Tales of the Greenbrier Ghost, Mothman, Mother Jones, and a Heritage Music Tour.
Blue Ridge Parkway Overlook at Groundhog Mountain, Meadows of Dan, VA
April 2025: Vol 2, #4
Howdy, and welcome to the April 2025 Blue Ridge Tales newsletter edition. This month features the bizarre tale of ghostly testimony at a murder trial, plus a seven-foot, red-eyed, winged Mothman, Mother Jones and the Coal War of 1912, and a travel adventure along Virginia's Crooked Road Musical Heritage Trail. I hope you enjoy my selections for the month.
Imagine solving your own murder—from beyond the grave. According to the Greenbrier Ghost legend, young Zona Heaster Shue returned from the dead to point a spectral finger at her killer. Some dismiss it as folklore, but the facts tell a story stranger than fiction. The Death of Zona Heaster Shue Zona Heaster Shue had married a blacksmith named Erasmus "Trout" …
If you walk through downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia, you’ll find statues, murals, and souvenir shops dedicated to the town’s most famous resident. No, not the mayor. The Point Pleasant Mothman—a seven-foot, red-eyed, winged enigma who first made headlines in 1966. While most small towns claim fame through historical figures, sports legends, or quirky roadside attractions, Point Pleasant leaned all …
Editor’s Note: The following is a fictionalized letter inspired by Mary Harris Jones (Mother Jones) real-life words and activism. While this letter is imagined, the events it describes—the brutality of the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek strike, the suffering of the miners, and the role of labor in America—are deeply rooted in history. An opposing perspective and commentary follow the …
The Crooked Road isn't just a mountain ramble. It's a sound—a fiddle tune rolling through the hills, a banjo ringing against the Blue Ridge backdrop. It's the laughter of dancers at a Friday night jamboree, the reverent silence after a ballad, the echo of generations who've carried these songs across porches, church pews, and festival stages. Music isn't just played …
Well, that's it for this edition. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like me to cover a particular topic, drop me a line at the address below. And don't forget to "like" our Facebook page.
