Appalachian History

The bulk of the following is from “Wizzard Clip,” by W.W. Laidley, published in the West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly,
 January 1904 Part 1 of 3 “From the “Eastern Pan-Handle” we take the following ancient ghost story. “A town was laid out by John Smith in 1794, a town on his lands, then in Berkeley [...]

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 one Henry Harvey Fuson describing everyday [...]

In Missouri they call it a Gallywampus; in Arkansas it’s the Whistling Wampus; in Appalachia it’s the just a plain old Wampus (or Wampas) cat. A half-dog, half-cat creature that can run erect or on all fours, it’s rumored to be seen just after dark or right before dawn all throughout the Appalachians. But that’s [...]

Are your premises safe against haints, furies and other such ornery spirits? Have you painted your front door blue? Has the neighborhood seen a sudden upsurge of bottles dangling upside down in the trees? She knew that there could be a spell put in trees, and she was familiar from the time she was born [...]

Halloween’s around the corner. Here’s a little haint tale for the occasion from Putnam County, Tennessee. About one mile and a half east of Cookeville the Buck Mountain Road is crossed by the old Sparta-Livingston Road. Turning to the left here and going about a quarter of a mile in the direction of Livingston one [...]