Shady Spring, West Virginia - West Virginia Explorer
Shady Spring, WV (West Virginia), is an unincorporated community in Raleigh County named for a spring that bubbled beneath the shade of a large tree there. It is also sometimes designated "Shady Springs." Its population in 2010 was 2,998. The community is chiefly residential and is renowned for its climate and access to outdoor recreation.
The word "hillbilly" was once a term of endearment in Appalachia
Jan 14, 2024 · The former publisher of the West Virginia Hillbilly newspaper, the late Jim Comstock, believed that residents of the valleys in southern Appalachia first used the term to describe their neighbors in the mountains, though they meant no ill intent.. Comstock cherished the term "hillbilly" and had attempted to set the record straight on many assumptions about West Virginia and Appalachian culture ...
Elk River Trail State Park - West Virginia Explorer
Anglers cast into the Elk River on a spring morning above Queens Shoals in Clay County. Photo by Rick Burgess. The Elk River Trail State Park follows part of the Elk River in central West Virginia and is principally a rail trail, incorporating railbeds along the river and two of its tributaries.. The park includes a 54-mile trail along the south bank of the Elk from near Duck, in …
Charleston, West Virginia - West Virginia Explorer
The statehouse dome rises along the Kanawha in Charleston, West Virginia.Photo courtesy Rick Burgess.. Charleston, West Virginia (WV), is the seat of Kanawha County and capital of West Virginia.Located along the Kanawha River at its junction with the Elk, Charleston was chartered in 1794 as "Charles Town" and named by town founder George Clendenin for …
Clay, West Virginia - West Virginia Explorer
Main Street (WV-16) leads through downtown Clay, West Virginia, the county seat of Clay County. The Town of Clay, WV (West Virginia), the county seat of Clay County, is located along the Elk River at the mouth of Buffalo Creek in central West Virginia.. Though central to a rural and forested region, the town of approximately 500 residents is fewer than 20 minutes from Interstate 79 and is some ...
Mountains and Mountain Ranges - West Virginia Explorer
Certainly most of the state is mountainous, with the exception of a few broad river valleys, such as that of Ohio River, the lower Kanawha River, and South Branch of the Potomac River. West Virginia lies entirely within the Appalachian Mountains. Though many of its lesser mountains might be termed "hills," more mountain land exists per square ...
National Radio Quiet Zone - West Virginia Explorer
The National Radio Quiet Zone is an area of nearly 13,000 square miles located in the mountainous eastern United States in which radio transmissions are restricted to aide scientific research and military intelligence facilities. The zone is an approximate rectangle that straddles the borders of Virginia and West Virginia and includes a small ...
Summersville Lake - West Virginia Explorer
Summersville Lake is a 2,700-acre reservoir and the largest lake in West Virginia. More than 60 miles of shoreline at the summer-pool water level help attracts thousands of boaters and anglers as well as rock climbers who scale high cliffs along much of its upper pool. The lake, with a maximum depth is 327 feet, is formed by a rock-fill dam ...
Big Bend Tunnel - West Virginia Explorer
John Henry and Big Bend Tunnel. Big Bend Tunnel is a decommissioned tunnel on the mainline of the CSX Corporation's rail line through southern West Virginia west of Talcott, West Virginia. According to legend, folk hero John Henry was killed in a contest with a steam-drill during construction of the tunnel through Big Bend Mountain. Big Bend Tunnel is located near Talcott approximately 10 ...
Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area - West Virginia Explorer
The 22,928-acre Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA), ranges across forests of oak, pine, and hickory that mount the parallel flanks of Third Hill and Sleepy Creek mountains and the valley of the Meadow Branch of Sleepy Creek. Game traditionally hunted in the management area includes deer, grouse, fox, squirrel, turkey, raccoon, and bobcat.