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Posted: 2/26/2019 9:01:36 AM EST
[#1]
 Readin' Rightin' Route 23 - Dwight Yoakam - 1987 |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 10:24:10 AM EST
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If you're on this map, or just want to see these towns 100 years ago, go and spend some time at http://www.coalcampusa.com http://www.coalcampusa.com/appalachian-coal-field-map.jpg Hundreds, if not thousands of small towns thay wers born to serve a mine or coke ovens, then were left to return to nature after the company left. Since Harlan, KY was mentioned, take a gander, then go read a few pages. http://www.coalcampusa.com/eastky/harlan/harlan-coalfield-map.jpg http://www.coalcampusa.com/eastky/harlan/harlan.htm Coal company still owns the mineral rights under my house. Still an old bone pile a few streets over that they've made into some sort of overlook. City folk don't think Appalachia be like it is, but it do. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 10:43:02 AM EST
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Summer 2007 I was doing some work down in Inez, KY. The client we were working with seemed a little aloof, then downright chilly when he asked where I was from and "near Detroit" was my answer. I quickly corrected that that my ancestors were from his area, the Tug Fork valley. "Who were they?" he asked. When I told him the name of my 5x grandfather he said "hell, we're kin!" Warmed right up to me once he found out we were related. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 11:04:19 AM EST
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I like to describe it as the small valley between two hills that usually only has one road in that dead-ends at "the head of the holler". You can also have a main holler with little hollers off the main one. Example: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96007/holler_jpg-857834.JPG |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 11:08:21 AM EST
[#5]
When you hear banjo music coming from that there holler turn around and leave!
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Posted: 2/26/2019 11:12:06 AM EST
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: You ever been to Louisa? I ran the job when they built the WM there. Met some mighty fine fellers too.  |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 11:46:20 AM EST
[#7]
I talked to my dad this morning. I asked him some more about when and where he grew up. Now I mentioned earlier in this thread about placing headstones on graves. I was in my early 20s then. I paid less attention to that and was more interested in riding around in the woods and shooting guns.
He was born near Tazewell, Tn, but was raised in Leslie county. He was there from about 1944 (when he was a toddler) until 1962 when he was drafted. He said originally they lived in a one room log cabin with a dirt floor. He was the 2nd of 9 kids, so eventually they outgrew it. Then they lived in a "real house" as he called it. The real house was also a one room log cabin but it had a floor and two bedrooms added on. Both were in the same holler. Neither had electricity. He remembers laying in bed covered in several quilts and waking up to snow that had drifted in through the wall cracks. They hunted and fished year round, as well as raised a garden. Grandpa plowed with mules. Dad was given a box of 50 22lr twice per year. He had to make it last so he became a good shot out of necessity. One of the graves we visited was my grandma's mother. She went into the shitty mountain hospital in her early 50s to have her gall bladder removed. They cut her liver and she died. That was in 1950. Her husband is buried nearby. He died a couple years before her of TB (which he contracted in prison) The other grave was of my grandpa's grandmother. Dad said that he remembers her well. She was a spry black lady in her 90s. We're all lily white, so dad thinks she married in after child bearing age. There's no one left alive to ask. She died in the late 40s. Apparently one evening she took off walking over the mountain between hollers to visit relatives (like she had done a 100 times) and got caught in a sudden cold front. They found her froze to death at the top. He told me a lot about life back then. Feel free to ask about anything I didnt cover, as he may have mentioned it. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 12:04:10 PM EST
[#8]
Fascinating thread. The cemeteries with the long, thin stones are pretty eerie looking but beautiful at the same time.
At least for this city boy, I'd take my chances wandering around these areas and meeting people any day than I would in the north end of Hartford. No contest. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 12:47:48 PM EST
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I talked to my dad this morning. I asked him some more about when and where he grew up. Now I mentioned earlier in this thread about placing headstones on graves. I was in my early 20s then. I paid less attention to that and was more interested in riding around in the woods and shooting guns. He was born near Tazewell, Tn, but was raised in Leslie county. He was there from about 1944 (when he was a toddler) until 1962 when he was drafted. He said originally they lived in a one room log cabin with a dirt floor. He was the 2nd of 9 kids, so eventually they outgrew it. Then they lived in a "real house" as he called it. The real house was also a one room log cabin but it had a floor and two bedrooms added on. Both were in the same holler. Neither had electricity. He remembers laying in bed covered in several quilts and waking up to snow that had drifted in through the wall cracks. They hunted and fished year round, as well as raised a garden. Grandpa plowed with mules. Dad was given a box of 50 22lr twice per year. He had to make it last so he became a good shot out of necessity. One of the graves we visited was my grandma's mother. She went into the shitty mountain hospital in her early 50s to have her gall bladder removed. They cut her liver and she died. That was in 1950. Her husband is buried nearby. He died a couple years before her of TB (which he contracted in prison) The other grave was of my grandpa's grandmother. Dad said that he remembers her well. She was a spry black lady in her 90s. We're all lily white, so dad thinks she married in after child bearing age. There's no one left alive to ask. She died in the late 40s. Apparently one evening she took off walking over the mountain between hollers to visit relatives (like she had done a 100 times) and got caught in a sudden cold front. They found her froze to death at the top. He told me a lot about life back then. Feel free to ask about anything I didnt cover, as he may have mentioned it. Oh and are all the relatives buried up there?Thanks again,good stuff. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 12:52:27 PM EST
[#10]
A couple years ago my wife and I were on our Honeymoon and travelled the backroads and small towns in Appalachia. We stopped and ate at an Italian place in Harlan and then headed up Pine Mtn. to Hyden. From there we wanted to go to Cumberland so we took a county road but hit a detour as a County Highway crew along with some county jail inmates was cleaning out the ditches. So we drove and drove and drove some more !!! Every road around there was windey, twisty, uphill, downhill, We saw a girl outside her little roadside flower shop and asked her for directions. She told us we were in Cutshin, KY , named for one of Daniel Boones party who got injured while they were exploring the area. We went thru Yeaddiss, and Big Laurel until we saw another girl outside and asked her directions also. She told us she was a school bus driver and there was 4 ways to get to Cumberland from where we were. We finally got close to Cumberland when an older man pulled up in his pickup and told us which way to go . Everyone we met and talked to was just the nicest, most friendly, helpful folks you could ever meet! We were driving a rental 4 runner with NY plates on it to. We ate our lunch at a roadside picnic table on Hwy. #119 outside Oven Fork, KY overlooking an AMAZING view of the mountains!!! Another time some years ago we stopped to ask directions at a building with antennas and a cop car parked in front of it in Hyden,KY . Turns out it was the Leslie County 911 call center. They'd just had their open house the weekend before and had all kinds of food left over so they invited us in and served us lunch. I tell ya I love going into Harlan and always have the CD with me of Tom. T. Hall singing " Hero in Harlan" . You cannot keep a dry eye as you listen to that song as you sit in the car in Harlan !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQO2HoNOx9U
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:03:43 PM EST
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A couple years ago my wife and I were on our Honeymoon and travelled the backroads and small towns in Appalachia. We stopped and ate at an Italian place in Harlan and then headed up Pine Mtn. to Hyden. From there we wanted to go to Cumberland so we took a county road but hit a detour as a County Highway crew along with some county jail inmates was cleaning out the ditches. So we drove and drove and drove some more !!! Every road around there was windey, twisty, uphill, downhill, We saw a girl outside her little roadside flower shop and asked her for directions. She told us we were in Cutshin, KY , named for one of Daniel Boones party who got injured while they were exploring the area. We went thru Yeaddiss, and Big Laurel until we saw another girl outside and asked her directions also. She told us she was a school bus driver and there was 4 ways to get to Cumberland from where we were. We finally got close to Cumberland when an older man pulled up in his pickup and told us which way to go . Everyone we met and talked to was just the nicest, most friendly, helpful folks you could ever meet! We were driving a rental 4 runner with NY plates on it to. We ate our lunch at a roadside picnic table on Hwy. #119 outside Oven Fork, KY overlooking an AMAZING view of the mountains!!! Another time some years ago we stopped to ask directions at a building with antennas and a cop car parked in front of it in Hyden,KY . Turns out it was the Leslie County 911 call center. They'd just had their open house the weekend before and had all kinds of food left over so they invited us in and served us lunch. I tell ya I love going into Harlan and always have the CD with me of Tom. T. Hall singing " Hero in Harlan" . You cannot keep a dry eye as you listen to that song as you sit in the car in Harlan !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQO2HoNOx9U Maybe I need a road trip someday.thanks man. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:13:41 PM EST
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This is a great story.thanks for sharing a bit of your family history.I can't think of anything else to ask except, what kind of rifle did your dad have? Oh and are all the relatives buried up there?Thanks again,good stuff. Dad used grandpa's 22. It was single shot, bolt action. He doesn't remember the brand. He said grandpa also had a hardware store single shot 16 ga and an "automatic Remington" which I assume was either a Browning copy or an early 1100. Not sure. He also had an old single action 44-40. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:17:27 PM EST
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: No, not all relatives are buried there. After about 1957 or so, they started spreading out. There are graves in Leslie, Perry, Whitley, Knox, and Laurel counties...that I know of. Dad used grandpa's 22. It was single shot, bolt action. He doesn't remember the brand. He said grandpa also had a hardware store single shot 16 ga and an "automatic Remington" which I assume was either a Browning copy or an early 1100. Not sure. He also had an old single action 44-40. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:22:59 PM EST
[#14]
I live in a "holler" in eastern Ky, In Pike county KY
I live about 20 minutes from Buskirk Ky which is across the river from Matewan, WV . maybe some of you have heard that name I live a 5 minute drive from the house one of the primary women from the Hatfield and McCoy feud was born in. Maybe you have heard those two names. I live a 25 minute drive from Logan WV, and therefore Blair. Maybe you have heard of Blair mountain and the battle for Blair mountain. I have personally handed a rifle that belonged to Hatfield, as at the time it belonged to his even then ancient great great ( forgot how many greats) Grandson. A "holler" is a draw. between two mountain ridges that usually has a creek running out of it, and a county road that follows the creek more or less, with houses on each side running up the hollow. Usually petering out as it works its way up. I live not for at all from Inez as was mentioned above lived here all my life and the perception some of you have is hilarious and some of the stories are eye rolling bullshit. its just a bunch of people that live in and among hills just trying to get through life like any other place. no one acts anything like the absurd characters in justified |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:29:38 PM EST
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Do you know what became of those guns? Dad does have a Remington 552 that grandpa have him as an adult. I love that rifle. He also has grandma's S&W model 10 snub nose that she carried in her purse for 40 years. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:30:32 PM EST
[#16]
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:52:15 PM EST
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Sounds like a place you don't want to make a wrong turn into. 
"sounds like a place you don't want to make a wrong turn into, douche bag" |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 1:56:15 PM EST
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I live in a "holler" in eastern Ky, In Pike county KY I live about 20 minutes from Buskirk Ky which is across the river from Matewan, WV . maybe some of you have heard that name I live a 5 minute drive from the house one of the primary women from the Hatfield and McCoy feud was born in. Maybe you have heard those two names. I live a 25 minute drive from Logan WV, and therefore Blair. Maybe you have heard of Blair mountain and the battle for Blair mountain. I have personally handed a rifle that belonged to Hatfield, as at the time it belonged to his even then ancient great great ( forgot how many greats) Grandson. A "holler" is a draw. between two mountain ridges that usually has a creek running out of it, and a county road that follows the creek more or less, with houses on each side running up the hollow. Usually petering out as it works its way up. I live not for at all from Inez as was mentioned above lived here all my life and the perception some of you have is hilarious and some of the stories are eye rolling bullshit. its just a bunch of people that live in and among hills just trying to get through life like any other place. no one acts anything like the absurd characters in justified |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 2:12:36 PM EST
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A holler is a small valley usually where 1 family with multiple generations owns the whole thing. You could have 14 houses all owned by aunts uncles cousins and nephews. They are extremely tight and protective of each other against strangers. People who go looking for trouble in one have been known to disappear.    
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Posted: 2/26/2019 2:14:29 PM EST
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I live in a "holler" in eastern Ky, In Pike county KY I live about 20 minutes from Buskirk Ky which is across the river from Matewan, WV . maybe some of you have heard that name I live a 5 minute drive from the house one of the primary women from the Hatfield and McCoy feud was born in. Maybe you have heard those two names. I live a 25 minute drive from Logan WV, and therefore Blair. Maybe you have heard of Blair mountain and the battle for Blair mountain. I have personally handed a rifle that belonged to Hatfield, as at the time it belonged to his even then ancient great great ( forgot how many greats) Grandson. A "holler" is a draw. between two mountain ridges that usually has a creek running out of it, and a county road that follows the creek more or less, with houses on each side running up the hollow. Usually petering out as it works its way up. I live not for at all from Inez as was mentioned above lived here all my life and the perception some of you have is hilarious and some of the stories are eye rolling bullshit. its just a bunch of people that live in and among hills just trying to get through life like any other place. no one acts anything like the absurd characters in justified |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 2:30:41 PM EST
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Or the way some have waxed poetic about here. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 2:37:29 PM EST
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes that too. It’s not romantic. It’s not bullshit like on tv. It’s the same kinda people that live in any other poor or bland area of any other rural state no one speaks in some overly weird formal manner. There are no moonshine makers or blood feuds or old time cabins. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Or the way some have waxed poetic about here. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 2:46:30 PM EST
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I really don’t want big city liberal moving to God’s own Commonwealth. The hillbilly reputation of Kentucky is second only to WVA it it’s what keeps the commies out. We need to keep promoting that. The whole state is inbred hill jacks that can’t read, are well armed and hateful and sucipious of outsiders. No one should ever come here. ya'lls stay outta these here mountains! no one is gunna fuck my sister but me! |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 2:57:33 PM EST
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yes that too. It’s not romantic. It’s not bullshit like on tv. It’s the same kinda people that live in any other poor or bland area of any other rural state no one speaks in some overly weird formal manner. There are no moonshine makers or blood feuds or old time cabins. Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. Feuds are real to this day. They aren't common but they do exist. Moonshiners do exist. Again they are not common but they do exist. The moonshiners I know of today do it more as a recreation than for money. It's a family tradition. Today they don't bother anybody and they are not dangerous because they know the authorities don't give a shit about their moonshining. The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 4:03:37 PM EST
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: There is no generalized description of all the hollers in Appalachia. Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. Feuds are real to this day. They aren't common but they do exist. Moonshiners do exist. Again they are not common but they do exist. The moonshiners I know of today do it more as a recreation than for money. It's a family tradition. Today they don't bother anybody and they are not dangerous because they know the authorities don't give a shit about their moonshining. The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. As for moonshiners, some say they don't exist anymore - but they're wrong. I know several, and have been back up into our family friends holler over in WV. I've been to the still and helped on a couple of runs. I remember times growing up when all the men of the family would load up and go to the next holler over to "convince" the neighbors they were wrong, would pay the money owed, or would respect the women of the family. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 4:31:30 PM EST
[#26]
I heard back in prohibition, you could see numerous fires dotting the sides of the mountain in the evening and the whole place smelled like a bakery.
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Posted: 2/26/2019 4:41:09 PM EST
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I grew up in Elliot Co. and Carter Co., KY. I was a great thing to grow up in the family hollers, where we all knew and looked out for each other. Hell, I didn't even know I was poor until my family moved to OH when I was in high school. As for moonshiners, some say they don't exist anymore - but they're wrong. I know several, and have been back up into our family friends holler over in WV. I've been to the still and helped on a couple of runs. I remember times growing up when all the men of the family would load up and go to the next holler over to "convince" the neighbors they were wrong, would pay the money owed, or would respect the women of the family. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: There is no generalized description of all the hollers in Appalachia. Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. Feuds are real to this day. They aren't common but they do exist. Moonshiners do exist. Again they are not common but they do exist. The moonshiners I know of today do it more as a recreation than for money. It's a family tradition. Today they don't bother anybody and they are not dangerous because they know the authorities don't give a shit about their moonshining. The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. As for moonshiners, some say they don't exist anymore - but they're wrong. I know several, and have been back up into our family friends holler over in WV. I've been to the still and helped on a couple of runs. I remember times growing up when all the men of the family would load up and go to the next holler over to "convince" the neighbors they were wrong, would pay the money owed, or would respect the women of the family. There's at least one private, invite only unlicensed bar near Asheville that sells moonshine. There must be little hole in the wall places all through the mountains with a jug under the counter, especially in the remote areas where everyone knows everyone and they don't see outside people much. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 4:42:56 PM EST
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I heard back in prohibition, you could see numerous fires dotting the sides of the mountain in the evening and the whole place smelled like a bakery. Around here, people would drive right out of their backyards, onto the frozen lake, haul ass across a couple of miles of ice to Canada, load up the car or truck, and drive right back to their house. Cottage industry. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 4:45:55 PM EST
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A holler is a small valley usually where 1 family with multiple generations owns the whole thing. You could have 14 houses all owned by aunts uncles cousins and nephews. They are extremely tight and protective of each other against strangers. People who go looking for trouble in one have been known to disappear. Sounds like some Deliverance shit to me. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 4:47:22 PM EST
[#30]
Did some 4 wheeling in holler territory. Pretty country. Friend inherited holler property that his family has owned for hundreds of years.
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:05:13 PM EST
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Are they all inbred ? Sounds like some Deliverance shit to me. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
A holler is a small valley usually where 1 family with multiple generations owns the whole thing. You could have 14 houses all owned by aunts uncles cousins and nephews. They are extremely tight and protective of each other against strangers. People who go looking for trouble in one have been known to disappear. Sounds like some Deliverance shit to me.  Seriously? After all of the great stories here, that's what you have to add? Some people's children.
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:05:33 PM EST
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: There is no generalized description of all the hollers in Appalachia. Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. Feuds are real to this day. They aren't common but they do exist. Moonshiners do exist. Again they are not common but they do exist. The moonshiners I know of today do it more as a recreation than for money. It's a family tradition. Today they don't bother anybody and they are not dangerous because they know the authorities don't give a shit about their moonshining. The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:15:31 PM EST
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: well thank god we have the south's version of a fucking yankee , a Texan, to tell me who has traveled every corner of this state what hollers are like thank you Texas man for schooling me on my home |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:17:29 PM EST
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Seriously? After all of the great stories here, that's what you have to add? Some people's children.Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
A holler is a small valley usually where 1 family with multiple generations owns the whole thing. You could have 14 houses all owned by aunts uncles cousins and nephews. They are extremely tight and protective of each other against strangers. People who go looking for trouble in one have been known to disappear. Sounds like some Deliverance shit to me. Seriously? After all of the great stories here, that's what you have to add? Some people's children.I'll tell you what ,YOU go driving in one of these remote hollows in WV for a weekend getaway with your family and then come back here and tell us all about your glorious vacation lol |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:18:09 PM EST
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I grew up in Johnson County, TN and still own the house in which I grew up. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:20:03 PM EST
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: "Don't go in","some people go in and don't come back out","multiple generations of families in a remote area","cops don't go in those areas"..What is a person who never been to those areas supposed to think ? Im sure there are plenty of heartwarming stories from St Louis MO as well.. I'll tell you what ,YOU go driving in one of these remote hollows in WV for a weekend getaway with your family and then come back here and tell us all about your glorious vacation lol |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:30:34 PM EST
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: congrats, what that has to do with eastern Ky hollows I have no idea, but carry on lecturing me about eastern Ky holler life Texan |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:37:41 PM EST
[#38]
Chuck Yeager said He was from so far up the holler that they had to pump in sunshine.
ETA - the equivalent out here in God's Country is a gulch. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:41:22 PM EST
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
this is one of the dumbest things I have read today Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: "Don't go in","some people go in and don't come back out","multiple generations of families in a remote area","cops don't go in those areas"..What is a person who never been to those areas supposed to think ? Im sure there are plenty of heartwarming stories from St Louis MO as well.. I'll tell you what ,YOU go driving in one of these remote hollows in WV for a weekend getaway with your family and then come back here and tell us all about your glorious vacation lol Quoting what other people have said about these hollows ? |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:50:25 PM EST
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: "Don't go in","some people go in and don't come back out","multiple generations of families in a remote area","cops don't go in those areas"..What is a person who never been to those areas supposed to think ? Im sure there are plenty of heartwarming stories from St Louis MO as well.. I'll tell you what ,YOU go driving in one of these remote hollows in WV for a weekend getaway with your family and then come back here and tell us all about your glorious vacation lol Bwaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa We are the place all of our out of state friends and relatives come to in order to get away from it and have a relaxing weekend with family and friends. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 5:59:43 PM EST
[#41]
A photo across the top of some Missouri hollers:
 Not as tall as the Appalachians, but still steep enough for a work out. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 6:01:37 PM EST
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
well thank god we have the south's version of a fucking yankee , a Texan, to tell me who has traveled every corner of this state what hollers are like thank you Texas man for schooling me on my home Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: There is no generalized description of all the hollers in Appalachia. Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. Feuds are real to this day. They aren't common but they do exist. Moonshiners do exist. Again they are not common but they do exist. The moonshiners I know of today do it more as a recreation than for money. It's a family tradition. Today they don't bother anybody and they are not dangerous because they know the authorities don't give a shit about their moonshining. The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 6:15:32 PM EST
[#43]
Here's a documentary that follows one family.
Something for everyone: Family, togetherness, welfare, drugs, attempted murder. Doesn't pull any punches, shows the good and the bad. Pretty country out there for sure.  American Hollow (1999) [Full Movie] |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 6:31:07 PM EST
[#44]
I can throw rocks into Possum Hollow from my property. The spring that feeds Possum Hollow Run is less than 100 yards from my house. Further up the mountain on our farm we have an unnamed hollow with its own run on the property, one of several sources of water on the mountain top.
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Posted: 2/26/2019 6:39:25 PM EST
[#45]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A photo across the top of some Missouri hollers: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/348/66528.JPG Not as tall as the Appalachians, but still steep enough for a work out. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 6:53:04 PM EST
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I grew up in Elliot Co. and Carter Co., KY. I was a great thing to grow up in the family hollers, where we all knew and looked out for each other. Hell, I didn't even know I was poor until my family moved to OH when I was in high school. As for moonshiners, some say they don't exist anymore - but they're wrong. I know several, and have been back up into our family friends holler over in WV. I've been to the still and helped on a couple of runs. I remember times growing up when all the men of the family would load up and go to the next holler over to "convince" the neighbors they were wrong, would pay the money owed, or would respect the women of the family. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: There is no generalized description of all the hollers in Appalachia. Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. Feuds are real to this day. They aren't common but they do exist. Moonshiners do exist. Again they are not common but they do exist. The moonshiners I know of today do it more as a recreation than for money. It's a family tradition. Today they don't bother anybody and they are not dangerous because they know the authorities don't give a shit about their moonshining. The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. As for moonshiners, some say they don't exist anymore - but they're wrong. I know several, and have been back up into our family friends holler over in WV. I've been to the still and helped on a couple of runs. I remember times growing up when all the men of the family would load up and go to the next holler over to "convince" the neighbors they were wrong, would pay the money owed, or would respect the women of the family. When they lived in East Tennessee (coincidentally, my wife's great-aunt taught my mother and aunt, she taught at the only school in the county, and some of Dolly's siblings were also her students, EVERYBODY in that area had Mrs. Lou as a teacher), one of the local runners had done pretty well, and decided to buy a nice car, a pretty station wagon, and sold his old black pickup to my grandfather. A little time goes by and he calls my grandfather up and asks about trading his station wagon and getting that pickup back. Seems there were plenty of old black pickup trucks driving around, so they didn't attract attention, but he was getting a little too much official attention with the station wagon. According to my uncle, that station wagon had a GREATLY modified suspension, they put a marble slab in the back of it once and the back end didn't drop at all. They still had that car when I was young, I remember riding in it. Green with woodgrain trim, don't remember which make. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 6:58:35 PM EST
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I can throw rocks into Possum Hollow from my property. The spring that feeds Possum Hollow Run is less than 100 yards from my house. Further up the mountain on our farm we have an unnamed hollow with its own run on the property, one of several sources of water on the mountain top. That's what they said ours was called, but no map had a name for it. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 7:07:06 PM EST
[#48]
I live outside of Hazard Ky in Maces Creek. I work for FedEX and I get to see a lot of places I wouldn’t normally go otherwise. I deliver to 0laces like stinking creek, defeated creek, and kingdom come. We have hell for certain around here too believe it or not.
Shawn I hate to tell you but I have been to a few places in Letcher county that are absolutely lost in time in some aspects and others not. There are fewer and farther between than they used to be but they still exist. I’ve seen people that literally live with chickens flying in and out of the house. Dogs everywhere with garbage piled 10’ high in places. They don’t speak like most here do and have little education. You better bet that even though they don’t work and draw a check that they still have a dish and a $7000 four wheeler. I’ve seen houses that were absolutely worse than those 1 room cabins with dirt floors and would probably leave you with bed bugs if you went in. I agree though that most is fairly modern made of good hardworking people. Who will do anything for a stranger. Good Americans who want to live life how they want and be left alone. I love this place. My mom and dad live in their house in Florida 6 moths out of the year and I could take the family and move there. I don’t cause this is home. It’s beautiful during the fall. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 7:18:48 PM EST
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Fascinating thread. The cemeteries with the long, thin stones are pretty eerie looking but beautiful at the same time. At least for this city boy, I'd take my chances wandering around these areas and meeting people any day than I would in the north end of Hartford. No contest. Albany Avenue in Hartford? I'd be murdered and hung from a lamp post just for being a white boy. |
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Posted: 2/26/2019 7:29:55 PM EST
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Most are filled with hard working, God fearing people that would give you the shirt off their back. Drive down their holler during the day and you might get invited to dinner (lunch). Drive down the holler at night with bad intentions and you'll probably have a problem. They can take care of themselves... and will. Some have plenty of money, some have very little, most have a comfortable life but don't really care about a lot of extras that urban America does. -snip- The real danger comes from the hollers where drugs have replaced moonshining. Pot loves the rich soil in many of those hollers. Meth labs are real. Those people do not represent the overwhelming percentage of the people in Appalachia but they damn sure exist. Wander into one of those hollers and you will have trouble. It's a shame, I love Appalachian lore. I read the Foxfire volumes cover to cover dozens of times, and done a few trips to hike the area. Beautiful place, some wonderful people. I'd love to live there one day, but the threat of crime that comes with rampant drug abuse and general hostility of outsiders keeps me nervous. I dont know if investing my retirement wealth into an area that may socially reject me as an outsider is wise. |
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