Scientists say carvings in southern W.Va. are Native American, not Irish
LYNCO, W.Va. — Scientists studying ancient carvings in West Virginia say stories that propose a non-native origin for prehistoric landmarks ignore evidence and may...
Mystery surrounds W.Va. tale of frontier slave who defended fort
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Settlers who pushed westward across the Alleghenies in the 1700s engaged in a deadly gamble. Despite the threat of attack by...
Archaeologists debunk myth of prehistoric giants in West Virginia
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — After learning about my series of articles on West Virginia prehistory in West Virginia Explorer Magazine, Olivia Jones, an adjunct anthropology instructor...
Forest fire burning southeast of New River Gorge Bridge
UPDATE (9:47 a.m., 4-24-2014): The fire that swept the wall of the New River Gorge southeast of the New River Gorge Bridge was 90...
How the Pruntytown reformatory became a bogeyman in West Virginia
PRUNTYTOWN, W.Va. — If you were an unruly boy growing up in West Virginia before the 1980s, there's a chance your misbehaviors were met...
Did the first U.S. serial killer live in a quiet corner...
QUIET DELL, W.Va. — On the morning of March 18, 1932, Harry Powers plummeted through the gallows at the West Virginia Penitentiary and dangled...
Historic spring, cabin undetected near busy W.Va. expressway interchange
BECKLEY, W.Va. — A stone's throw from one of the busiest traffic centers in West Virginia, a spring house and one-room cabin are all...
The Great Seal of West Virginia—what its many strange symbols mean
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Great Seal of West Virginia may be as fascinating to some West Virginians as the U.S. dollar bill is for...
The word "hillbilly" was once a term of endearment in Appalachia
RICHWOOD, W.Va. — The word "hillbilly" was a term of endearment in the southern Appalachian Mountains region in the early 1800s, though it later...
Here's how the West Virginia town of "Hundred" got its unique...
HUNDRED, W.Va. — There was a time soon after the completion of the B&O Railroad when passengers would clamber to the car windows to...
What historians get wrong about frontier heroine Mary Draper Ingles
HINTON, W.Va. — The tale of Mary Draper Ingles—of her escape from Shawnee captors and her return through the mountains—is the ideal American frontier...
Three little-known facts about West Virginia's moundbuilders
The term “moundbuilder” is often used to describe two ancient cultures that archaeologists now know as the Adena and the Hopewell. These peoples lived...
