Travel east . . . travel west . . . after all . . . home is best! Rose Hill, VA Although I was born and raised about ten miles from there, Rose Hill was the closest town to us. Located in Lee County in extreme southwest Virginia, Rose Hill was first known as "Boone's Path." Many early explorers passed through the area, including Dr. Thomas Walker and Daniel Boone. Joseph Martin established Martin's Station near there about 1760. The town was laid out and mapped in 1890 by the owner of the land, A.H. Fulkerson. Early businesses included a brick plant and a building that housed both a drug store and movie theater. With the recent improvements made to Highway 58, the main thoroughfare no longer runs through Rose Hill. General stores and groceries have given way to department stores and supermarkets. Gone are Lucille Ledford's beauty shop, stores run by Ancil Rowlett, Fitzhugh and Van Grabeel, Hobart Jerrell's filling station, Beryl Owens' medical practice, and Estelle Smith's piano studio where I spent an hour nearly every Saturday for five years. Fairview Methodist Church This is where I attended church when I was growing up. The building is no longer standing, but the memories of fellowship and worship will always be with me. Dedicated on the third Sunday in August of 1896, Fairview Church became part of the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A worker named Jonathan Haynes died from injuries in a sawing accident while constructing a pattern for the church. Families from the area attended faithfully until the church was disbanded in 1977. The building was torn down and the land was returned to the heirs of the original owner. Flatwoods School The photo on the right shows one of several different buildings used for Flatwoods School. This stone building was erected in 1926 but burned in 1956. A new brick building was constructed, which was where I attended school. It housed the elementary grades with separate buildings for high school, agriculture, home economics, and lunchroom. The campus is now home of Flatwoods Primary School with high school students attending either Thomas Walker High School or Lee High School.