Stories of Appalachia

After the French and Indian War the governor of Virginia awarded veterans land in the western part of the state in payment for their service to king and colony.  Among those vets receiving land was George Washington, who decided to set up a colony of settlers in what's now West Virginia.  Today we tell the story of that attempt to set up an early Appalachian settlement. You can subscribe to the St...

In 1938 a family had an encounter with an Appalachian ghost when young Bertha Sybert's bed began to shake mysteriously every night. Soon people were coming from all over the country to witness the spirit, or demon or witch or whatever it was that was moving Bertha's bed around. Today we tell the story of Bouncing Bertha's ghost. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher,...

In 1949 a gang robbed the Bank of Follansbee, near Weirton, West Virginia, of $5,400.00 and made their escape. Later that night two policemen pulled over a car they suspected belonged to those robbers. Things did not go as they planned, and we tell that story this week. Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Audible and on many other podc...

November 14, 1970, is a date burned into the memories of the residents of Huntington, West Virginia.  That's the day Marshall University lost its football team in a terrible plane crash, and that's the story we tell today. Thank you for listening and for sharing our stories of Appalachian history with your friends.

New Straitsville, Ohio, was founded as a coal town in the Hocking Valley after the Civil War. Labor unrest happened in the 1880's, leading to the Great Hocking Valley coal strike. During that strike something unthinkable happened, and is still happening today. On this episode of the podcast we tell that story. Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast at our website, www.storiespodcast.net , at...

In 1873 a wave of cholera swept across the southeastern U.S.  This epidemic hit the town of Greeneville, Tennessee, hard; so hard, in fact, that around 10% of the town's population was killed. Today we tell that story. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, IHeart Radio, TuneIn, Amazon Music and more. Thanks for listening.

Loyalties were divided in Appalachia, from Kentucky to Tennessee to North Carolina. And it was in western North Carolina that a Confederate army unit committed an atrocity against Union sympathizers living in Madison County. Today we tell that story. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast on a ton of apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Audible, IHeart Radio, TuneI...

Wise County, Virginia, saw very little racial violence after the Civil War. In fact, up until 1927, there were only three known cases of death by lynching in this southwestern Virginia county. But those three, each one more violent than the one before, led to the passage in Virginia of the first anti-lynching law in the former Confederacy. Today we tell that story. Thanks for watching...

Firefighters responding to a house fire in Canton, Pennsylvania, in 1896 were stunned by what they found.   Today we tell that story. The Stories podcast is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, IHeart Radio, Amazon Music, RadioPublic, Audible and more. Thanks for listening.  

Mason Evans was a schoolteacher and principal in McMinn County, in southeast Tennessee. After his one true love left him he made a fateful and life-changing decision to head to the Smoky Mountains. That's the story we tell you today. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Audible, IHeart Radio, TuneIn and more. Thanks for listening!

The bloody legacy of the Civil War lived on in Appalachia up until the beginning of the 20th century in the form of feuds and honor killings between those who once served the Union and those who did the same for the Confederacy.  Today we tell of one such example that arose along the Clinch River in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, the Wright-Templeton Gang. The Stories podcast is available...

After World War II a young vet moves to Abingdon, Virginia, to take a teaching and coaching position in an area high school. And, being short on funds, he rents a room to live in from a widow. Things go down from there, eventually leading to a high profile murder trial. Today we tell you that story. Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts,...

Early on Christmas Eve, 1911, a 24 car coal train wrecked inside the Natural Tunnel in Scott County, Virginia. Today we tell that story. You can subscribe to the audio version of the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Spotify, RadioPublic, and more. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and give us a thumbs-up, please. Thanks for listening/watching!

Ty Cobb was born in 1886 in Narrows, in north Georgia.  He became a baseball legend, known as much for his fierce competitiveness as for his athletic ability.  Today we tell the story of what happened when a fan decided it was a good idea to heckle Cobb during a game. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast on these podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and many mo...

For years the UMWA was under the tight control of John L. Lewis.  After he retired in 1960, he engineered the election of his hand-picked successor, W. A. (Tony) Boyle, as vice-president and then, on the death of Lewis' successor, he made sure he became UMWA president.  Six years later Boyle was challenged for the union presidency by long-time UMWA officer Joseph (Jock) Yablonski on a platform of...

An attempted robbery of a Johnson City, Tennessee, laundry in 1930 eventually led to a stint in Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, a prisoners strike and an escape for the robber.  Two years later, this man walked into a police station a thousand miles away and surrendered to authorities, who had no idea he was a wanted man.  Today we tell that story. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast on A...

Christmas is fast approaching so this week, as we do at this time of the year, we tell a Christmas story. And, since this is the pandemic year, 2020, what better story to tell than that of a man-goat being with horns that represents the evil side of Christmas! Today we tell you about Krampus. Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast on such fine podcast apps as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon...

Today we tell the story of Cherokee prophet and leader, Tsali. According to tribal oral tradition, it was Tsali who made it possible for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee to remain in North Carolina after the southeastern Native American tribes were forced to move to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. But the actual historical records tells a different story. We share those stories today. You can subs...

The Avery family is very well-known in western North Carolina, starting in the late 1700s with Waightstill Avery, a lawyer and the very first attorney general in the state. His grandson, William Waightstill Avery, was, just like his grandfather, a North Carolina lawyer and politician. What happened between him and another man in a courtroom in 1851 is the subject of our story today. You can find t...

Today we tell the story of the man from West Virginia who became a brigadier general in the U. S. Air Force, helped train the first American astronauts and became the first man to break the sound barrier, Chuck Yeager. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, IHeart Radio, Tunein and more. Thanks for listening!

At one time it was a common sight to see a traveling group of Roma, known then as gypsies, come through Appalachia. Folks would barter with them for livestock, utensils and services. Along with the Roma, the Irish travellers were also present, providing stories and repairs for the locals they met. Today we tell their story, a part of the history of Appalachia. You can subscribe to the audio versio...

Disputes in Appalachia between the well-to-do were often handled with the use of firearms with one of the most well-known people from the region, Andrew Jackson, being famous for his duels with rivals.  And when it wasn't a formal duel, these folks would often shoot it out, much like in the Wild West.  Today we tell of a dispute that ended with the son of one of the parties lying dead on Gay Stree...

Saturday, September 24, 1904, started just like any other day for the passengers getting ready to board the Southern Railway Number 15 train at the Bristol Train Station.  It would end in a horrible, horrible way in New Market, Tennessee. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, IHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Deezer and many, many mo...

It's Halloween so Rod and Steve each have a bit of Appalachian folklore for you, in the form of two ghost stories.  Stick around after the stories, though, because Halloween is the fifth anniversary of the podcast and we're discussing our favorite episodes over the years. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, IHeart Ra...

In 1784 a child was born on the Appalachian frontier, along the Holston River, in what was then the state of Franklin.  This child would grow up to become a preacher, a leader in the Restoration Movement and would help in the founding of the Disciples of Christ.  Today we tell the story of Raccoon John Smith. You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Sp...