Appalachian History

Please welcome guest blogger Jim Rada. Rada writes the monthly local history column for the Cumberland Times-News and has had four historical novels published that were set in the region. He writes his own blog on historical subjects at historyarchive.wordpress.com, where this post originally ran. It’s been said that hell hath no fury like a [...]

Ah, southern Appalachian ‘balds,’ those curious subalpine meadows. From northern Georgia to southwestern Virginia, there are scores of such grassy peaks sprinkled along the Appalachian mountain chain. They are an enigma, being largely devoid of trees and other woody vegetation where one would normally expect to see a continuation of the surrounding forest. In places, [...]

At the turn of the century, when 4,000 people lived here, at least 14 millionaires called Bramwell, WV home, making it the richest town per capita in the United States. The “Home of the Millionaires,” incorporated in 1889, was the business and residential community for Pocahontas coalfield owners and operators such as J.H. Bramwell, I.T. [...]

We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today’s show with the story of the feud over [...]

The following are reminiscences of the Cloverdale, GA community by Brody Hawkins, who was born there in 1927 and has lived there all his life.  These are his memories of the families who lived in Cloverdale when he was a child. When I got here, we had three doctors in the community, Dr. Middleton, Dr. [...]