David Sibray
JOLO, W.Va. — On a warm Sunday in late May 2012, a locally well-known Pentecostal pastor named Mack Wolford invited friends and family to what he billed as “a homecoming like the old days,” a day of music, prayer and the spiritual “signs” drawn from the King James Bible—speaking in tongues, healing by the laying … Read more
SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — Devoted fans of scenic Summersville Lake in central West Virginia are being invited to volunteer for a litter clean-up there in late August. The Plateau Action Network will host a community clean-up at Summersville Lake on Saturday, Aug. 30, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will gather at the Salmon Run … Read more
SUTTON, W.Va. — One night in 1984, the Reverend Bernard Coffindaffer experienced an epiphany. God called him, he said, to erect sets of three crosses across the U.S. to recall Christ’s crucifixion at Calvary. He would raise them wherever he could, and he would start nearby—in the foothills west of the Allegheny Mountains in central … Read more
THURMOND, W.Va. — High above the abandoned rail town of Thurmond, West Virginia, a weathered stone face gazes silently across the New River Gorge. Known as McKinley Rock, this haunting natural profile has been a source of local legend since its accidental creation in 1901 — the very day President William McKinley was shot. Though … Read more
GAULEY BRIDGE, W.Va. — Though beautiful, the following tale of Kanawha Falls in West Virginia may not have originated with the Shawnee, as its unknown author purported, but around the campfires where storytellers practiced their art. The tale appears to show up in no other circumstance in Mountain State lore.* Kanawha Falls and nearby Cathedral … Read more
PEYTONA, W.Va. — Drawdy Falls, one of the most scenic and accessible waterfalls in West Virginia, is attracting a huge amount of attention after a generation of neglect. In fact, the restoration of the falls and the redevelopment of a surrounding park may herald economic growth and stewardship in what had been an impoverished mining … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Waterfall Trail has surpassed 125,000 check-ins since its launch in 2022, according to officials at the West Virginia Department of Tourism. To date, more than 14,000 prizes have been awarded to participants for their waterfall explorations, according to state Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby. “To have had travelers from all … Read more
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio — Some say that the American West begins at West Virginia— specifically at the tip of its northern panhandle—and there’s a quantifiable reason to support that claim. Somewhere beneath the Ohio River, on what was the river’s north bank before it was dammed, Thomas Hutchens in 1786 established what’s now called the … Read more
WESTON, W.Va. — Nothing speaks to West Virginia tradition quite like a homemade pie, and this year’s jubilee at Jackson’s Mill is serving up plenty of homestyle flavor with its much-anticipated annual pie contest. Scheduled for Saturday, August 30, 2025, near Weston, the annual bake-off promises a friendly-yet-fierce competition celebrating traditional West Virginia ingredients and … Read more
BUFFALO, W.Va. — An array of five giant “solar flowers” is capturing the attention of motorists travelling scenic Charleston Road along the Kanawha River. What are they? The curiosities are not only capturing interest—they might be hallmarks of a new, more environmentally friendly West Virginia. Turning toward the sun like real sunflowers, the SmartFlowers are … Read more
