Culture

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

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

BIG SANDY VALLEY, W.Va. — Long before West Virginia became a state, before railroads climbed its mountains or highways threaded its valleys, the Appalachian wilderness began where civilization ended. To Americans living in Philadelphia or the young nation’s capital on the Potomac, the mountains beyond the Blue Ridge marked the edge of the known world. … Read more

BEVERLY, W.Va. — Every battlefield has its stories. Some are preserved in military reports and official records, while others endure because generations of local families refused to let them be forgotten. Among the most enduring tales from the Battle of Rich Mountain is that of Confederate Capt. DeLaguel, who, according to Randolph County tradition, spent … Read more