David Sibray
BRAMWELL, W.Va. — For nearly a century, visitors have stopped beside U.S. 52 to admire Pinnacle Rock, assuming it is an isolated sandstone tower. It isn’t. The famous landmark is only one visible fragment of a giant geologic structure that stretches more than 25 miles across southern West Virginia and into Virginia—a mountain-sized fold created … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In midsummer, West Virginia’s forests yield one of their richest annual harvests. Blackberries spill over abandoned fence rows. Raspberries brighten sunny hillsides. Blueberries and huckleberries ripen on the state’s highest mountains. For generations, families have carried buckets into the woods to gather berries for cobblers, jams, and pies. Yet these fruits nourish … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — From doorbell videos to cell phone clips shared on Facebook, black bears seem to be appearing almost everywhere in West Virginia this summer. The surge in online sightings has many residents wondering whether the state’s bear population has suddenly exploded. According to Colin P. Carpenter, black bear project leader for the W.Va. … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On a cold winter night in 1875 in West Virginia’s capital city, an angry mob surrounded the county jail demanding justice. Inside stood Deputy Sheriff T.S. Perry, determined to protect the prisoners entrusted to his care. He lost that battle. Years later, faced with another mob intent on taking lives, Perry made … Read more
OAK HILL, W.Va. — Teachers who first experience the New River Gorge on a recreational whitewater rafting trip often return with their students, turning one of Appalachia’s best-known adventure destinations into an outdoor classroom for lessons in geology, ecology, hydrology, and teamwork. That’s one reason ACE Adventure Resort is launching a new Teachers Raft Free … Read more
WEIRTON, W.Va. — At the edge of a quiet suburban neighborhood in Hancock County stands what appears at first glance to be a weathered stone tower. It isn’t a tower, however, but the remains of an iron furnace. Marked only by a modest historical sign, the Peter Tarr Furnace played a surprising role in shaping … Read more
WHEELING, W.Va. — A glance at a map of West Virginia raises an obvious question. Why does the Mountain State have two narrow strips of land reaching toward opposite corners of the eastern United States? One extends northward for more than 60 miles between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The other stretches eastward from the Allegheny Front … Read more
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Travelers arrive from Washington, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, and other metropolitan areas, expecting to spend a day at the New River Gorge before continuing their vacation. Many leave wondering why they hadn’t planned for several more days. It’s a reaction Tabitha Stover hears repeatedly. “One of the things I hear most from visitors, especially … Read more
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — For decades, one of the most significant African American landmarks in Berkeley Springs quietly served as little more than a storage shed. Now, community leaders hope to restore Mount Pisgah Church, an 1877 church founded by members of the town’s Black community, preserving a place of worship whose history reflects the faith, … Read more
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Long before antibiotics, anesthesia, or modern hospitals, a young physician in a log cabin on the American frontier faced an impossible decision. The operation he performed is now widely regarded as the first successful Cesarean section in the United States in which both mother and child survived. Within a few years, … Read more
