Appalachian History

Letting the mountain people tell their own stories

Joseph S. Hall was an unlikely candidate to become the leader in the documentation of the language and culture of the Smoky Mountain people.

Started in 1903, the Kelly’s Creek Colliery Company commissary served about 75-90 miners living at or near Ward, WV.

On the way home from school, we’d stop at Hatfield’s Grocery over at Roach, get off the bus, wait there for the driver to come and pick us up.

The decorative Christmas plant that takes its name from him is such a footnote to his illustrious life that it’s mentioned ONCE in his bio.

The stove is a wood burning stove with six burners, a water tank on the side and warming closets at the top.