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The West Virginia Mine Wars: Paint Creek and Cabin Creek
For a century and a half the king of central Appalachia has been coal. That mineral powered the industrial revolution in America, made some men and c…
2 years, 5 months ago
The Savant of Rhea County, Tennessee
Alvin Goins was a hard worker who, like many Appalachian men of his time, never finished school and was unable to read or write. That never stopped …
2 years, 5 months ago
The Dark Mystery of Booger Hole
Starting in the latter part of the 19th century and continuing up into the 20th century a valley in Clay County, West Virginia, became the site of a …
2 years, 6 months ago
The Great Glen Alum Payroll Robbery
On Friday, August 14, 1914, three Glen Alum Coal Company employees were returning to the mine office with that week's payroll.
They didn't make it wi…
2 years, 6 months ago
From Darkness to Hope: The Appalachian Journey of Bob Childress
In 1912 a young man's life was transformed by his witnessing a historic tragedy: the infamous Carroll County courthouse shootout, which left several …
2 years, 6 months ago
The Laurel Mine Disaster of 1884
The Pocahontas coal field, located in southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, was one of the most productive coal areas in the United States. …
2 years, 6 months ago
Woodrow Derenberger And The Man From Lanulos
In November 1966 a man on his way home from work literally drove into Appalachian history when he encountered a UFO blocking his way on I-77 outside …
2 years, 7 months ago
Appalachia's Petticoat Government
In 1948 Clintwood, Virginia, held an election for the town's offices. After the campaigning, the voting, and the vote counting, something unique for…
2 years, 7 months ago
The Goat Man
From the 1930s to the 1980s an itinerant preacher from Georgia traveled throughout Appalachia and beyond in a ramshackle wagon pulled by a herd of go…
2 years, 7 months ago
The Blue People of Kentucky
In 1820 French orphan Martin Fugate and his wife Elizabeth arrived as new settlers in eastern Kentucky. Unknown to them, they carried genetic traits…
2 years, 7 months ago