West Virginia culture is a captivating blend of rich Appalachian traditions and vibrant high culture infused with the jazz of surrounding U.S. cities like Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. The state is renowned for its deep-rooted Appalachian heritage, which is showcased through folk music, storytelling, and traditional crafts such as quilting and woodcarving. Visitors can experience this authentic culture at local festivals and heritage museums throughout the Mountain State. At the same time, West Virginia also embraces high culture, with world-class performances at the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, acclaimed theater productions at the Greenbrier Valley Theatre, and art exhibitions at the Huntington Museum of Art. This unique mix of mountain traditions and refined artistic offerings makes West Virginia a true cultural gem in the heart of Appalachia.
BEAVER, W.Va. — Gary Morefield was cleaning an old gravestone in a small cemetery in an Appalachian valley when he reflected on what such places can reveal. “Cemeteries are like libraries,” he said. “You can learn the history of a place just strolling through.” The stone belongs to Clarkson Prince, who came from Philadelphia to … Read more
PIPESTEM, W.Va. — A West Virginia mountain resort overlooking a federally protected river gorge will host its first Oktoberfest in October, when fall color typically peaks along the Bluestone River. Pipestem Resort State Park has scheduled its inaugural Oktoberfest for Oct. 16–18, with events spread across the resort and into the Bluestone Gorge. On Saturday, visitors … Read more
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Thirty-nine short films from across Appalachia will be screened free in a historic West Virginia theater in October as a growing regional film festival opens its doors to audiences without an admission charge. The Mtn Craft Film Festival will return Oct. 2–4 to the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center in downtown Clarksburg, … Read more
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Filmmaker Bob Ahmed was scouting the mountains of Virginia for a place to shoot his new movie when he got lost, his phone died, and he kept driving. Then he found the farm he had been looking for in West Virginia. That unexpected discovery eventually brought Adam’s Fire, a feature film about … Read more
CEDAR GROVE, W.Va. — Forrest Hull remembered autumn before foliage forecasts, scenic-drive maps, and photos of mountainsides ablaze with color became common ways to mark the season in West Virginia. “Where are the autumns of yesterday?” Hull asked in a 1970s essay appropriately titled “Yesterday’s Autumns.” He remembered little boys who “played so hard all … Read more
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — One of West Virginia’s most famous outlaw stories holds that members of the James Gang rode into Huntington in 1875, robbed a bank in broad daylight, and fled toward the mountains with thousands of dollars. The robbery certainly happened, but whether the famous outlaws were responsible remains another matter. Contemporary newspaper accounts, later … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Daniel Boone is remembered as a great figure of the Kentucky frontier, but a surviving document in his own hand illuminates a lesser-known chapter of his life. The famed frontiersman spent years in what’s now West Virginia, where he surveyed land, served in the militia, and represented Kanawha County in the Virginia … Read more
NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. — More than 20 brick plants once crowded what’s now a scenic stretch of the Ohio River, producing millions of bricks shipped to Pittsburgh and to cities hundreds of miles away, transforming a small West Virginia community into a nationally important industrial center. The concentration became so extensive that riverboat crews called … Read more
RICHWOOD.. W.Va. — For generations, one of West Virginia’s most remarkable frontier stories held that a white boy born in western Virginia was captured by the Shawnee Indians, adopted their way of life, and eventually became Blue Jacket, one of the most important Native American leaders to resist U.S. expansion into the Ohio Valley. The … Read more
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Sheltered near where the Kanawha River empties into the Ohio, one of West Virginia’s most unusual surviving pieces of prehistoric art stands. Carved into a large stone is the outline of a four-legged creature with a long body and an enormous tail curling inward upon itself. Known today as the Panther … Read more
