Subject: featured

Highland Scenic Highway

February 28, 2014 | Roxy

High above the farmed and forested valleys below, a weight lifts from the shoulders of almost every traveler upon entering the Highland Scenic Highway, nestled atop Elk and Cranberry Mountains. Suitable for leisurely drivers, hikers, mountain bikers and backpackers, and worthwhile for any traveler interested in seeing one of the most enchanting mountain highways in the country. The Scenic Highway has access to scenic overlooks and the birthplace of the pristine Williams and Cranberry Rivers.

A Carriage House Comes to Union

February 27, 2014 | Kaitlen Whitt

The Monroe County Historical Society has begun the construction of a home in Union for their carriage collection. Inspired by the Greenbrier Historical Society’s Wagon House in Lewisburg, the 1000 square feet Gothic Revival style building will be large enough to accommodate five horse drawn vehicles. The ground has been leveled, the concrete floor has […]

Moore’s General Store

February 21, 2014 | Roxy

Not long ago, it was common for nearly every small community to have their own general store, or two, or three. At the center of the store there would be an old potbelly stove, glowing with heat, that drew people together. Some of the most vivid memories are of candy jars, fresh sliced bacon, buckets […]

Farming Series: Up on Stompin’ Crick

February 20, 2014 | Dan

Joe Riley grew up in a farming family in Stomping Creek, West Virginia. After graduating from West Virginia University, Joe became an Agriculture teacher and taught for 17 years before becoming principal of Marlinton Middle School. Joe runs his family farm with his wife and children, working long hours before and after his school job. […]

C.J. Richardson’s Store

February 17, 2014 | Dan

The C.J. Richardson Hardware & Furniture store has been a staple of the town of Marlinton for over a hundred years. Around 1904, it moved from the west bank of the Greenbrier River to its current location in downtown Marlinton. Today C.J. Richardson’s is still considered a local treasure; walking through the door will make […]

Tygart Valley Homestead part 2

February 14, 2014 | Dan

Recently, we published a story about the Tygart Valley Homestead (you can see that here). Sonny Knaggs and Lana Butcher both grew up in Dailey, West Virginia. Dailey was originally built as one of three communities of the Tygart Valley Homestead, a Great Depression-era resettlement and relief project by the federal government. The Tygart Valley Homestead […]

Old Watoga Town

February 11, 2014 | Dan

The ghost town of old Watoga lies almost hidden, just feet from the Greenbrier River Trail about 2.5 miles north of Seebert. Watoga was originally a sawmill town of the Watoga Lumber Company during the logging boom in the area in the early 1900s. In the 1920s, an African-American organization from Mercer County, West Virginia banded […]

Falls of Hills Creek

January 26, 2014 | Dan

If you’re looking for a relatively short and easy hike in the Monongahela National Forest and you’re near Pocahontas County, a trip to the Falls of Hills Creek is definitely recommended–no matter what season it is! The Falls of Hills Creek trailhead is located on U.S. Route 39, about 15 miles west of U.S. Route 219 […]

Panther Series: A Panther Shredded His Hat

January 17, 2014 | Roxy

Here is another episode in our series about mountain lion and panther sightings in West Virginia. In the early 1900s in Monroe County, a mountain lion stole the straw hat right off the head of Clarence Mohler. His grandson, Craig Mohler, editor of The Monroe Watchman, told me this story last year when we were […]

Farming Series: An Era Where Everything Changed

January 10, 2014 | Dan

Joel Callison, of Pocahontas County, has farming in his blood. His ancestors have been farming in the county for generations. Just in his lifetime Joel’s witnessed rapid changes to agricultural practices and technology that have revolutionized the lives of farmers and changed rural communities everywhere. In 1935, the total number of farms in West Virginia […]