The French-Eversole FeudThe French-Eversole Feud
In the last part of the nineteenth century, newspapers across America were obsessed with tales of blood feuds in Appalachia, the best known of which is the Hatfield-McCoy feud. At
Author: Steve Gilly
The 1982 Knoxville Worlds Fair and the Butcher BrothersThe 1982 Knoxville Worlds Fair and the Butcher Brothers
In 1982, Knoxville, Tennessee, hosted a Worlds Fair. The fair was a success, breaking even, but it led to the downfall of the Butcher banking empire in East Tennessee. On
The EscapeThe Escape
The people who settled Appalachia were tough. They’d have to be to carve a home out of the forests and mountainsides of the area. In 1777, two girls, Polly Alley
George Went Hensley, Snake Handling PreacherGeorge Went Hensley, Snake Handling Preacher
George Went Hensley, born in Scott County, Virginia, was one of the first, if not the first, preacher, to adopt the practice of snake handling in his church after seeing
The Swinging Bridge CollapseThe Swinging Bridge Collapse
Every year the Tri State Singing Convention would come to Big Stone Gap, Virginia, bringing together the most popular southern gospel groups in the world to play for a packed
Eric Robert RudolphEric Robert Rudolph
On July 27th, 1996, the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games were rocked with an explosion which killed one person outright and led to a heart attack that killed another, as well
Ezekiel Pyles and the ConfederadosEzekiel Pyles and the Confederados
On this episode of Stories, Steve and Rod tell the story of Civil War soldier and unrepentant Confederate Ezekial Pyles, who joined 20,000 other men and women in founding a
The Integration of Clinton High SchoolThe Integration of Clinton High School
After the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court, schools began preparing to integrate across the South, with the first school scheduled to be Clinton High
Baseball in Clintwood, Virginia in the 1940’sBaseball in Clintwood, Virginia in the 1940’s
Starting in the early part of the 20th century, coal operators discovered that forming baseball teams in each coal camp was a great way to promote unity among their workers,
The Hellfire of CentraliaThe Hellfire of Centralia
Appalachia is a land of natural beauty combined with one of the largest deposits of coal on the planet. What happens when a large deposit of that coal catches fire?