Appalachia’s Front Porch

01/23/2026

Hey y’all! Winter storm’s headed our way this weekend. Please be careful if you have to travel. Roads can turn slick quick, especially in the hollers and back roads. If you can stay in, stay in. And don’t forget to check on your neighbors, Appalachia takes care of its own!

12/14/2025

A cold snowy start to this December morning ❄️ What’s it look like in your neck of the woods?

11/29/2025

Ripley, West Virginia – “Biggest Small Town” with a Big Story

Tucked where Sycamore Creek meets Big Mill Creek, Ripley began as a 400-acre land grant in the 1760s. Early settlers William, John, and Lewis Rodgers made their homes here, and by the 1830s Jacob Starcher had laid out the town that would become Ripley. He chose the name to honor a young preacher, Harry Ripley, who tragically drowned in Big Mill Creek just before his wedding…a love story and heartbreak forever tied to this little valley. 

For years the community was known as “Jackson Courthouse,” with a post office established in 1832 to serve the newly formed Jackson County. The town later officially embraced the Ripley name in 1897 and grew into the county seat. 

Today, the limestone Jackson County Courthouse, completed in 1920, still stands watch over downtown with its clocktower and soldier’s monument out front, a true small-town landmark at the crossroads of U.S. 33 and I-77.

Ripley is best known for doing the Fourth of July big. Since the late 1800s, the town has hosted what’s billed as the “USA’s Largest Small Town Independence Day Celebration” – the oldest Independence Day parade in West Virginia. In 2002, President George W. Bush even came to Ripley to join the festivities and give an address from this little Jackson County town. 

And if you want to understand Ripley today, look at its mayor. Carolyn Rader isn’t just a name on the city letterhead….she’s the one out front on Friday mornings waving to school kids, cheering them on as they head to class, and the same mayor you might spot with a paintbrush in hand freshening up curbs around town. From greeting students to literally getting down on the sidewalk to paint, she’s known for being hands-on and deeply involved in the life of the community. 

With a population of just over 3,000, Ripley still feels like the kind of place where folks know your name, the courthouse square is the heart of town, and the Fourth of July sounds like freedom echoing off the hills. If you’ve ever spent an evening here listening to the cicadas and watching the lights of Main Street, you know: Ripley might be a small dot on the map, but it’s a big part of West Virginia’s story. 

🇺🇸 Have you ever been to Ripley’s Fourth of July celebration or seen Mayor Rader out greeting students or painting curbs? Share your memories in the comments!

11/27/2025

Did you know?

Long before Thanksgiving was a national holiday, folks in what is now West Virginia were already gathering to give thanks.

In 1861, during the darkest days of the Civil War, Governor Francis H. Pierpont of the Union-loyal “Restored Government of Virginia” in Wheeling proclaimed Thursday, November 28th as a special day of Thanksgiving. At that point, our region was still debating a new state name (believe it or not, “Kanawha” was on the table), and families were divided by the war.

Even then, people here put down their work, came together, and prayed for peace and unity. Two years later, Lincoln would declare Thanksgiving a national holiday…but in true Mountain State fashion, West Virginia was already ahead of the curve. 🌄🦃

11/27/2025

Tucked into the rolling hills just east of Union in Monroe County sits Rehoboth Church – the oldest surviving church building in West Virginia and the oldest Protestant house of worship still standing west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Built from hand-hewn logs around 1786 on land donated by settler Edward Keenan, Rehoboth began as a simple frontier meeting place for early Methodist pioneers. The little log church was dedicated by famed Methodist bishop Francis Asbury, and it quickly became an important stop on the old Greenbrier Circuit, hosting conferences and even the first Methodist ordination west of the Alleghenies in 1788. 

Step inside today and you can still see the rough log walls, plain wooden pews, and raised pulpit where those early worshipers gathered…no stained glass, no fancy trim, just the sturdy craftsmanship of frontier hands. The surrounding cemetery holds some of the region’s earliest settlers, a quiet reminder of the people who carved out lives here long before West Virginia was a state. 

Rehoboth Church is now a National Register of Historic Places site and a designated Methodist shrine, open seasonally with a small museum next door. Next time you’re in Monroe County, take a detour off Route 3 and visit this little log church that’s been standing watch over the hills for more than two centuries. 

Have you ever visited Rehoboth Church or driven past it without knowing the story?

11/26/2025

Tucked along Virginia Street in downtown Charleston sits one of the city’s most iconic buildings: the Charleston Municipal Auditorium. Opened in 1939 as a Public Works Administration project, this massive concrete-and-steel “Art Deco grande dame” was Charleston’s promise to itself that music, theater, and community belonged right in the heart of town. 

Designed by local architect Alphonso Wysong, the auditorium’s clean vertical lines, stylized facade, and sweeping curves are classic late-1930s Art Deco. Inside, the building could seat around 3,500 people, making it the largest theater in West Virginia. For decades it hosted everything from graduations and Broadway tours to concerts, conventions, and the beloved annual performances of The Nutcracker. 

The story behind it is very “New Deal era” Charleston: local leaders pushed hard for a proper performance hall, voters backed a bond issue during the 1930s, and federal PWA funds helped turn the idea into a $500,000 reality. When it finally opened, an estimated 5,000 people came out for a four-hour dedication ceremony to celebrate their new cultural showpiece. 

In 1999, the Municipal Auditorium was added to the National Register of Historic Places for both its role in the city’s cultural life and its standout architecture.  More recently, though, the building has faced serious structural and electrical issues, and it was closed in 2024 for safety reasons while engineers and city officials decide what comes next.

11/24/2025

11/24/2025

The good ole days