Just Around the Bend

By Samantha Cart

Photo credit: Buckeye Bend Books

An old two-room schoolhouse on U.S. Route 219 in Pocahontas County, Buckeye Bend Books is reminiscent of a different time. While the outside may not appeal to passersby, the building houses a Mountain State hidden gem that draws local traffic and tourists alike.

Owner Gerald Burnett bought the old schoolhouse in 2001 and used his impressive collection of used books to open Buckeye Bend in 2006. “The school was closed around 1960,” says Burnett. “It was a two-room school that was built between 1880 and 1900, and its claim to fame is that Louise McNeill went to school and taught there for a while. It’s an interesting old building.”

The building had a long list of owners before Burnett, a retired Virginia elementary school teacher, came along. Previously a community activities building and an antique store, the structure has had very little modification except for several sheds that were built onto the sides.

After retirement from the education system, Burnett bought a secondary residence just across the border in West Virginia and decided to address the thousands of books sitting in his garage. “I have collected books all my life,” he says. “When you collect books, what happens is that you always want to buy more. So you say you’ll sell some, but you always end up with the ones you wanted to buy. I just love books.”

Buckeye Bend offers a large collection of rare titles, including fiction, nonfiction and history books; outdoor guides; plant identification manuals; classics and old magazines. Burnett stocks his shelves with treasures he finds at other used bookstores and auctions and state and personal donations. “I’m retired—I am not trying to make a bookstore dynasty here. But a lot of people appreciate the store, and I probably get as many donations as I do people actually buying things,” says Burnett.

Along with the shelves of books, the store has an assortment of chairs where people can sit around, talk and read. Burnett has also hosted several guest authors, including Stephen Koontz.

Buckeye Bend is a seasonal business. Burnett opens his doors in April and tries to stay open until the leaves fall off the trees in the fall. The store is about a quarter mile from the Greenbrier Trail, Snowshoe and White Sulphur Springs, which makes it ideally located for drawing tourists.

“Compared to some other local business, I do pretty well as far as customers go,” he says. “Some days I see one or two folks, and other days the parking lot is full and people are parked along the road. I get a lot of local traffic, but I also get people who are visiting nearby places like the Greenbrier River.”

Ariel Boggess and her husband own a vacation home in the Hillsboro/Mill Point area a few miles from Buckeye Bend Books. Boggess considers the store to be a great representation of the eclectic nature of West Virginia’s small business environment.

“This little shop is housed in an unassuming building with wonderful treasures inside—very much like West Virginia,” says Boggess. “While at first it looks like a boarded up barn, the door opens up into a delightful, and definitely eclectic, multi-room used bookstore. It’s a place that you could spend hours, or even days, and never get bored. It’s a book lover’s paradise and West Virginia small business at its best.”

About the Author

Samantha Cart is the production manager for Executive Ink and its publications. A graduate of West Virginia University, Cart has worked as an editor, social media specialist and freelance writer. She is a native of Buffalo, WV, and currently resides in Birmingham, AL, with her husband. Cart can be reached by email at sdc@wvexecutive.com.