Will Corridor H help or hinder Parsons?

Corridor H construction photo from wvcorridorh.com public news release.
The completion of Corridor H is a hot topic for almost every local official, but what does the completion of Corridor H actually mean for the small city of Parsons?

Many politicians will tout the fact that completion of this interstate will open up our area to more business, easier access, and a huge influx of tourism.

With the current uncompleted layout of the interstate Parsons enjoys a unique situation where every car traveling Corridor H has to disembark at Davis and drive through Parsons to once again jump on the interstate at Kerns. The current arrangement means most motorists don't have a choice when it comes to driving through our downtown, seeing local shops, and being able to stop if they see something they like. With the completion of Corridor H motorists traveling the interstate will gain the ability to simply fly past Parsons without a second thought.

While the interstate will clearly offer help to some local businesses such as Kingsford who depend on freight and trucking to sustain business, without much in the way of tourist attractions the city of Parsons could find the wool pulled out from under them in the long haul. While the improvements made in Parsons over recent years are undeniable with events like Pickin' in Parsons garnering national attention and showing yearly growth the question still boils down to will Parsons have enough tourism draw to pull travelers from the highway year round and turn them into local patrons.

While I've previously written on the improvements taking place in Parsons and the bright future if current improvements continue, Corridor H is the one major wild card that could make or break my assessment. I feel that while Parsons has come a long way it still needs to work on gaining more tourist appeal to help fill out the exit signs before the interstate is completed and the bypass option is given to motorists. In this race against construction it remains to be seen if Parsons will manage to fully capitalize on it's Civil War significance, beautiful camping, hunting, and outdoor recreation potential, and small town appeal to help make and solidify its claim as a West Virginia tourist destination.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What does the future hold for Dixie Dave's?

Image
It's been a few years now since I launched Dixie Dave's a company I started as an online retailer of Confederate merchandise and later expanded to include pro gun, military, patriotic, redneck, hillbilly, EMS, Firefighter, biker, religious and other merchandise while relocating the shop to a brick and mortar store located on Second St. in downtown Parsons.  It's been a lot of fun running the shop over the past few years and I've really enjoyed getting to know our first responders, military members, and Conservative citizens, over that time we became an NRA recruiter, NFIB member, and the place to go to get items that were considered politically incorrect, controversial, and hard to get. I made the decision recently to shutter the business in favor of launching in it's place a new shop focusing on locally made items, WV souvenirs, WVU merchandise, and anything else made in or to do with the state I love. If you missed getting in to see Dixie Dave's we&
Read more

A hick without a fair.

Image
Residents both young and old share fond memories of the Tucker County Hick Fair, a celebration of our backwoods hillbilly heritage hosted by the now defunct Hendricks Ruritan Club that took place over its 47 years of operation at both Hendricks prior to the 1985 flood and Camp Kid beginning in 1986. The event featured contests, demonstrations, entertainment, and just good old fashioned family fun for everyone. Popular draws for the festival varied widely over the years and included events like the coon chase, tobacco spitting contest, lawn tractor pulls, turkey calling contest, cow patty bingo, lumberjack games, horse shows, and many more sure to leave any city slicker scratching their head events. In earlier years the hick fair was a major Tucker County event attended at one time or another by almost every resident and out of towner who would brave the banjo music to attend. In later years that turnout tapered off and eventually with the dissolution of the Hendricks Ruritan
Read more