Appalachian History

Established in 1935, the Pack Horse Library Project was aimed at providing reading materials to rural portions of Eastern Kentucky with no access to public library facilities. Librarians riding horses or mules traveled 50 to 80 miles a week up rocky creekbeds, along muddy footpaths, and among cliffs to deliver reading materials to the most [...]

I was born September 13, 1893, at the old Sapp homestead, my lifelong home, which my parents, John R. and Sanepta A. Sapp, bought in the early ’80s from Lewis Wilson. At my birth, Dr. Luther Grimes and Mrs. Amanda Mills (she was Bob Mills’ grandmother and lived in the brick house south of the [...]

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 a guest post from Arthur McDade, [...]

The following post appears on the Tazewell-Orange.com site, run by Joseph T. Lee III. “This site is my contribution to the preservation of the local history of Southwest Virginia and the Tri-Cities area,” Lee says. “I’ve researched a mostly overlooked industry that affects our lives every day—the soda bottling industry, which I was surprised to [...]

Please welcome guest writer Arthur McDade. McDade recently retired from Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a park ranger. He is the author of ‘Old Smoky Mountain Days’ and ‘The Natural Arches of the Big South Fork,’ and a contributor to ‘The Encyclopedia of Appalachia.’ He’s also written many magazine articles about the cultural and [...]