History
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series When European settlers came to the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of every four trees in the forest was an American Chestnut. This giant stood tall amidst the lush greenery of the Blue Ridge, its wood and sweet nuts a boon for both wildlife and humans. From…
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series Ed. Note: Few photographs survive of early Appalachian earth-sheltered dwellings. As documented in WPA oral histories and early settlement accounts, families in the Appalachian region sometimes relied on dugouts or hillside shelters as temporary housing. The images used here are representative examples from other North American…
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series Al Capone, the infamous American gangster of the 1920s, is widely known for his involvement in Chicago’s organized crime and bootlegging during Prohibition. What’s rarely discussed is that his liquor distribution network spread far beyond his base in Chicago: It went well into the mountains of…
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series You stand on the creaking deck of the paddlewheel riverboat, a relic of a bygone era. The wheel churns the water beneath you, its rhythmic thump echoing through your chest. The bell clangs as you round an island, and calliope music erupts from the steam whistles….
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series Stompin’ 76 was a landmark festival that, for one long weekend in 1976, made Bluegrass the center of the musical universe. Like New York’s iconic Woodstock festival in 1969, the event is legendary. Over 100,000 attended the event. Most attendees parked miles away—some on Interstate 77,…
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series The Euro-centric history I learned in school in the 1960s was woefully inadequate. I suppose that’s the best they could do. After all, the world is a big place with lots going on. There was only enough time to cover the Big Picture. That’s why I…
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series Background: The Saltville Muck Dam broke around eight o’clock on Christmas Eve,1924. The dam held back a pond filled with 27 years of chemical waste released by the Mathieson Alkali Works. When the dam broke, a 100-foot-high wall of toxic sludge cascaded down the Holston River,…
An installment in our Appalachian History and Culture series It started with a kiss and ended with a courtroom shootout. Five people died, and seven were wounded. A year and two weeks later, Floyd Allen and his son Claude were executed in Virginia’s electric chair for the courthouse murders. The kiss lit the fuse on…