Illustration by Aaron Williams.
“The town of Renick was once called “Falling Spring” for the streams that issue from the hills nearby and flow into the Greenbrier River.” – West Virginia Writers’ Project.
Flour Sack Dress and a Jewelry Store: Helen and Betty Kershner remember their father’s CJ store in downtown Renick. For five more audio stories of Renick, scroll down.
Renick was settled by William Renick and Captain Robert McClanahan in 1769. When the train still ran, it was a major agricultural trading center. In the early 1900s Renick was home to one of the first creameries in the area. Here they processed milk for the local farms even in the hardest of times, when there was no bridge and they had to ferry the milk across the Greenbrier River on a boat.
Click on the audio links below for a taste of what the farming life of the Renick Valley once was: the cows, the milk, the calves, the cream, the chickens, the eggs, the families and their work.
Ten Daughters, One Dairy: Layuna Rapp remembers growing up on one of the local dairy farms.
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Calf Raising: the tender loving care: Rapp family remembers life on a farm
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Milk on the River, Ice Cream in Town: Hear about how they used to get milk across the Greenbrier River before the bridge was built.
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How to Scald a Hog, Feed the Family, and Run the Farm: David and Moe Rapp, cousins, remembering their family dairy, and their grandfather who started the dairy in Renick
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Thickened Milk and Running Eggs: David and Moe Rapp remember their grandmother, who drove the local egg route.
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Driving there:
As you enter the town of Renick, driving north, take a right turn down Auto road. Just after the post office and before the school. You will come around one curve. Stop. Before you cross the river. Stop. This is old Downtown Renick. Look to your right. Along the river where the Greenbrier River Trail now runs, is where The Renick Creamery once stood.
Travel just a few miles South on US 219 to find these historic destinations:
- 10 m. Historic Lewisburg, full of unique shops and dining, including Bella’s Corner Gourmet Store.
- 18.5 m. White Sulphur Springs and The Greenbrier Resort
- 10.4 m. Carnegie Hall
- 10.3 m. Lost World Caverns
For information on traveling to Greenbrier County, contact the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (1-800-833-2068).