Big Bull Tunnel is a utilitarian fixture in Southwest Virginia. It’s never been an actual attraction, simply another train tunnel in Wise County. It’s difficult to believe the arched throughway has such a dark and mysterious history. Construction was so problematic, and so many mishaps followed, that many suspected theContinue Reading
The Holston Salt and Plaster Company reopened an old well on August 25, 1874. The shaft was made decades earlier, when locals attempted to find water. Residents dug around 120 feet down, but it was dry. They then dug another 130 feet into salt rock, but never found water. SinceContinue Reading
“Timber Tree” is a folksy name for a relatively isolated road that bridges the Gate City/Bristol Highway, in Virginia, with the Bloomingdale area of Kingsport, Tennessee. Few were as notorious as the Powell sisters of Scott County, Virginia. Moonshiners feared them and outlaws avoided them. The Powell sisters weren’t justContinue Reading
The Bermuda Triangle has puzzled researchers for centuries. Many people are surprised to learn the Appalachians likewise have areas known for unexplained events, disappearances, and a plethora of oddities. The Black Mountain range, on the Virginia-Kentucky border, is one such area. No precise record for the Black Mountain events isContinue Reading
Dances were a common fixture of Appalachian life well into the early Dances were a common fixture of Appalachian life well into the early Twentieth Century. They were a form of entertainment, as well as a public forum to discuss community events and efforts. Everyone danced, feasted, and sang untilContinue Reading
Virginia City, better known as Dry Gulch Junction, was a wild west attraction in Wytheville, Virginia. Dry Gulch was situated on the edge of Jefferson National Forest, around ten miles from Wytheville. The attraction became most notable for the wrong reasons. Debt and death plagued everyone who attempted to makeContinue Reading
Burton Hensley was an out-of-state peddler when he arrived in the blossoming town of Bristol, Virginia. He was not a great success, but adequately provided for himself. The locals told Burton of a great mansion just about ten miles away. They suggested he travel there and speak with the landowner.Continue Reading
Old Nance was featured in a few old books, such as Spirit of the Mountains, by Emma B. Miles. This little known haunting is remarkably and uncannily similar to the Bell Witch episode on the other side of the state. We’re left wondering how such contrasting public sentiments came fromContinue Reading
The Trials of Betsy Bell is a little-known song that once appeared in Southern Lyrics, a book published in 1907. The song is noted as being written in July of 1906, but there is no information on the writer. ‘Tis scarcely yet one hundred years Since came and went theContinue Reading
This final article on the Bell Witch addresses many revelations and rumors that have since surfaced. Nearly two centuries have passed since these events and countless legends have developed since. It’s impossible to gather them all, and even more difficult to find the necessary history on each theory to includeContinue Reading