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| ~ 14th Annual ~ |
| "Traditions In Music" |
Celebrating the Hefner Family
of the Little Levels |
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| History of the Fair |
An old photo of the Pocahontas County Horse
Show held in Hillsboro in 1915 sparked the idea to recreate a fair to
celebrate the heritage of the Little Levels area.
The last full weekend in June
was chosen to coincide with the June 26, 1892 birth of Pearl S. Buck. |
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The fair showcases
local talent and products, and serves as a fundraiser for volunteer
and civic organizations of the area. Our goal is to preserve as much of the history and
heritage as possible through written stories and pictures of the area.
The 2009 theme "Quilting, Stitching Our Lives Together" connected the best of the patchwork
of the community. Themes in years past have followed this same thread. We have focused on our
ancestors who arrived in wilderness, built homes, churches and schools and communities. A
community that thrives and continues must then create cemeteries for their loved ones.
The Pocahontas County Genealogy Group, in corporation with the Pocahontas County Historical
Society is working to catalog all the cemeteries and graves in the county. The group
completed the book on the Oak Grove Cemetery. All other known burials and cemeteries in the
Little Levels have been compiled into a book to go on sale at the 2011 event. Alongside the founding
fathers and their descendants rest the Stulting ancestors of Pearl S. Buck,
the first American woman to win both the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize for
Literature as well as the Paternal Grandfather of PBS Documentary Writer,
Ken Burns.
The area is rich in Civil War History. The Battle of Droop Mountain in 1863 was one of
the larger battles in the state. The sesquicentennial of the Civil War
will be commemorated beginning in 2011 through the 100th anniversary of
the Droop Mountain battle in 2013. West Virginia is erecting Civil War Trail
signs throughout the state. The "Old Home Places" book published
by the Fair lists many homes that were used as hospitals during the war.
We are trying to preserve the location of Civil War Graves. US statistics
show that eighty percent of the buildings in America have been built since
WWII. The research for the book indicated that statistics in this area are exactly the opposite.
The year 2013 will also mark the 100th Anniversary of the Hillsboro High School Alumni Association.
The fair was instrumental in installing new signs on US Rt. 219 "1886, Welcome to Hillsboro,
Birthplace of Pearl S. Buck" as a 2010 project.
Many in this area are descendants of the original settlers. Many of
the old homes are no longer standing; however, the home place remains in the
heart and soul of those who have been a part of the community. It is our
hope that the Little Levels will always be "a place to come home to."
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