Traveling around the small towns and back roads of West Virginia, occasionally I came across a big beautiful building. Of course there are many beautiful churches around, but I thought a lot of these courthouses and government buildings were really wonderful to photograph. The Cover Photo for this post is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston. Just the name gives me the creeps, but knowing it was in use until 1994 is staggering. Same goes for the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville which was in use until 1995. Some of these courthouses have amazing stories. The Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town was the site of John Brown's trial for leading a slave uprising in 1859. It was also the site of the miners' trials after the Battle of Blair Mountain. The McDowell County Courthouse in Welch was the site where...
Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco Treat Yourself to the Best. While I don’t actually advocate chewing tobacco, or using tobacco at all for that matter, I do love a good Mail Pouch outdoor advertisement. Between 1891 and 1992, West Virginia Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco, based in Wheeling, had its name painted on as many as 20,000 barns in 22 states. Barn owners were paid a nominal fee to use their barns, less than $50 a year in today’s money, but every few years they got their barns painted for free. If a side wasn’t visible from the road, Mail Pouch would paint it any color the owner wanted.
One barn painter, Harley Warrick, spent 55 years painting Mail Pouch advertisements. A barn would usually take him and a partner about 6 hours to finish and he never used a stencil but painted everything by hand. It is estimated that over the course of his career Warrick painted or retouched over 20,000 signs...
If you've ever heard a joke about West Virginia, West Virginians tell the same jokes about people from McDowell County. McDowell County is the poorest county in West Virginia, with a median household income below $22,500, and has the lowest life expectancy in the country for men and the second lowest for women. Opioid abuse is off the charts. This is that Appalachia.
The night before I went into McDowell County I was sitting at a bar in Bluefield in neighboring Mercer County. The gentleman I was speaking with told me they had three rules when they went into McDowell County: have a full tank of gas, make sure your car door locks worked, and bring a gun. He made very clear that he wasn't kidding...
It was great to be in Charleston for their annual Christmas Parade this year. Some of the costumes and characters really put a smile on my face. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you guys. Enjoy!
John Henry is a popular American folk hero. His story has been told in print, story and song for almost 150 years. His is a classic tale of man vs. machine which is as valid today as ever, especially here in West Virginia.
Whether or not John Henry was a real person has been debated for over a century, but there is no doubt if you ask people in Talcott. West Virginia. Talcott is the town that sits on top of the Big Bend Tunnel, cut for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad between 1870 and 1872 and the site where the story of John Henry supposedly took place. They have built a beautiful park with a statue to this hero of the working man and local history includes many people who claim to have known John Henry and witnessed his famous competition.
When Bill Danert, Taffy Nivert and John Denver penned the lyrics to the song Country Roads, Take Me Home they were trying to capture the spirit of a place. Many critics have said that the song more clearly depicts Western Virginia the region than West Virginia the state, but in Jefferson County, West Virginia you do get both the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River. Seeing these both in one view...
