington Yeatts. He spent thirty-four years in public education, retiring as deputy superintendent of Halifax County/South Boston Public Schools. He was graduated from Whitmell High School, earned a B.A. degree from High Point University and an M. Ed. from the University of Virginia. Since retiring he has worked as a consultant for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, aiding schools in fulfilling requirements for accreditation. Dail is married to the former Claudine Barbee of Winston Salem, N.C. They have two sons who are physicians in Chesterfield County and Newport News, Virginia.
Sarah E. Mitchell grew up in Southside Virginia, less than ten miles from Dry Fork. The descendant of a four-generation Dry Fork family, she is Dail Yeatts' first cousin, twice removed. She is a researcher, writer, and editor.
This website is sponsored by Mitchells Publications, Chatham, Virginia.
Copyright © 2003–2021 Patricia B. Mitchell.