Hatfield-McCoy Mountains
Boone, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo and Wayne
Boone County
One of my favorite places to visit in Boone would be Water Ways. This unique water park opened in 1988 and sees an average of 40,000 visitors a year. It is open from Memorial Day to August. It has a total of five slides. There is a tube slide which starts up the mountain and ends in a lazy river that wraps around kiddy island. There are also two other slides that end in a heated pool. The last two slides are off to the right of the lazy river where you can race your friend to the bottom. There is a walking path, amphitheater and shelters that can be rented. This is the perfect location for birthday parties. With one low costs and shelter rental, your party can play and eat all day. The place does fill up fast so if you plan to go, go early or you might miss out.
Lincoln County
Lincoln County was established in February 23, 1867 and was named Abraham Lincoln. The county seat is Hamlin and it has an average of 20,000 residents today.
Some of the note worthy people born in Lincoln was Virginia Ruth “Jennie” Lewis who was an American Actress, model and television personality professionally known as Dagmar. She was one of the first major female television starts in the 1950’s who received press coverage.
You will also have a hard time finding someone born in West Virginia who doesn’t know who Charles “Chuck” Elwood Yeager is. Yeager was a United States Air Force officer who became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight on October 14, 1947 when he flew the experimental Belle X-1 at Mach 1.05 at an altitude of 45,000 feet. Locals also know him for flying directly UNDER the South Side Bridge on October 10, 1948 while piloting a Lockheed P-80 (or F-80) Shooting Star at 450 mph during a boat-racing event. Many witnessed this event however there was never an official report made. When photographers asked him to repeat the feat, he said, “You should never strafe the same place twice cause the gunners will be waiting for you.” One of my favorite quotes is, “My beginnings back in West Virginia tell who I am to this day. My accomplishments as a test pilot tell more about luck, happenstance and a person’s destiny. But the guy who broke the sound barrier was the kid who swam the Mud River with a swiped watermelon or shot the head off a squirrel before going to school.” Yeager passed away on December 7, 2020 at the age of 97.
I found myself on the backroads exploring and stopped at the M&R Restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is a family-owned, small town place that was packed with locals which tells me it is favorite place to grab a meal. The menu is what you would find in most West Virginia country places. I stopped for lunch and had the Jalapeno Ranch Burger, home fries with chocolate pie. Everything was great. The place reminds me of an old-time café. Very comfortable with good food and service.
Logan County
Logan County was established in 1824 and was named after Chief Logan a famous Native American chief of the Mingo tribe. The county seat is Logan and it has an average of 32,500 residents today.
Some noticeable historical dates happened in Logan. One of the most talked about in West Virginia is the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain. This was the largest labor uprising in United States History since the American Civil War. Coal miners made very little money and also lived in company homes while being forced to shop at company stores. If you were fired, then out on the street you went to live in tents on the Tug Fork River. Over 3,000 miners decided to join the union and was fired. On May 19, 1920, the coal company hired a dozen Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency who went to the Stone Mountain Coal Co. Property and started evicting families at gun point, the first being a woman and her children while her husband was not home. On the morning of August 25, 1921, the battle which estimated 10,000 armed coal miners confronted 3,000 lawmen and strikebreakers during the miners attempt to unionize started. On September 2, troops arrived and miners, most veterans, refused to fire upon the troops. In the end, 985 minters were indicted, though the majority were acquitted.
Logan was also the location of the Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster. On February 26, 1972, a coal slurry impoundment dam burst. Three dams were bult 260 feet above the town of Saunders. Dam #3 failed during a heavy rain which overwhelmed dams #2 and #1 sending 132 million gallons of black waste water upon the residents of 16 coal towns along the Buffalo Creek Hollow. 125 people were killed and another 1,121 were injured while 4,000 was left homeless. 625 survivors sued the Pittston Coal Company and was awarded approximately $13,000 each after costs (around $83,000 today).
Mingo County
Mingo County was established in 1895 and was named after the Iroquoian Mingo People. The county seat is Williamson and it has an average of 23,500 residents today.
Some important people from this area would be; Author Jeremy T.K. Farley published The Ghosts of Mingo County real life story of Timmy Barker in 2014 which was met with mixed reviews. William Sidney “Sid” Hatfield was a WV law enforcement officer who became famous for his role in the during the Coal Wars. Also notable was William Anderson “Devil Anse” or “Uncle Anse” who was the patriarch of the Hatfield family who led during the Hatfield-McCoy feud.
Wayne County
Wayne County was established in 1842 and was named after General “Mad” Anthony Wayne who was a founding father of the United States. The county seat is Wayne and it has an average of 39,000 residents today.
Halloween isn’t really Halloween without a visit to the Kenova Pumpkin House. This house started in 1978 with just five pumpkins on displayed and now it has over 3,000 carved pumpkins thanks to the homeowner, Ric Griffith and hundreds of volunteers. Each year over 30,000 visitors come to see the display starting on the annual C-K Autumn Fest Celebration. That weekend there will also be food and souvenir vendors near by. This is a free event but you must park nearby and walk to the house as the street is closed off for traffic. It is also wheelchair accessible so it is a fun free attraction for the family.
If you want to learn about the other 8 areas of West Virginia, you can find a link here. I have also created a few YouTube videos that goes with this series.
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