Coal river. Alfred Beckley, founder of Beckley. Southern West Virginia...
Event: Historic photo. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Diagram of mountaintop removal - Public domain document scan
This graphic illustration of mountaintop removal appears on page 25 of The Stripmining Handbook: A Coalfield Citizens' Guide to Using the Law to Fight Back Against the Ravages of Strip Mining and Underground Mi... More
A "wetland drainage complex" on a contour mining reclamation site
Event: Tour of Reclamation Sites in White Oak and Surrounding Area. "Stacy Edmunds conducted a tour of sites she'd been using in her field study for her master's thesis in ecology. As she went, she explained th... More
The Rebecca Chapel at the mouth of Rock Creek
Public domain photo of a monument, historic place, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Pat Canterbury showing albums in which he has collected stickers and p...
Event: Interview with Pat Canterbury about labor history on Coal River.
Wade Davidson, of the University of Kentucky, inspects a specimen
Public domain photograph - historical image of Kentucky, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Painting of Christ knocking at the door by Charlotte Cantley, 1991
Event: Prayer Service at the Sundial Assembly of God Church. Public domain scan of American poster, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
United Mine Workers' picket shack at the mouth of Hazy Creek, Edwight,...
Event: Driving Route 3. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. John August, Stickney, WV. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Interview with John August. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Musicians jamming at Frazier Gills' barbershop in Coal City
Throughout southern West Virginia one can find regular jam sessions, which occur in public spaces like the Sophia Fire Hall, the Coal City Barber Shop, and the Beckley Flea Market, as well as in private buildin... More
Martha Pettry serving and joking with patrons at the Sundial Tavern
Event: Saturday night at the Sundial Tavern. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Standing dead hickory. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Documentation of forest health. Alpine Images photograph by Jenny Hager. Used with permission.
Camper's tent on Peach Tree Creek
Event: Driving up of Peachtree with Kenny and Martha Pettry. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Pollution haze hanging over the valley
Public domain photograph of National Park, nature, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Randy Sprouse gathering ginseng ('senging) in Tom's Hollow
Event: Ginsenging in Tom's Hollow. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Eunice, West Virginia, with a strip mine on the hillside in the backgr...
Picryl description: Public domain image of a quarry, excavation or mining site, free to use, no copyright restrictions.
Coal truck overturned below Pettus and above Montcoal, West Virginia
Event: Driving down Route 3. Public domain photograph of a train accident, railroad, trainwreck, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Patrons socializing at the Silver Fox Tavern
The tavern, which closed in the mid-'90s, was owned and operated by Richard Combs and Corina Walker. Event: Socializing at the Silver Fox Tavern.
Homer Pettry and David McMillion picking banjos at Frazier Gills'
Throughout southern West Virginia one can find regular jam sessions, which occur in public spaces like the Sophia Fire Hall, the Coal City Barber Shop, and the Beckley Flea Market, as well as in private buildin... More
The musicians: Dean Bone (bass), Homer Pettry (banjo), Dave Bailey (g...
Event: Music at Dave and Glenna Bailey's House. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Musicians jamming at the Sophia Firehouse (L-R): Melvyn Shumate, Arli...
Throughout southern West Virginia one can find regular jam sessions, which occur in public spaces like the Sophia Fire Hall, the Coal City Barber Shop, and the Beckley Flea Market, as well as in private buildin... More
Examples of ginseng roots laid out on a table in the purchase room at ...
People who harvest wild botanicals from the woods can sell their wares to local brokers like Randy Halstead, the proprietor of Randy's Recycling in Peytona, West Virginia. Halstead annually brokers hundreds of ... More
Sadie Miller in her kitchen canning beets from her garden using the ho...
Big vegetable gardens are a distinctive feature of the landscape on Coal River and throughout the southern West Virginia coalfields. Gardens, together with produce from the woods, have been linked historically ... More
Aerial view of Battle Ridge Coal Pit, in Orgas
To better understand the method of mining known as "mountaintop removal and reclamation," Lyntha Eiler and I visited the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection. There we interviewed Roger Hall, the ... More
Patrons socializing at the Sundial Tavern
Event: Saturday night at the Sundial Tavern. Public domain photograph of a restaurant, tavern interior, food, drinks, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Howard Miller telling a story about his 'coon hounds
In the mountains and elsewhere, hounds have long been used for hunting a variety of game, including fox, raccoon, squirrel, rabbit, and bear. Several well-known American breeds have developed in the mountains, ... More
Garden behind the Rock Creek Post Office
Betty Jarrell tends this garden. Her daughter, Paula Morris, lives in the house behind the post office.
Graves moved from Shumate's Branch, now the site of a sludge pond. Da...
Event: Memorial Day (or Decoration Day) Weekend at Pineview Cemetery. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
The Coffee Pot, once a favorite gathering place in Edwight, on the eve...
Picryl description: Public domain image of an industrial building, warehouse, depot, train station, 19th-20th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions.
Coal river. Ivan Jarrell, Rock Creek, WV. Southern West Virginia.
We visited Ivan Jarrell's property at the head of Dry Creek in early spring, when the coves were coming to life with wildflowers, greening trees, and blooming dogwoods, redbuds, spicebush, and the songs of bird... More
Coal river. Leather Britches (dried beans). Southern West Virginia.
Event: Visit to Syble's Bed and Barn. Public domain photograph of leather object, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Headstones inscribed with "Unknown" marking remains moved from the Cla...
Event: Memorial Day (or Decoration Day) Weekend at African American cemetery on Performance Coal Company property.
Roadside mailbox, at a home near Marfork Mine, decorated to look like ...
Public domain photograph of mountains, winter, snow, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Vivian Jarrell canning string beans. Southern West Virgini...
Event: Visit to the Jarrell's. The propane stove Vivian is using is located in the back yard. She only uses this outdoor stove when canning in the heat of summer.
Johnny Howerton, coal miner, eating breakfast at Syble's Bed & Barn, f...
At 22 years of age, Johnny Howerton is the youngest mine boss in this area. Event: Breakfast at Syble's Bed & Barn.
Dorothy Gunnoe picking kale in her garden
Picryl description: Public domain photograph of farming, farmer, agriculture, 20th-century, free to use, no copyright restrictions.
Three large buckets of black walnuts gathered by Dave Bailey and John ...
Event: Black walnut harvesting with Dave Bailey and John Russell. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
James Dickens and Reverend Larry Brown prepare to baptize Vicky Jarrel...
The deeper holes of the Coal River have long supported the ritual of baptism by immersion in living waters. At the Crane Hole in Arnett, the bank slopes gently enough to allow wading into deep water. Here the c... More
Front step of George Asbury's house, near the Asbury Cemetery on Baile...
Event: Trip to Montcoal Mountain. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Glenna Bailey (Right) serving a slice of her black walnut cake to Mary...
Event: Visit to Dave and Glenna Bailey's home. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
John Flynn's tombstone, bearing the epitaph he requested: "God rest h...
Picryl description: Public domain image related to death, coffin, grave, funeral, burial, monument, cemetery, free to use, no copyright restrictions.
Marie Pettry and Laura Wilson flatfooting (dancing) at the Stanley Hei...
Event: Stanley Heirs Reunion. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
David "Bugs" Stover, park naturalist at Twin Falls State Park
Event: A visit to a State Park in the mixed mesophytic forest.
Exterior of log house built by Woody Boggs
The oak timbers used to make this log cabin were salvaged from the former bridge to Edwight, which spanned Coal river near the mouth of Hazy Creek for many decades. "A lot of trucks have driven over this house,... More
The John Rock, named for John Hunter, near the microwave tower on Bolt...
Event: Tour of rock shelters and camp rocks on Coal River drainage basin. "Archeological surveys on file at the Division of Environmental Protection make note of the "bedrock overhangs," sandstone outcroppings ... More
Coal river. Corn crib on Bailey Mountain. Southern West Virginia.
"Please note that the "date" in this case refers to the date that the historic photos were copied. Bailey Mountain is now known as Montcoal Mountain."
Coal river. Arnold and Esther Bailey. Southern West Virginia.
"Please note that the "date" in this case refers to the date that the historic photos were copied. Bailey Mountain is now known as Montcoal Mountain. Arnold is said to have been the last to move away from the 1... More
Sign at the entrance to the community of Montcoal: "Performance Coal ...
Public domain photograph of electric wires, power line, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Menu board at the Back Porch Restaurant featuring shoe string beans or...
Event: Visit to Syble's Bed and Barn. Public domain photograph of leather object, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Group of diners at the Pine Knob Ramp Supper on Drews Creek (L-R): Br...
Event: Annual Pine Knob Ramp Supper on Drews Creek. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Larry Gibson speaking with Mary Hufford
Event: Fourth of July on Kayford Mountain. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Exterior of church, woven of yarn and plastic, by Calvin Sprouse
Public domain photograph of church building, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Woody Boggs in his vegetable garden
Event: A visit to Pettry Bottom. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Joe, age 11, picking morel mushrooms
Event: Molly mooching with Kay Miller and Joe. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Daniel Lilly playing at the Fourth of July celebration on Kayford Moun...
Event: Fourth of July on Kayford Mountain. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Ray Cottrell and Randy Sprouse (in hat) seine for hellgrammites in the...
Event: Seining for hellgrammites on Coal River. Seining is a technique which involves raising rocks and allowing the water to carry what's underneath into the net held downstream. Hellgramites, also known as gr... More
Combination spoon and fork in Bruce Jarrell's collection of old-fashio...
Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. American Folklife Center: Leona McCoy. Southern West Virgi...
Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Nutting stone with black walnut (Nigra juglans)
Except for the squirrel call, Ray Cottrell found all of these artifacts on the ground while out walking in the mountains around Clear Fork and Marsh Fork. Event: Ray Cottrell's collection of "Indian Tools and W... More
Mark Lilly signing Amanda Lilly Delaware's T-shirt
Event: Stanley Heirs Reunion. Public domain photograph - historical image of Delaware, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
View of crowd, bride and groom, and car painted with "Just Married" on...
Event: Crystal Pettry and Bruce Ramsey's Wedding. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Close-up of "field" locust on reclaimed mountaintop removal site, Whit...
Event: ATV tour of Mountaintop Removal and Reclamation on Clear Fork.
Ray Cottrell and Randy Sprouse (in hat) seine for hellgrammites in the...
Event: Seining for hellgrammites on Coal River. Seining is a technique which involves raising rocks and allowing the water to carry what's underneath into the net held downstream. Hellgramites, also known as gr... More
Plaque beside the Beckley Courthouse commemorating the mining disaster...
Text of plaque reads: "In 1891 Royal Mine on the New River was the first to open in Raleigh County. From 1891 to 1991 county mines produced in excess of 791 million tons of coal, while accidents claimed the liv... More
Woody Boggs' homemade cannon, before a celebratory shot
Event: Molly mooching on Lillybrook Mountain. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Abandoned power house in ruins. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Tour of Kaymoor, an Early Coal and Coke Community, Now Abandoned.
Woody Boggs claiming a molly moocher under a freshly-sprouted mayapple
Event: Molly mooching on Bradley Mountain. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Icon David Mays, Horse Creek, public domain photograph
Event: Visit to the Sundial Tavern. Public domain photograph - Portrait, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Ramp bottoms, in the summer after the leaves have dried
Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Exterior, Tamarack Center. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Visit to Tamarack. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Five-prong ginseng. Southern West Virginia.
Note the green pod of unripe berries on this five-prong specimen.
Coal river. More of the developing kitchen. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Building a Log Cabin. In 1999, Woody Boggs began building a log cabin in Pettry Bottom. This cabin, built of yellow poplar logs, incorporates a kitchen built from the wormy chestnut boards of The Coffee ... More
Coal river. Partially reclaimed highwalls. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Tour of Reclamation Sites in White Oak and Surrounding Area. "Stacy Edmunds conducted a tour of sites she'd been using in her field study for her master's thesis in ecology. As she went, she explained th... More
The front license plate of Wesley Scarbrough's car, a 1966 Pontiac for...
Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
The house of Kemper and Stella Mae Clay on Shumate's Branch
Event: Visit to Homes on Shumate's Branch Prior to Evacuation in Preparation for Slurry Impoundment. Rick Bradford of Edwight, West Virginia, took photographs of homes on Shumate's Branch just before they were ... More
Ted Farley renovating a log cabin he found inside of a white farm hous...
Picryl description: Public domain image of a damaged, burned, or destroyed building, natural disaster, war destruction, ruins, 19th-century architecture, free to use, no copyright restrictions.
Lloyd's Convenient, a filling station and convenience store at the mou...
Picryl description: Public domain image of a gas station, convenience store, 20th-century small town, free to use, no copyright restrictions.
Syble Pettry, proprietor of Syble's Bed and Barn in Naoma, West Virgin...
Event: Interview with Syble Pettry. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Orie Loucks, Chair of Ecosystems Studies for the State of Ohio (Miami ...
Event: Citizen Science Workshop. Public domain photograph - historical image of Ohio, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Joe Aliff with "Big Red," an old-growth red oak tree on his property
Joe Aliff writes, "'Big Red' stands near the top of Fishpond Hollow -- a north slope 'side hollow' that is one mile up Rock Creek Hollow."
Coal river. Elsie Rich, Jarrold's Valley. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Interview with Elsie Rich. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Ed Cantley's flock of pigeons in flight
Event: Interview with Ed Cantley. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Richard "Dickie" Combs. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Interviews with Richard Combs and Corrina Walker. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Aerial shot of regional topography. Southern West Virginia...
These are aerials of some of the Coal River communities and sites of our field research, including the Left and Right hand Forks of Rock Creek (which Benny Campbell called "a pretty flat valley, for this countr... More
Patrons socializing at the Silver Fox Tavern
The tavern, which closed in the mid-'90s, was owned and operated by Richard Combs and Corina Walker. Event: Socializing at the Silver Fox Tavern.
Bird's eye view of a continuous belt-feeder
Event: Helicopter tour of Mountaintop Removal and Reclamation on Big Coal River watershed. "To better understand the method of mining known as "mountaintop removal and reclamation," Lyntha Eiler and I visited t... More
Jess Duncan, union organizer, seated in front of a union banner on the...
The Union Hall in Sundial is the meeting place for Union Local 6608 of the United Mine Workers. During the field project there was much discussion of the Massey/Pittston strikes that had occurred in the 1980s, ... More
Icon Dean Bone, of Dry Creek, public domain photograph
Event: Music at Dave and Glenna Bailey's House. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
A box of cultivated ginseng from out-of-state at Randy's Recycling in ...
People who harvest wild botanicals from the woods can sell their wares to local brokers like Randy Halstead, the proprietor of Randy's Recycling in Peytona, West Virginia. Halstead annually brokers hundreds of ... More
David McMillion on banjo and Harold Carpenter on guitar
Event: Tuesday night jam session at Frazier Gills' Barbershop. Throughout southern West Virginia one can find regular jam sessions, which occur in public spaces like the Sophia Fire Hall, the Coal City Barber S... More
Homer Pettry giving a banjo lesson
Throughout southern West Virginia one can find regular jam sessions, which occur in public spaces like the Sophia Fire Hall, the Coal City Barber Shop, and the Beckley Flea Market, as well as in private buildin... More
Aerial view of Eagle Mine site
Event: Helicopter tour of Mountaintop Removal and Reclamation on Big Coal River watershed. "To learn more about the cultural dimensions of "mountaintop removal and reclamation" and the new landform complexes th... More
Outbuildings on the Dickens property: former family residence in the ...
Dennis Dickens lives on Williams' Branch of Peachtree Creek. Williams' Branch is named for Dennis Dickens' grandfather. William was the son of John Dickens, who was the son of Thomas Dickens, who obtained a dee... More
Detail of Mabel Brown displaying a square from a sampler quilt made b...
Event: Quilting Bee. "Each Tuesday morning from September through May, a number of women on Drews Creek get together to quilt. Sometimes they quilt at the Ramp House, a community center at the head of Drews Cre... More
"Big John," the dragline, loading rocks and dirt into two rock trucks ...
Event: Aerial tour of mountaintop removal and reclamation. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Danny Williams, of Clay's Branch, trimming the log end of a tree for B...
The extraction of coal and timber has for the past century formed a "boom and bust" economy for people living in the mountains. Conversations with residents and foresters reveal a contrast between two modes of ... More
Coal river. American Folklife Center: John Flynn. Southern West Virgin...
During black walnut season in 1995, we visited the home of Wesley Scarbrough's uncle, Herman Williams, Sr. on Buffalo Fork of Clear Fork. Wesley's cousin Herman, Jr. was there with his son, Nicholas, who cracke... More
Stone marker near the family cemetery that reads: "John 3:16 Isa 2:2"
The Stanley Heirs Park was formed by descendants of 19th-century settlers who farmed and worked in the mines. The heirs own both minerals and surface rights to this part of Kayford Mountain, which overlooks an ... More
Mary Hufford speaks with Edwight community members at flood site from ...
Event: Visit to flood site. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Coal river. Ed Cantley's house. Southern West Virginia.
Event: Visit to Ed Cantley's Christmas Tree Farm. Public domain photograph - historical image of West Virginia, United States, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description