Civil War Highway Dedicated to W.Va. Soldier
VAN, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Fighting for freedoms here at home, one family from Boone County is looking back on their heritage and honoring one of West Virginia's Civil War veterans.
Three generations of the Cook family paid tribute to one of their ancestors.
"Our bloodline dates back to pre-revolutionary war days here in these mountains," Dustin White said. "It's a great honor to have that connection."
William Chapman 'Chap' Cook was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War.
State, county and local officials gathered with the Cook family along Route 26 in Van Saturday to dedicate a stretch of the highway to Cook and other Civil War heros.
A proclamation from the West Virginia legislature now stands as a reminder of not forgetting where West Virginians came from.
"Not just now is important," Nada Cook-White said. "But what happened in the past is important to give us what we have here today."
Signs now bear a new name on the stretch of highway from Van to Twilight along Route 26 in Cook's honor.
'Chap' Cook lived in Virginia at the time, which was controlled by the confederacy.
The Cooks were a family of union sympathizers.
For the family, it's a piece of history restored on 'Chap' Cook's old stomping grounds.
"My father is a Vietnam veteran and with this being Independence Day weekend, it's a great honor to have this road named for Chap," White said. "It's not just for him, it's for all of our service men and women."
It's now a visual reminder of where the family, state and country has been.
One family's way of saying thank you to a man who helped pave the way for history.
After the war, Cook returned to Cook mountain where he is buried.
Getting to his gravesite is no easy task so the family has been collecting signatures hoping to get an access road built to a historic cemetary.
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