Culture
Did Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis secretly meet in West Virginia?
PHILIPPI, W.Va. — Did Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis secretly meet in what is now West Virginia just days after the first land battle of the Civil War? It is a question that’s lingered for more than a century and a half, whispered in local lore, debated by...
Giant skeletons and buried copper plates—a strange Marion County folktale
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — In the hills and river bottoms of Marion County in north-central West Virginia,...
Beloved story of “Frosty the Snowman” was born in snowy highlands of West Virginia
KEYSER, W.Va. — One of America’s most enduring holiday songs—and the animated television specials...
Frank James entered a West Virginia bank in 1872 — and left without robbing it
PRINCETON, W.Va. — In 1872, when the name Frank James still carried the weight of fear and...
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Runaway Virginia slave deceived by rescuer changed public opinion in Ohio
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — On a September morning in 1856, attorney James Jackson awoke to learn that one of the people he claimed to be his property had stolen one of his horses and fled for freedom. Jackson was a member of one of Harrison County’s most prominent families...
Quiet West Virginia village of Clayton named for 1835 hot-air balloon crash
CLAYTON, W.Va. — Few West Virginia place names come with a tale as improbable or as theatrical as that of Clayton, a quiet Summers County community whose name traces back to the crash of a hot-air balloon nearly two centuries ago. The year was 1835, a time when flight...
Farmington Mine Disaster still echoes across West Virginia coal country
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...
Why paranormal tourism is booming in almost heaven West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Paranormal tourism is booming across West Virginia, but the increase in ghost tours, haunted history walks, and supernatural-themed events doesn’t necessarily reflect a rise in belief in the paranormal. According to David Sibray, publisher of West...