David Sibray
PINEVILLE, W.Va. — What did an authentic Appalachian pioneer farm of the 1800s look like? Perhaps there’s no better place to find out than in a remote corner of field and forest at Twin Falls Resort State Park in southern West Virginia. In the 1960s, while building the park, former superintendent Morris E. “Smokey” Harsh … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va.—Over the last four years, the number of farmers’ markets in West Virginia has nearly tripled, according to the W.Va. Department of Agriculture. In 2019, there were 93 registered markets across the state. Now there are 267, according to Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt. “Coming out of a pandemic that shut down food manufacturers, … Read more
WILLIAMSON, W.Va.—Of all the placenames associated with West Virginia, that of the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River may be the subject of some of the most hotly contested debates among historians. Wandering through the state’s southernmost mountains, the stream sources at the end of Great Flat Top Mountain on Big Stone Ridge and … Read more
The former West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville, West Virginia, in Marshall County, was a castellated gothic-style prison in operation from 1876 until 1995. It is now a tourist attraction popular with historians and paranormal enthusiasts. In 1863, West Virginia had only just seceded from Virginia and suffered a shortage of public institutions, including prisons. … Read more
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va.—Thanks to the dramatic increase in visitation to America’s newest national park, motor vehicle traffic in and around Fayetteville is building remarkably, leading officials and business leaders to recommend exploring safety measures that could include traffic signals. Sharon Rynard, whose commercial property on US-19 sees some of the highest traffic in the region, says … Read more
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va.—Repeated enough, hearsay can morph into what would seem fact, despite the evidence. The New River is a good case in point. “The New River and the Nile are the only rivers that flow north.” Many students heard this often as a child growing up near the New in southern West Virginia. The New … Read more
Whether or not you believe in tales of “Mothman,” if you live in West Virginia, you’re likely to have heard them. The legend is almost inescapable in a state so renowned for its monsters and mountain mysteries. And while most folks associate the man-beast with the region around Point Pleasant on the Ohio River, there’s … Read more
COWEN, W.Va.—The Monongahela National Forest will re-open 15 miles of forest road 86 along the Williams River from Laurel Run to the entrance of Tea Creek Campground on Friday, according to a spokesperson for the forest service. Soon after, the scenic backcountry route that crosses through a remote section of the Allegheny Mountains will reopen … Read more
MATEWAN, W.Va.—The mountainous borderland between Kentucky and West Virginia where the Hatfields and McCoys once feuded is now increasingly the domain of adventure travelers. Seeking a retreat in one of the most remote sections of the Appalachian Mountains, here adventurers on all-terrain vehicles climb into the precipitous hills, and historians and history buffs explore ghost … Read more
Early settlers in Pocahontas County called it “The Devil’s Backbone” as most believed such an unnatural thing could only be the work of evil. While geologists now understand the forces that created this dramatic arch, the explanation may be even harder to believe than the superstition. When Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell arrived in the … Read more
