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
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Category: Appalachian Mountains
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The Appalachian region holds a long tradition of close ties between communities and the natural world. When wildlife experiences a sudden crisis, residents often sense the shift quickly. A recent discovery in Rocky Mount, Virginia created exactly that kind of jarring moment. Numerous vultures were found lifeless in a shallow creek bed and a nearby…
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Conversations about Appalachia often swing between two poles. One pole highlights predatory external forces: absentee landholders, federal extraction policies, media caricatures, corporate exploitation, and political strategies that treat the mountains like a stage backdrop. The other pole focuses on agency within the region: cultural choices, community structures, local leadership, and patterns of resistance or resignation.…
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Families across Kentucky and Tennessee face a period of deep uncertainty as health insurance premiums rise at a pace many find alarming. Residents in counties across Appalachia feel the impact in their household budgets as they prepare for the coming open enrollment cycle. Premiums that once felt manageable now surge to levels that create anxiety…
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The hills of central Appalachia welcomed a yearly burst of color, sound, and cheer as the CSX Santa Train made its celebrated run through the region on Saturday and was it ever something to see. Crowds lined the tracks from early morning, eager for a glimpse of Santa, the sparkle of holiday lights gliding across…
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Life in the Appalachian mountains created a rhythm shaped by the land, the weather, and the work that filled every season. Tobacco ruled that rhythm for many families, and mine lived inside that cycle from early spring through late fall. Handing tobacco stood at the final stretch of a long year of labor, and the…
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A proposal from BWX Technologies to rezone 128 acres near Jonesborough for a new uranium processing facility has triggered strong opposition from residents across Washington and Greene counties. The project would occupy the former Aerojet property, a site already burdened with a legacy of contamination, and would sit along Little Limestone Creek, a waterway that…
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If you scroll through social media or watch the news, you may see members of Congress and well-funded interest groups urging families across West Virginia and the wider Appalachian region to believe that the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, known as HR 1, will somehow strengthen our communities. Folks throughout these mountains understand a raw deal…
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When I was 10 years old my granny taught me how to make biscuits and gravy. The picture above is a pan of biscuits that I made, and if I had a dime for every biscuit I have made over the years, I would be a very rich man. Thinking back on those early mornings…
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A major proposal in Mason County in Kentucky has drawn attention across Appalachia as residents, local officials, and regional observers try to understand what a massive data center would mean for the land and for the people who have cared for it through many generations. A Fortune one hundred company has expressed interest in building…
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The Appalachian region has seen a surge of online attention due to a heartfelt exchange between a Kentucky pastor and a TikTok creator who sought to explore how faith communities handle urgent pleas for aid. This story centers on Pastor Johnny Dunbar of Heritage Hope Church of God in Somerset Kentucky, whose gentle response to…
Echoes of Appalachia 