General John D. ImbodenGeneral John D. Imboden
Lawyer, politician, Confederate general, land developer, promoter of coal and the founder of the town of Damascus, Virginia. All these jobs were held by one man for whom a mine
Category: Personalities
Boonesborough Named – 1775Boonesborough Named – 1775
In 1775 Daniel Boone established Boone’s Station to the southeast of what’s now Lexington, Kentucky. Boone’s Station, owned by the Transylvania Company headed by Richard Henderson and Nathaniel Hart, was
The Showgirl and the Tobacco HeirThe Showgirl and the Tobacco Heir
On November 23, 1931, 20-year-old Zachary Smith Reynolds of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was divorced from his first wife. Six days later he married his second wife, Broadway showgirl Libby Holman,
Buried in Style – May 25, 1994Buried in Style – May 25, 1994
On this day 28 years ago 71-year-old George Swanson was buried in Irwin, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. George was a beer distributor and had served in the U. S. Army
Hog Greer Of Big Bald MountainHog Greer Of Big Bald Mountain
A jilted young man came over the mountains from North Carolina to Tennessee, intent on spending the rest of his life alone on a mountaintop. This he did, along with
Asheville’s PonziAsheville’s Ponzi
We’ve told the stories of businessmen in Appalachia, all with their own colorful history, folks from Cas Walker to Virgil Q. Wacks. But they take a back seat to an
The Olympic Park BomberThe Olympic Park Bomber
In the summer of 1996 a bomb exploded at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. An investigation eventually led to a man who was suspected in bombings of abortion
Chuck Yeager Born – February 13, 1923.Chuck Yeager Born – February 13, 1923.
On this day 99 years ago Charles Elwood Yeager was born in Myra, West Virginia. Chuck Yeager went on to become a Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force, a
Popcorn Sutton, Appalachian MoonshinerPopcorn Sutton, Appalachian Moonshiner
Moonshining has been a part of Appalachian tradition since the first settlers moved into these mountains two hundred fifty years ago, bringing the knowledge of distilling alcoholic spirits from the
Devil Anse Hatfield Dies – January 6, 1921Devil Anse Hatfield Dies – January 6, 1921
On January 6, 1921 Anderson Hatfield, better known as Devil Anse, died at his home on Island Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, of pneumonia. He was the head of