Clyde Craig
ITMANN, W.Va. — A tourist attraction in West Virginia’s southern mountains, the landmark Itmann Company Store — also known as the “Castle in the Coalfields” — has returned to the real estate market and is attracting more interest than ever.Parties negotiating the purchase of the property earlier in the year could not reach an agreement, … Read more
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Sightseers in search of a view of the world-famous New River Gorge Bridge — though without the challenges of whitewater rafting — can board a specialized boat to travel into the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia.The two-hour, 16-passenger scenic tours travel into the park from the marina … Read more
OAK HILL, W.Va. — Historians in West Virginia say they’re baffled by a strange arrangement of monuments in a cemetery near the New River Gorge. They hope to discover why the graves are interred under remarkable wedge-shaped concrete forms. “Something very unusual has gone on here,” says David Sibray, the publisher of West Virginia Explorer … Read more
RICHWOOD, W.Va. — Enthusiasm for attending ramp festivals in West Virginia is growing along with tourism, says the publisher of the state’s leading travel publications.More than ever, visitors are searching for information on ramps and ramp festivals online at West Virginia Explorer Magazine, according to publisher David Sibray, where more than 50,000 interactions have been … Read more
ELKINS, W.Va. — To help educate the public about the value and stability of historic stone walls, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia has declared those in historic districts across the Mountain State “endangered.” According to Danielle Parker, the organization’s executive director, “statewide, hand-cut stone walls aged 50 years or older are part of this … Read more
THURMOND, W.Va. — Programming through a preservation organization in West Virginia will support leasing in this historic town where the National Park Service had considered demolishing several nationally historic buildings it had formerly promised to save.Following a groundswell of public aversion to a proposal to demolish more than 20 historic structures in the town, officials … Read more
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Once counted among the most gracious homes in the Greenbrier Valley, the historic Level Tavern on scenic US-219 is being rediscovered, thanks to its recent introduction to the real estate market. Built in 1830, the hewn-timber residence, renowned for its vast rooms, hosted travelers unnumbered but faded into obscurity after the old … Read more
SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — A monument raised in memory of an escaped nanny goat is attracting the attention of motorists on US-19 in central West Virginia. The roadside curiosity stands along the four-lane expressway that crosses Powell Mountain, the second-highest summit the highway traverses between Florida and Pennsylvania. Anonymous benefactors have raised a memorial near the … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tucked away in a wooded gorge near the West Virginia Capitol, one of the highest waterfalls in the region also powered one of its first mills. However, its history had faded into obscurity until a rare map led historians to a remarkable manuscript.Though the falls and mill were the source of the … Read more
A West Virginia University plant pathology professor emeritus who has spent more than 70 years developing hearty tomato varieties for home gardeners has created his fourth and final tomato — the West Virginia 2023, dubbed “Mannon’s Majesty.”“With so many tomato growers in this state, I wanted to help them continue to grow their food,” Mannon … Read more
