Stories of Appalachia
Welcome to "Stories of Appalachia," the podcast where hosts Steve Gilly and Rod Mullins have been unraveling the captivating history and folklore of the Appalachian region since 2015. Join them as they guide you through mist-covered mountains and winding rivers, exploring the stories that define the heart and soul of Appalachia.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 12 minutes
- Episodes
- 557
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
The Greene-Jones War
In the 1880s and 1890s a bloody feud was happening across two Appalachian counties, with conflicts over hogs, shootings, ambushes, cabins set on fire and the threat of the governor to call in the sta…
00:22:22 |
Sat 24 Feb 2024
The Kingdom of the Happy Land
After the Civil War, as the South lay in ruins, a group of freedmen decided to depart the Mississippi plantation on which they had been held as slaves in search of a promised land.
They found it...in…
They found it...in…
00:12:47 |
Sat 17 Feb 2024
Billy Dean Anderson: Appalachia's Most Wanted Outlaw
Billy Dean Anderson was born in Fentress County, Tennessee, and, by all accounts, lived a normal law-abiding life as he grew up, even becoming a volunteer preacher in his church.
Then it all went horr…
Then it all went horr…
00:12:11 |
Sat 10 Feb 2024
Amos Owens: The Cherry Mountain Moonshiner
After the Civil War a young man bought Cherry Mountain in Rutherford County, North Carolina and used the wild cherries found there to add flavor to his distilled product, illegal of course, that beca…
00:18:02 |
Sat 03 Feb 2024
Dr. John R. Brinkley: The Goat Gland Doctor from Appalachia
John Romulus Brinkley was born in Burnsville, North Carolina, to a former Confederate medic and his housekeeper. From those humble beginnings young Brinkley grew up to become a traveling "Quaker doc…
00:38:00 |
Sat 27 Jan 2024
The Tragic End of Outlaw Joe Brown
Joe Brown was a hell-raiser, thug and violent alcoholic who terrorized the town of Whitmer, West Virginia at the turn of the 20th century.
He did, that is, until he went a step too far.
That, folks, i…
He did, that is, until he went a step too far.
That, folks, i…
00:09:35 |
Sat 20 Jan 2024
The 1921 West Virginia Capitol Fire
On January 3, 1921, a massive fire broke out at the West Virginia state capitol in Charleston. Not a big deal, you might be thinking, fires happen all the time.
This one, though, had a twist or three…
This one, though, had a twist or three…
00:13:16 |
Sat 13 Jan 2024
The Tragedy at the Cowee Tunnel
On December 30, 1881, 30 convicts, along with their guards, were shackled and deposited on the banks of the Tuckaseegee River near Dillboro, North Carolina, with a job to do: cross the river in a bo…
00:11:47 |
Sat 06 Jan 2024
Bettie Simms, The Queen of the Moonshiners
In the early 1900's a young mother in Polk County, North Carolina, had a decision to make. She had separated from her abusive husband and had several young children to feed, house and clothe, with v…
00:13:49 |
Sat 30 Dec 2023
Appalachian Christmas Traditions
With Christmas fast approaching, Rod and Steve talk about the history and the folklore behind Christmas in Appalachia...
You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PlayerFM, …
You can subscribe to the Stories podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PlayerFM, …
00:11:13 |
Sat 23 Dec 2023
Tinker Dave Beaty, Union Guerrilla/Outlaw
David Crockett Beaty was a farmer in Fentress County, Tennessee...until the start of the Civil War.
He became a guerrilla fighter in that war, on the side of the Union, with his most well-known rebel …
He became a guerrilla fighter in that war, on the side of the Union, with his most well-known rebel …
00:17:22 |
Sat 16 Dec 2023
The 1902 New River Coal Strike -The Battle of Stanaford
In 1902 coal miners struck the mines along the New River, seeking better wages and better working conditions. The strike continued until February 25, 1903, when a massive gun battle broke out between…
00:12:47 |
Sat 09 Dec 2023
The Fentress County Witch
In 1843 a prominent man in Jamestown, Tennessee, distributed a broadsheet, under an assumed name, accusing the wife of a tavern owner of being, among other sordid things, a "witch of the most extraor…
00:10:27 |
Sat 02 Dec 2023
Orlean Hawks Puckett. Appalachian Granny Woman
Granny women were the healers and caretakers of folks in Appalachia, dispensing folk remedies, serving as midwives, and even dousing for water. These women were essential in rural Appalachia, where d…
00:14:03 |
Sat 25 Nov 2023
The Gun Battle of Thorn Hill, TN
At the turn of the 20th century a wealthy and politically connected man from Grainger County, Tennessee, lost a lawsuit filed by a widow and was ordered to pay her a sum of money. Failing to do that…
00:12:21 |
Sat 18 Nov 2023
The Eccles Mine Disaster
In 1914 a series of massive explosions occurred in the Eccles Mine No. 5 near Eccles, West Virginia in Raleigh County, West Virginia, leaving over 180 men and boys dead, including an insurance salesm…
00:15:31 |
Sat 11 Nov 2023
Cora Wilson Stewart and the Moonlight Schools of Kentucky
At the turn of the 20th century a young woman named Cora Wilson Stewart was hired as an elementary school teacher, later becoming Rowan County school superintendent. Fifteen years later she began a …
00:09:52 |
Sat 04 Nov 2023
John Forbes Nash, Jr.: Appalachia's Mathematical Genius
Today we tell the story of one of the 20th century's most brilliant mathematicians, born in Bluefield, West Virginia, and the subject of the movie "A Beautiful Mind," John Forbes Nash, Jr.
Be sure to …
Be sure to …
00:09:01 |
Sat 28 Oct 2023
Dark Deeds in the Mountains: The Twisted Tale of Thomas David Carr
Thomas David Carr was born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1846. After a childhood marked by abuse, a prison term at age 8 and an attemped poisoning of one of his "acquaintances," Carr joined the Union…
00:12:57 |
Sat 21 Oct 2023
The Sanctified Hill Mudslide
Sanctified Hill was a section of Cumberland, Kentucky, where many retired African American miners and their families resided in homes many had built themselves. In 1972 heavy rains fell across Appal…
00:08:27 |
Sat 14 Oct 2023
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