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Hometown Stories

Nov 16, 2023

Along a stretch of the New River in southwest Virginia, you’ll find a town nearly unchanged by time. For nearly a century, the people of Fries, Virginia worshiped, played and grew up under the watchful eye and guiding hand of its textile mill. It was an Appalachian mill town centered on community, cotton and...


Nov 8, 2023

The Norfolk and Western Class J No. 611 locomotive has retained celebrity status in her hometown of Roanoke, Virginia and has amassed fans in the rail enthusiast community worldwide. The Queen of Steam recently rode the rails once again, harkening back to its early days in the passenger rail business. Now as the...


Jul 5, 2023

Roanoke City's Black history is rich and unique. For one Roanoke man, it's also personal. That's why he's taking a unique approach to preserve it.

In this episode of Hometown Stories, we meet Jordan Bell, who gives us a tour of the Gainesboro neighborhood as it was and how he hopes it can be.


Jun 28, 2023

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, the Wilkinson sisters could hear their father talking in the basement - strangers coming and going under the cover of darkness. It was as President of Roanoke’s NAACP that the Reverend R.R. Wilkinson worked on a secret, biracial committee of businessmen and clergy,...


Jun 21, 2023

It's Pride Month! And Roanoke's queer community has a lot to be proud of. Historians, elders and the new generation are coming together to tell stories of back street bars, campfire chats and welcoming front porches - where Roanoke's LGBTQ women have found refuge for decades. In this episode of Hometown Stories: a look...