LENOIR, N.C. – The Appalachian Chronicle is marking nearly 12 years of telling stories about Appalachia. Our first article was published June 28, 2012.

The first two posts were about the history of how the Piedmont of North Carolina was connected to the Appalachians. This is appropriate, for our time during the past decade has been split between here at our current home in Western North Carolina and two communities In West Virginia — Sweet Springs in the south and Weston in the north.

In West Virginia, I have covered Mountaintop Removal, and fracking, including construction of the Stonewall Gas Gathering Pipeline, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. My work at a local hospital in West Virginia and the gas companies themselves, who couldn’t seem to hold a community meeting without lording it over the local residents and landowners, led to my decade-long coverage of the issue. In time, I wrote Fractured Sanctuary: A Chronicle of Grassroots Activists Fighting Pipelines of Destruction through Appalachia.

But I have also written about so much more, including on the topics below (with some relevant links). During this time, we have published more than 400 articles that have reached more than 200,000 readers; that does not include any articles forwarded or re-posted. Additionally, I have a periodic weekly column in a printed newspaper in southern West Virginia that reaches approximately 10,500 readers a week.

We also, with the help of many organizations and individuals, held the Preserving Sacred Appalachia Conference in 2015. In 2019, we helped with the Sweet Springs Sustainability Forum in Sweet Springs, W.Va.; in February of last year, we published my book. I also conducted my “Community of Writers” workshop at the Lenoir Branch of the Caldwell County, N.C. library in 2016.

Still, we want to extend our reach. Whether your interest is ecology or music – or any of the topics below – we’ve got you covered. That’s where you come in. Please take a moment to share this with other folks and invite them to visit the site. Remember, the subscription is complimentary. Encourage them to also check out our About and Ethics pages. We work hard to bring unique, diverse and in-depth reporting you won’t find elsewhere.

Now, to our Topics list and a sampling of related articles:

Art

1. Yadkin Arts Council to Host Leslie Karpinski’s ‘Paths & Journeys’; to Open Sept. 7
2. Art Exhibit to Explore Impact of Mountain Top Removal and Fracking

Disaster Preparedness

1. Ohio Train Derailment Raises Questions about Local Disaster Planning Across the USA
2. Coronavirus Requires Robust Local Response
3. Governors Must Fill the Leadership Gap

Ecology

1. Environmental Groups: Strip Mines Within the Monongahela Forest Proclamation Boundary are Big Polluters
2. Broyhill State Forest Made Possible by Determined Collaboration
3. The Climate Emergency and Appalachia
4. Appalachia a ‘Sacred Place Calling for a Spiritual Solution’ Says Forum Speaker

Education

1. Just Write! Think about a Special Place

Features

1. Catholic Committee of Appalachia Issues ‘People’s Pastoral’
2. Why and How the People are Leading on Climate Issues
3. The Power and Majesty of Water on Display at Wilson Creek
4. Cakewalk Summers: Growing up a West Virginian (4)
5. Why I’m Not Looking for the Fountain of Youth in My ‘Pensioner’ Years

Fracking

1. From ‘Almost Heaven’ to ‘Almost Hell’
2. ‘Pray and Delay’ v. Dominion, Duke
3. A Dirty Dozen Reasons to Oppose Fracking
4. Standing Their Ground
5. A Catholic Community Shares the Experience of Being a ‘Neighbor’ to the MVP in Southern West Virginia

Health Care

1. American Health Care is an Industry, Not a System
2. First Steps to Good Nutrition
3. UNC Health Caldwell Leaders Refuse Interview Requests to Explain Closure of Maternity Services
4. Commissioner Donnie Potter Concerned that UNC Health Caldwell has Eliminated Maternity Services
5. Patient and Donor Alert: Do as UNC Health Caldwell Wants – Go Elsewhere

History

1. Crossing the River: The Catawba Valley and the Appalachians (1747 – 1849)
2. Transportation Improvements Open the Blue Ridge to Piedmont Commerce
3. Lenoir History: ‘The damnedest little rebel town…’
4. The Messy Truth of how West Virginia became a State
5. Black Miners in the Battle of Blair Mountain
6. An Interview with Doc Watson

Music

1. Cullowhee to Play at 1841 Café this Saturday to Celebrate 50 Years of Creating Music Together
2. Thank You Kay, Patrick and Ron for Showcasing Caldwell’s Rich Aural Tradition
3. Milan Miller, IBMA 2020 Songwriter of the Year, to Play Lenoir on March 4
4. American Roots Music the Focus of ‘From the Hollows to the Honky-Tonks’
5. JAM: ‘Building Community One Tune at a Time’

Poetry

1. Companions
2. As I Look and Listen

Travel

1. Stomping Grounds
2. A Trip to the Beach is a Sure Sign You’re a West Virginian
3. Can’t Resist Sandstone Falls

© Michael M. Barrick, 2012-2024. Feature photo of dawn at Sweet Springs, W.Va.