History / Prehistory

FARMINGTON, W.Va. — Before dawn on November 20, 1968, a thunderous explosion ripped through Consolidation Coal Company’s No. 9 mine outside this Marion County town, sending smoke, flames, and debris high into the cold West Virginia sky. Within hours, the tragedy would become known simply as the Farmington Mine Disaster—a shorthand for one of the … Read more

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Rising above the end of this city’s central avenue, the prehistoric Criel Mound—one of the largest burial mounds in West Virginia—has long captivated both onlookers and archaeologists alike. Over the years, its origins have sparked countless theories—ranging from tales of mythic giants to speculation about a lost tribe of Israelites. In … Read more

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When I moved to West Virginia in 2013, just out of grad school and anxious to learn more about the local archaeology, it didn’t take long to be introduced to the idea that West Virginia was too rugged and remote for Native Americans to live here permanently. I was told that the … Read more

GLEN DALE, W.Va. — Lone graves aren’t rare in West Virginia. Many pioneers and settlers perished in its mountains, far from friends and family. However, one burial stands out as a remarkable and mysterious example. The grave of an unknown priest on a ridge high above Middle Grave Creek near the Ohio River illustrates religious … Read more

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In the spring of 1974, an unassuming school board meeting in Kanawha County ignited a tempest that would engulf classrooms, coal mines, homes, and headlines in a bitter clash over textbooks and values. It was no ordinary curriculum dispute. It erupted into what historians and educators recall as one of the most … Read more

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When you think of West Virginia, the name might conjure up images of mountains, forests, and waterfalls—wild and wonderful—a place apart from Virginia, its larger neighbor to the east. But the name West Virginia was not inevitable. In fact, in the early days of the The Kanawha River above Kanawha Falls. (Photo … Read more

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Glance at a road map of West Virginia, and you’ll spot a striking blank space just east of the state’s capital. Although the valley around Charleston ranks among the most densely populated regions in West Virginia, the land to the east tells a different story. Few roads cut through its thick forests—a … Read more

STANAFORD, W.Va. — A quiet residential community outside the city of Beckley, perhaps best known for its scenic views of the Piney Creek Gorge, Stanaford today gives little hint of the labor-related violence that once stained its soil. More than a century ago, on February 25, 1903, this village was the site of one of … Read more