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History

Welcome to the History news directory at West Virginia Explorer, where you’ll find an archive of the most recent West Virginia history news published at West Virginia Explorer.

Forest fire burning southeast of New River Gorge Bridge

Smoke wreaths Idol Point, New River Gorge, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
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...

Harpers Ferry event explores U.S. Colored Troops

Sgt. Peter H. Butler
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. -- Harpers Ferry National Historical Park this weekend hosts a two-day commemorative event exploring the 1864 recruiting party held there for...

Many early almanacs printed out of Wheeling, West Virginia

Farmers converse near old Fort Henry at Wheeling, c. 1777.
Thanks to the Internet, almanacs aren't printed as they once were, but in West Virginia, where communications were hampered by the mountains, these useful...

Legend of ancient warpath along the W.Va. Turnpike is fact

The West Virginia Turnpike follows part of an ancient warpath through the West Virginia hills.
Older folks who live in the valley of Paint Creek may recall legends about how the stream was named: an ancient warpath followed it...

Historian reclassifies Civil War "skirmish" as an all-out battle

Far more than a few soldiers were engaged in the Battle of Hurricane Bridge.
HURRICANE, W.Va. — Early research on a Civil War engagement at Hurricane Bridge tended to underestimate the number of soldiers involved, leading historians to...

Lost W.Va. saltworks known to only a few locals, adventurers

David Sibray inspects stonework in a thicket near the old saltworks.
The legend of the lost Mercer Saltworks near the New River in southern West Virginia may be remembered now by only a few locals...

Annual Mountain Games competition tests pioneer skills

A competitor throws a tomahawk during the annual Mountain Games competition at Heritage Farms near Huntington, West Virginia.
Survival on the Appalachian frontier required unique skills around which the fourth annual Mountain Games competition September 21 at Heritage Farm near Huntington, West...

B&O Railroad completed to Wheeling on Jan. 1, 1853

Railroad architecture at Grafton, WV, Taylor County, Monongahela Valley Region
On January 1, 1853, the first train arrived in Wheeling, West Virginia, (then Virginia) on the newly completed Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the first...

Word "hillbilly" once a term of endearment in Appalachia

"Dance" by Porte Crayon, an illustration for Harper's New Monthly Magazine; May 1872.
According to some authorities, the word "hillbilly" was a term of endearment in the Appalachian Mountains in the early 1800s, though it later developed...

Heroic Nina Paden ferry won many hearts in service

The Nina Paden docks at Belpre, Ohio. Parkersburg, with its tall courthouse tower, lines the Ohio River in the background.
The Nina Paden and its skipper wheeled beyond the call of duty in ferrying the Ohio River at Parkersburg, West Virginia. Of all the...

Strange carvings greeted early West Virginia explorers

Images of beasts and men decorate a boulder at the Half-Moon archaeological site, now submerged beneath the Ohio River.
When pioneers and other explorers first ventured into what would become West Virginia, they encountered artifacts of a much earlier age — carvings, burial...

Civil War initiative clarifies Stonewall role at historic tavern

Installing the new signboard from left to right are David Sibray, Becky Sullivan, Dr. Scott Keffer, and Randy Burdette.
Historians working with a landmark tavern near America's newest national park are clarifying the role of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson at the site, which served...

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