West Virginia has been known for a century as a rich repository of traditional country music and musicians. Beginning in the mid-1920s, phonograph recordings and radios brought this music to a wider audience. With the passing of time and the influence of commercialization, this music developed into what became first known as "hillbilly" and then into the more refined "country" because of its long appeal to those of rural background. Although modernization has caused the traditional element to recede considerably, much still remains. Many folk still cling to the older sounds exemplified by the...

For nearly two centuries, Meigs County has occupied the near-center of the Buckeye State's frontage on the beautiful Ohio River. After British and German pioneer farmers initially settled the area, the founding fathers of Meigs County took advantage of river commerce and developed an industrial base by mining for salt and coal, which found markets downstream. In the 1880s, when railroads crossed the county, Hobson Yards and Hobson provided employment for hundreds of "Iron Horse" workers. With the demise of both steam locomotives and the agrarian economy, Meigs languished for a time until a...