Appalachian History

Probably the most famous boat ever built at Clarington, OH was the Liberty, being the last in the line of packet boats of that name (a packet boat is generally described as a steam boat for conveying cargo, mail, and passengers on a regular schedule.) Way’s Packet Directory 1848-1994 lists an earlier Liberty built in [...]

Listen to Eleanor Steber sing intro to ‘Knoxville:Summer of 1915′ She was the most celebrated American soprano of the 1940s and 1950s. She went on from there to become head of the voice department at the Cleveland Institute of Music from 1963 to 1972, to teach at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, [...]

From a 13-year-old bellhop at Wheeling, WV’s McLure House to a business giant and multimillionaire—Ellsworth Milton Statler, virtually without benefit of formal education, climbed to the pinnacle of the hotel business. In 1950 he was proclaimed by his industry as the person who had contributed most to the science of inn-keeping and was hailed as [...]

The habits of these folk, as I remember them when I was a child, were generous and hospitable. There was much rivalry between women in household matters. Certain recipes in pastry and pickles and medicine were handed down in families from generation to generation. There were few formal dinners, but cover for the accidental guest [...]

An Extraordinary Story Told by a West Virginia Girl who was Kidnapped Sunday Night [New York Times, April 8, 1891] Wheeling, West Va., April 7. —Since Sunday night, about 9:30 o’clock, there has been much excitement in this city and vicinity over the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Miss Amy Morgan, niece of Henry Morgan, [...]