Appalachian History

“Over the dam,” some would have said; others would say “Mark it up to experience”; and those persons with much greater financial means than Elmer might have said “Just write it off for tax purposes.” Yet, in the belly and guts of the Depression, he never succumbed to the great temptation to which so many [...]

Though few Civil War battles were fought there, Southwestern Virginia was critically important to the Confederacy. One reason was the salt works in Saltville, which provided the Confederacy’s main source of salt, used as a preservative for army rations. Two battles took place in an effort to control the works. In the first, on October [...]