Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [37]
Marion
At the height of his popularity in 1925, world-famous writer Sherwood Anderson chose not New York, but one of the most obscure places in the country – Southwest Virginia – as his home. “I had grown tired of city life and wanted the quiet intimacy of life in a smaller place,” he wrote in his autobiography.
The move to an old stone house beside a stream near Troutdale, Virginia, isn’t all that astonishing, considering he was from a small town himself. His best-known work, the short-story collection Winesburg, Ohio, portrayed small-town life and people in all their strangeness and beauty.
What did astound the people of Smyth County was when Anderson bought Marion’s two weekly newspapers and named himself editor. The writer who had rubbed elbows with the likes of Carl Sandburg and Theodore Dreiser covered school board meetings and barroom brawls. He frequented the Marion City Drug Store where he was known to throw back a beer with his local cronies.
In literature, Anderson is credited with breaking down the boundaries between fiction and autobiography, a style he applied in Marion’s newspapers. Editor Anderson took on the persona of Buck Fever, a young mountain man who wrote with warmth and humor about the goings-on in the county. In his columns, Anderson championed causes like the Marion town band and better education for black children.
Even though he transferred editorship to his son in 1932 so he could travel and write more, Southwest Virginia always remained his home. He married a local woman, Eleanor Copenhaver, and when he died in the Panama Canal Zone on a friendship mission in 1941, she brought him home to be buried in Marion’s Round Hill Cemetery.
The Andersons’ home, Ripshin, is still owned by their nephew. The house is open to the public just one day a year – the second Saturday in September – as part of the annual short story contest in Sherwood Anderson’s memory. Contact the Smyth County Chamber of Commerce for details: tel. 276-783-3161.
Around Town
In town, City Drug is no more, but Marion’s Main Street is as alive as it was when Anderson worked there. And the Smyth County News is still published.
The entrepreneurial spirit thrives hand-in-hand with respect for historic preservation. The Post Office Antique Mall (tel. 276-782-9332) makes use of the town’s restored post office. A busy lunch crowd frequents Main Street Gifts & Eatery and Framing Unlimited, run by three generations of local women. The women took over an old Piggly Wiggly store, an eyesore that had been empty for 30 years. Now the original hardwood floors, tin ceiling and brick walls have been revived for a delightful eatery and shop (212 E. Main Street, tel. 276-783-9244).
A self-guided HistoryWalk takes in the Smyth County Museum & Historical Society (203 N. Church Street, tel. 276-783-7286), the Historic Lincoln Theatre, the Lincoln Inn, and other sites.
Dining
Besides Main Street Gifts and Eatery, Main Street dining includes the New Pioneer (tel. 276-781-1668) and Preston’s Place (tel. 276-783-9528). Live country and rock bands now perform in the historic R.T. Greer & Company building, once a commercial business that dried herbs before shipping them to pharmaceutical houses throughout the country. It’s now Wright’s Field Sports Café (tel. 276-783-2233), which has preserved the weathered beams and exposed brick walls.
Outside town, the Dip Dog Stand is a local hang-out and landmark on Highway 11 West, famous for deep-fried hot dogs on a stick (tel. 276-783-2698), and the Hungry Mother Restaurant inside the state park offers dining with a great mountain lake view (tel. 276-781-7420).
Lodging
Marion has several chain and locally owned motels, and one B&B.
Pet-friendly: Best Western Marion accepts pets with a $20 deposit (1424 North Main Street, tel. 276-783-3193, $), as does the EconoLodge, with a $25 deposit (1426 N. Main Street, tel. 276-783-6031).
Windswept Bed &