Fort Scammon, an ideal spot for an afternoon outing
I finally made it to Fort Scammon, a Civil War-era earthwork atop what's now Fort Hill in Charleston, West Virginia, No one died at the fort, or...
Rare memoir recalls national park before Thurmond ghost town
THURMOND, W.Va. — Perhaps no small town in West Virginia has gained the worldwide notoriety that the tiny Town of Thurmond has enjoyed. A...
Think you've found an archaeological site in W.Va.? Here's what to...
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some of the most common requests fielded by the Council for West Virginia Archaeology come from members of the public who...
Mysteries surround lost Washington graves on Hurricane Creek in W.Va.
FRAZIER'S BOTTOM, W.Va. — How did a great-nephew of George Washington come to be buried in a virtually forgotten graveyard in the Kanawha Valley...
Log cabin researchers encounter rare, mysterious circumstances
A pioneering team of scholars who are dating old log structures in West Virginia has discovered rare, previously undocumented examples of log construction and...
B&O Railroad completed to Wheeling on Jan. 1, 1853
On January 1, 1853, the first train arrived in Wheeling, West Virginia, (then Virginia) on the newly completed Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, the first...
Historians find evidence of famous visitor at West Virginia tavern
ANSTED, W.Va. — Historians investigating the history of a landmark tavern in southern West Virginia have uncovered evidence that explorer William Clark, of the...
Dunlow depot added to National Register of Historic Places
DUNLOW, W.Va. — The small, unincorporated community of Dunlow on WV-152 in southern Wayne County typically does not stir interest among passersby. Drive too...
Haunting statue recalls role of W.Va. mountaineers in U.S. Civil War
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The late historian and journalist Jim Comstock battled ceaselessly to keep alive the memory of the West Virginia "mountaineer," the independent,...
West Virginia mountains kept 1830 cholera pandemic at bay
Residents of the mountain counties of West Virginia have traditionally weathered the ravages of communicable diseases with some success. Isolation here flattened the peak...
Ancient West Virginia forests once a mosaic of landscapes
Historians once assumed that West Virginia had been shaded by a vast unbroken forest, but an expert on old forests in the Mountain State...
New River Gorge region in W.Va. once a bloody "Wild West"
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — For millions of tourists, Fayette County and its New River Gorge is a destination for healing and rejuvenation—a wonderland of hiking...
