Echoes of Appalachia
“Stories, culture, and memories from the heart of Appalachia.”
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recent posts
- The Wild Return of Bison to Appalachia After Centuries Away
- They Blew the Tops Off Appalachia and What Was Left Behind Tells a Darker Story
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Why Homelessness in Appalachia Reached a Breaking Point in 2024 and 2025
- Immigrants and Appalachia: The Hidden Story That Built a Mountain Civilization
- Urban Appalachia: Rural Memory Inside the Modern City
about
Category: Appalachian Mountains
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An Indigenous led effort aims to return bison to eastern Kentucky on land reclaimed from mountaintop removal coal mining. Bison are large, powerful animals that often seem slow and gentle at first glance. In reality, they move with remarkable speed and agility, running up to 35 miles per hour and jumping as high as six…
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People in Appalachia grew up knowing the mountains the way other kids knew streets. You learned where the ground stayed wet after rain, which creeks held crawdads, which slopes carried berries in late summer. Families stayed close to the same hills for decades, sometimes longer, and the land carried their routines with it. When mining…
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Homelessness in Appalachia has reached a visible and painful peak during 2024 and 2025. Communities across the mountains and valleys face a sharp rise in people living without stable housing, with some areas reporting increases as high as thirty seven percent. This growth reflects deep structural failures tied to housing access, economic decline, disaster recovery…
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Appalachia stands today as a living mosaic of peoples, traditions, languages, faiths, and foods. The mountains, valleys, hollers, rivers, and towns reflect centuries of human movement, courage, survival, and adaptation. Every family line in Appalachia traces back to immigrants. Every surname, dialect, recipe, hymn, and craft carries the memory of people who crossed oceans, borders,…
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Urban Appalachia exists in cities like Asheville, Knoxville, and Charleston, West Virginia, whether city leaders acknowledge it or not. These places did not suddenly become “mountain cities” once tourism and development arrived. They grew from river crossings, rail hubs, and industrial corridors where families from surrounding counties settled for work, stayed through decline, and built…
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My poetry collection Beautiful and Brutal Things is done. It’s actually done and finally published over 270 pages. Over a year of my life went into this book. More than a year, really. Long days at my computer, sometimes seven days a week because I couldn’t stop even when I probably should have. Then two…
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This story reaches beyond Appalachia and into the heart of a country searching for calm during an era shaped by sharp division. Along highways, through small towns, and across city streets, Venerable Monks walk in quiet formation as part of The Walk For Peace. Thousands of people gather simply to witness them pass. Some stand…
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Appalachia carries the burdens of an unfinished past. The collapse of coal stripped away livelihoods, emptied towns, and left streams and hillsides bearing the scars of a century of extraction. Economic decline followed environmental damage, and many communities remain caught between nostalgia for stability and the reality of shrinking opportunity. Into this landscape comes a…
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Long after the glittering rush of December fades across the rest of the country, certain Appalachian communities gather again on January 6th to mark a day tied to faith, history, and cultural endurance. This observance traces back to a calendar shift that reshaped the Christian world yet left pockets of people holding fast to an…
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A safe roof offers warmth during harsh winters, stability for families raising children, and dignity for elders who spent decades working in mines, mills, farms, and service jobs. For many communities scattered across this vast region, private capital rarely arrives. Banks hesitate, developers look elsewhere, and wages remain low. Federal support fills a gap that…
Echoes of Appalachia 