For a half century Wendell Berry has been on record defending small communities and local economies, dating back to his 1977 treatise The Unsettling of America, which, as Appalachian author Wilma Dykeman once observed, deserved to unsettle America more than it did. In his roles as poet, essayist, novelist, and,Continue Reading

Earlier this year, Appalachia Bare’s Tom Anderson attended a bare-hands baseball game hosted by the Historic Ramsey House. He wrote an article about the experience you can find here. Subsequently, Ramsey House invited us to cover the Celtic and Appalachian Music Festival. We felt so honored to be there. TheContinue Reading

**With Correction – Thank you, reader Linda, for helping to keep our Appalachian stories accurate! I came upon “Aunt Jenny” by doing a little research about paranormal events in Appalachian states. I was quite flabbergasted after reading her story. On one hand, she was a venomous and unforgiving woman (understandablyContinue Reading

As we discovered in the previous post, “Dead Without a Word:  The Mysterious Assassination of John Kincaid,” John Kincaid II was a fierce advocate for the Confederacy during the Civil War. After his death, he was considered a martyr to some and a malefactor to others. His sons also foughtContinue Reading

The myth of the Old West exerts a tremendous influence on the popular imagination. Zane Grey pulp novels, countless TV series, and iconic Western films ensure that the cowboy remains a uniquely American archetype representing in one writer’s words, “movement, isolation, change, and new beginnings.” Of course, the outlaw isContinue Reading