Appalachian History

Item 032596 in the collection of the West Virginia Historical Photographs Collection reads Testament to the Brick Laying Prowess of Thoney Pietro and appears to be a 1946 newspaper clipping, though its source is not identified in the collection. “The life of Thoney Pietro has not always been that of a retired country gentleman; he [...]

Jan Philpot, of the Laurel County Kentucky GenWeb site, transcribed the diary in 2001.

“The diary is written in a faded brown ink,” says Philpot, “with pages toward the back in faded pencil. At times it was difficult to make out, and at those points I place a question mark.”

We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. Check us out on the Stitcher network, available on mobile phones, in-car dashboards and tablets worldwide. Just click below to start listening: We open today’s show with the story of John C.C. Mayo. Mayo’s life story could have been lifted straight from the [...]

My father died suddenly at 44 years of age and is buried in a little grave yard, just outside of the town he helped to build among the people he loved. His grave is marked by a stone of Tennessee granite, on which is this description: “Erected to the memory of Walter Phillips by the [...]

EVERY CREEK’S A STORY IN CLINTON COUNTY Ridge hikes and crossroad chats yield a bumper crop of legends 
down near the Tennessee border. By Howard Hardaway —Louisville Courier-Journal, no date, 1930s The ‘New Era’ is Clinton County, Kentucky’s only newspaper. W. H. Nunn has been the publisher for a number of years. He tells a [...]