A small dot on West Virginia’s map is well on its way to becoming a destination, and it’s called Wardensville
Recent Stories from the Magazine
The Kids Aren’t Alright
Kids across the state are struggling. Has Morgan County’s school system found a solution? The first thing Pastor Howard Swick did when he heard Philip Barbour High School was on lockdown was check on his daughters. They were both safe—they’d been evacuated that afternoon, with 700 others, to the football field. The second thing he did was drive over to…
Read More
Raw & Order
Unpasteurized milk: God-given right, economic boon, or public health hazard? On April 1 of this year, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed a veto letter killing Senate Bill 30, saying it “posed a serious risk to public health.” The Legislature thought otherwise. Lawmakers had passed the bill days earlier with overwhelming support—96 voted for it and only 30 against. The backlash…
Read More
Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll
A Charleston musician wants to help children discover music with free instruments. Matthew Marks, guitarist for the popular Charleston band The Company Stores, remembers his first instrument fondly—it was a cheap electric model, bummed from a friend’s older brother. “I played the heck out of that thing,” he says. Once his parents saw his burgeoning talent, they got him a better instrument…
Read More
Through the Garden Gate
Touring Bluefield’s immaculate gardens is a delight for the senses. In the 20th century Bluefield was on fire. Its streets rumbled with passing coal trains, boiled with people, simmered with life. This southern West Virginia town sprang up from the soil of the bituminous industry, its population swelling fast as word got around that the valley boasted the largest deposit of soft burning coal in the world….
Read More