Moundsville, West Virginia

[Bob]

Mouguias,

Although I have never visited the site, I think that Moundsville is indeed the location of an Indian mound, one of the Adena Indian burial mounds. It was built from about 250 to 150 BC (BCE), and is quite large (about 70 by 300 feet).

There are quite a few other such mounds in the region. The snake shaped mound is near the Ohio-Kentucky border.

Bob Martinez

[Barbara Alonso Novellino]

Yes, there is a mound in Moundsville. It was an old Indian Burial Ground. My Grandparents Adelino and Adelina Montes lived in Moundsville in the homes called "The Spanish Farm". As a child in the 30's and early 40's I used to spend summers with my Mother there. My Father would come to pick us up and spend vacation there. In the evening after dinner he would take me up to the Mound...we would climb up to the top, As I recall it was winding like a snake.

There were a lot of fun things in Moundsville. On Friday evening we would all go to the High School outdoor playing field and watch Movies...then we would go to the Marshall Dairy for an ice cream cone. Oh the memories of youth...

[RAFinley]

Thanks for the details...Those dates go back further than any information my family has -- I'll have to get into investigating church/birth records! But I do seem to come from a family of walkers, so I'm not ruling out the possibility of relation...What a wonderful website.

[bobV]

I was born in Moundsville to Mary and Frank Vasquez. My mother was a Posada (Gonzalez) from Langeloth, Pa., and my dad was from Zeising. My father was a barber and served as a translator for many of the old timers who spoke no English. Names I remember are: Ovies, Alvarez, Solis, Garcia, Alonso, Diaz, Montes, Granda, Rodriguez, Campo, Martinez, Gonzalez. I believe that at one time there were 35 families from Asturias living in Moundsville. The old timers could work in the steel mills, coal mines and the zinc smelter without learning English since the work was basically what they were doing in the mines in and around Aviles, and the steel plant in Arnao. When the zinc plant in Moundsville closed after WW2, many got jobs in other areas and some families moved to find work in other states. Most of the houses that were built by the Zinc plant were sold to those who were living in them. Others were torn down.
Spaniards in M'ville were industrious. Several went into business for themselves: the Ovies family acquired the Pepsi Bottling plant, the Avarez family operated a large grocery store on Lafayette Avenue. Benny Rodriguez also had a grocery store complete with butcher shop. The Campos family had a restaurant. My father was a barber.

[Bob]

My father was also born in Ziesing (in 1917), and Ovies, Alvarez, Alonso, Diaz, Gonzalez and Martinez are all family names (all from Castrillon, Gozon or Muros de Nalon). The entire town of Ziesing spoke Spanish (my dad didn't learn much English until be started school). I think it was a zinc smelter rather than a steel plant that was in Arnao (Arnau n'asturianu), however, but I could be mistaken.

Bob Martinez

[bobV]

I was born and grew up in Moundsville. My father was Frank the Barver (Naveces, Spelter) and my mother was Maria Posada(Viono, Monongha, Spelter). I remember the following "apellidos" living in Moundsville: Alvarez, Ovies, Bango, Granda, Gonzalez (several families), Garcia, Diaz, Pelaez, Solis, Menendez, Rodriguez, Martinez, and Vasquez.