Appalachia’s Coal Miners Killed on the Job By Tabitha Wallen Something near and dear to my heart, a part of my very soul, are coal miners. My dad worked for McCoy Labs in Pikeville, testing water and soil samples on mining sites. His father drove a coal truck for the
- April 13, 2026
Legend of Mathias Harman Storyteller is Mathias Harman The province on Mathias Harman is not of the usual story and is based on the 1787 contract with one John Preston, John Smith, Henry Skaggs, and me Mathias Harman to settle in what was then Mason County, originally Bourbon and then
- May 5, 2025
Big Sandy is know far and wide for her rich and prolific coal beds, or seams, and numerous operations are now in progress mining this product to be shipped to citizens in a less fortunate portion of the country; where coal fields are unknown. Of the many mines that are
- March 25, 2025
EASTERN KENTUCKY SALT WORKS Salt was a vital commodity in the Western Virginia Frontier long before Kentucky had became a State. Long Hunters and Early Settlers had the ability to preserve food in an era long before refrigeration ensured its high demand. As important as salt was in the Colonies
- March 18, 2025
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Pike County Historical Society is pleased to announce its release of Peach Orchard Bottom: Pikeville, Kentucky Through 1865. Hard cover, illustrated. $39.95 plus tax and necessary postage Purchase Book Peach Orchard Bottom, located along what was originally called Louisa Fork of Big Sandy River in the center of the southern
Pike County Historic Society
- June 19, 2025
Not long after the 1756 Big Sandy Expedition, we have heard of countless stories about explorers passing through the Sandy Ridge Gap. We would have to wonder how many hide-stretched canoes made the treacherous journey down the Russell Fork – Sandy Creek many years ago. The photos displayed below
Pike County Historic Society
- November 27, 2022
Putney, a stringtown along the winding Cumberland River, grew around the old seat of one of the largest sawmills in eastern Kentucky. I can remember well the day I came over from Pine Mountain School to find Jim Couch, a storyteller from back on the headwaters of the Kentucky River,
- January 10, 2022
- November 4, 2021
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- July 22, 2021
- July 22, 2021
