Category: Appalachian Mountains
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For generations, Appalachia has occupied a complicated place in the American story. Rich in natural resources and cultural heritage, the region has also endured decades of economic dislocation, population decline, chronic health challenges, and persistent poverty. In many communities, residents have learned to live with uncertainty as a constant companion. They know what it means…
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How a historic Appalachian lithium find is colliding with generations of distrust, forgotten property deeds, and fears of a new resource rush. By any measure, the announcement was enormous. A recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment confirmed that vast quantities of lithium, a mineral essential to electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, exist beneath parts…
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A lifelong resident of the North Carolina-Tennessee border region recently found himself in a conversation that many mountain locals say has become increasingly common. After making a political comment disagreeing with a conservative comment, he says a person who had moved to the area from another state responded with a blunt suggestion: if he did…
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In Knox County, a decision about a single book set off a chain reaction that moved quickly from library shelves to school board meetings and then into a wider regional conversation stretching across Appalachia. The book at the center of it all, Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family, had been part of…
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There was a time when Appalachian food was considered simple fare. It was the food of hardworking families who made the most of what they had. Pinto beans simmered all day on the stove. Cast-iron cornbread baked until golden brown. Fried potatoes, soup beans, chow chow, greens, biscuits, and whatever meat could be hunted, raised,…
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Across the hills, valleys, and backroads of Appalachia, mimosa is a familiar sight. Growing near old homesites, fence lines, creek banks, and roadsides, it has become part of the region’s visual character over generations. Many people recognize it immediately, yet few realize that this common species carries a history stretching across continents and thousands of…
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Lewis Redmond rose from brutal poverty in Southern Appalachia into one of the most famous outlaw figures across the late nineteenth century. Federal agents hunted him across ridges, newspapers turned him into a legend, poor farming families praised his generosity, while lawmakers viewed him as a national disgrace. His saga carried every element of frontier…
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For generations, Appalachia survived by keeping parts of itself hidden. The mountains taught people to guard what mattered. You did not tell strangers where the best ginseng patch grew. You did not advertise secluded swimming holes to outsiders. You did not hand over family stories, burial grounds, or backroad gathering places to people who had…
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MASON COUNTY, Ky. — Three survey flags stood beside a cattle fence near Route 8 when news spread across the county that a local farming clan rejected a twenty-six million dollar land offer tied to an artificial intelligence server project. By sunset, diners, church parking lots, feed stores, grain depots, and school ballfields buzzed with…
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Terminally ill elders across central Appalachia are choosing to die on their own terms, and their families are helping them do it. The deaths get recorded as natural causes. The land stays in the family. And nobody talks about it. This is happening in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. It is happening…
Echoes of Appalachia 