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 Curious Case of L. K. Garber
Around the turn of the 20th century a man charged with murder escaped from the Scott County, Virginia, jail and headed to Texas. He likely would have spent the rest of his life there but for an acci…
00:09:13 |
Sat 07 Oct 2023
The Battle of Point Pleasant
Rising tensions along the Appalachian frontier culminated with what's called "Lord Dunmore's War," named after the royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore. That conflict came to a head with a battl…
00:11:18 |
Sat 30 Sep 2023
The West Virginia Mine Wars: Matewan
Our story of the West Virginia Mine Wars continues at Matewan, West Virginia, where a famous gun battle left several mine company hired guards dead, along with the town mayor, among others. The figh…
00:12:14 |
Sat 23 Sep 2023
The Hanging of Cal Logston: An Eerie Prophecy From The Gallows
On April 5, 1872, the last man to be hanged in Fentress County, Tennessee, was said to have made three eerie predictions, all of which came true.
Today we tell the story of Cal Logston, a convicted mu…
Today we tell the story of Cal Logston, a convicted mu…
00:10:57 |
Sat 16 Sep 2023
The West Virginia Mine Wars: Paint Creek and Cabin Creek
For a century and a half the king of central Appalachia has been coal. That mineral powered the industrial revolution in America, made some men and corporations very wealthy and provided jobs for the…
00:12:10 |
Sat 09 Sep 2023
The Savant of Rhea County, Tennessee
Alvin Goins was a hard worker who, like many Appalachian men of his time, never finished school and was unable to read or write. That never stopped him from getting work as a laborer in and around h…
00:11:27 |
Sat 02 Sep 2023
The Dark Mystery of Booger Hole
Starting in the latter part of the 19th century and continuing up into the 20th century a valley in Clay County, West Virginia, became the site of a series of mysterious disappearances and deaths.
It…
It…
00:10:57 |
Sat 26 Aug 2023
The Great Glen Alum Payroll Robbery
On Friday, August 14, 1914, three Glen Alum Coal Company employees were returning to the mine office with that week's payroll.
They didn't make it with the money to the mine alive.
Today we tell the s…
They didn't make it with the money to the mine alive.
Today we tell the s…
00:10:30 |
Sat 19 Aug 2023
From Darkness to Hope: The Appalachian Journey of Bob Childress
In 1912 a young man's life was transformed by his witnessing a historic tragedy: the infamous Carroll County courthouse shootout, which left several prominent lawyers, police officers and a judge dea…
00:10:07 |
Sat 12 Aug 2023
The Laurel Mine Disaster of 1884
The Pocahontas coal field, located in southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, was one of the most productive coal areas in the United States. The town of Pocahontas, in Tazewell County, Virgin…
00:09:42 |
Sat 05 Aug 2023
Woodrow Derenberger And The Man From Lanulos
In November 1966 a man on his way home from work literally drove into Appalachian history when he encountered a UFO blocking his way on I-77 outside Parkersburg, West Virginia. Not only that, he act…
00:12:19 |
Sat 29 Jul 2023
Appalachia's Petticoat Government
In 1948 Clintwood, Virginia, held an election for the town's offices. After the campaigning, the voting, and the vote counting, something unique for it's time had happened: All of Clintwood's electe…
00:08:27 |
Sat 22 Jul 2023
The Goat Man
From the 1930s to the 1980s an itinerant preacher from Georgia traveled throughout Appalachia and beyond in a ramshackle wagon pulled by a herd of goats. It was his way of spreading the gospel and of…
00:15:16 |
Sat 15 Jul 2023
The Blue People of Kentucky
In 1820 French orphan Martin Fugate and his wife Elizabeth arrived as new settlers in eastern Kentucky. Unknown to them, they carried genetic traits that would pass on to their descendants, causing …
00:13:50 |
Sat 08 Jul 2023
The Mysterious Christmas Eve Fire: The Missing Sodder Children and their Haunting Legacy
On Christmas Eve, 1945, a mysterious fire broke out at the Fayetteville, West Virginia home of George and Jennie Sodder. Try as they might, George and his oldest son were unable to put out the fire, …
00:16:57 |
Sat 01 Jul 2023
The Dark Mystery of the Sensabaugh Tunnel
Theft. Infanticide. Insanity. Murder. Ghosts.
The stories that surround a notorious tunnel in Tennessee contain all those elements and more.
Today we tell some of those stories and tell you a littl…
The stories that surround a notorious tunnel in Tennessee contain all those elements and more.
Today we tell some of those stories and tell you a littl…
00:11:42 |
Sat 24 Jun 2023
Haunted Waters: The Tragic Tale of the Siren's Song in the French Broad River
A tale was told by the Cherokee of a siren that inhabited the deep whirlpools of the French Broad River in western North Carolina. These sirens were said to be demons that would lure men to their de…
00:10:28 |
Sat 17 Jun 2023
Sam's Magnificent Beard
A mountain farmer and schoolteacher from the North Carolina town of Magnetic City (now Buladean) got so tired of shaving that he tossed his straight razor in the garbage and just let that facial hair…
00:19:05 |
Sat 10 Jun 2023
The Appalachian Insurrection of 1917
As the United States entered World War I, it was found to be necessary to start drafting men to serve in the military.
That decision was met with widespread resistance across the country, with protes…
That decision was met with widespread resistance across the country, with protes…
00:16:08 |
Sat 03 Jun 2023
The Kentucky Cannibal: Boone Helm
Right before and during the Civil War an outlaw roamed the West who was unlike any of the other outlaws you might have heard of. This man, born and raised in eastern Kentucky, gained a reputation fo…
00:15:36 |
Sat 27 May 2023
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