Season Six

A row of several brick buildings

In Season Six, Save Our Towns follows the town of Glade Spring, where town leaders are working to get stalled revitalization plans back on track.

Episode 1:

Up-and-comers in Wytheville, Virginia – in search of bold ideas – weren’t happy with how things were playing out at Town Hall. A younger generation of leaders made their voices heard and began to change the face of downtown.

 

Episode 2:

Fincastle, Virginia, hadn’t changed its boundaries since 1772. But when elected leaders first attempted to expand acreage and population a few years ago, the effort stumbled. Can they create enough unity to bring growth to the town of about 300 people?

 

Episode 3:

A new idea for an old mountain road is lighting an economic fire in Tazewell, Virginia. The town, whose fortunes had fallen with the coal industry, now is a destination for motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts from around the world.

 

Episode 4:

Town leaders in Erwin, Tennessee, moved from attempting to hush up the execution of a circus elephant 100 years ago to playing up the possibilities with an annual elephant festival.

 

Woman standing in a farmhouseEpisode 5:

The owner of a small farm approached leaders in the nearby town of South Hill, Virginia, with the idea of creating a food hub. She had little idea of the hurdles ahead, but the leadership in the town about 80 miles southwest of Richmond stepped up to help guide the way.

 

Episode 6:

Vacant lots are a problem for towns throughout Appalachia, but in Radford, Virginia, city leaders have brought life back to two empty pockets of the community. Save Our Towns shows how addition by subtraction is helping Radford create gathering places in once-forgotten spaces.