Stay ConnectedWelcome 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.
www.storiesofappalachia.com
Copyright: © Copyright Steve Gilly
In the Washington Irving story, Rip Van Winkle partakes in some boozy fun in the Catskill Mountains in New York, then falls asleep for 20 years, waking to find the world completely changed. That story was a fantasy tale.
Today we have the true story of a woman who, like old Rip, fell asleep one night in 1936 and didn't wake up until 1948 to a world turned upside down.
Thanks for listening to our stories!
Every place has a name, and every name has its story...including the tourist destination of the Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Listen as we tell you the very interesting story of how White Oak Flats became Gatlinburg!
Thanks for listening and thanks for sharing our stories with your friends...
In the 1880's there was a feud between the Turner and Howard families in Harlan County, Kentucky, almost as notorious as the one going on between the Hatfields and the McCoys a couple of counties to the east at the same time. One of the feudists, Wilson, or Wils, Howard was alleged to have killed seven men in that feud and he left Harlan for Missouri, then on to California, as a result.
Mr. Howard ended up on trial for another murder that happened in Missouri and the story of his trial for that killing is our story today.
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Thanks for listening...
Back in the 1940s Roy Acuff was at the top of his game. He was a country music star with such hits as "The Great Speckled Bird" and "The Wabash Cannonball" under his belt; he was appearing in the movies, and he was one of the biggest stars on the Grand Ol' Opry.
In 1948, Mr. Acuff tried to attain one more goal: the office of Governor of the State of Tennessee.
Today we tell you that story.
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Isabella Marie Boyd, better known to history as Belle Boyd, was a notorious rebel spy during the Civil War who used her wiles to obtain Union secrets which she then passed on to the Confederate government. Today we tell the story of this woman, who was born in what's now West Virginia.
You can subscribe to the Stories podcast on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Audible, Goodpods, Audacy, Spotify, or on your favorite podcast app.
Thanks for listening and for sharing our stories with your friends.
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 and a coal camp were also named: General John D. Imboden.
Today we tell his story.
Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast on your favorite podcast app.
Thanks for listening!
It's been said that there is a mine somewhere in Appalachia, in which a vein of the highest quality silver can be found. And it's located...well, that's the problem. Nobody knows where this supposed silver mine can be found.
Today we tell the story of the legendary Swift's Silver Mine.
Early in 1940 two middle-aged sisters and a teen-aged boy who did odd jobs for them were brutally murdered in their home in Oliver Springs, Tennessee.
These killings were unsolved for over 60 years.
Today we tell that story.
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, and six months later he was dead from a gunshot wound that may or may not have been self-inflicted.
This was a tragedy, magnified in the media by the fact that Smith was the youngest son of tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds.
Today we tell that story.
In 1965 a Kentucky widow managed to drive the coal company from her land with what was called a "sit-in," an early use of peaceful civil disobedience in Appalachia.
Today we tell the story of Ollie Combs of Knott County, Kentucky, and her fight to save her farm from strip-mining.
Thanks for listening!
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