African-American history in the New River Gorge National River and adjacent state parks will be featured Friday through Sunday during the National Park Service-sponsored Hidden History Weekend.
The annual event celebrates the New River Gorge area's Appalachian heritage, historic sites and cultural diversity through a series of exhibits, performances, hikes and community service projects. All programs are free unless otherwise noted.
This year's schedule of Hidden History Weekend events includes:
Artists in Action - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Tamarack in Beckley. Visit wood carver David Bragg and jeweler Mary Redman and see how each mastered their art forms using traditional materials. The 2015 Hidden History Photo Contest exhibit will also be on display. Program will also take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
River History Trek - 2 to 5 p.m., Pipestem Resort State Park. Meet at the top of the Pipestem tramway and take part in a 3.5-mile hike along the Old Bench Road and several park trails to look for clues of community life in the settlements of Pipestem and Lerona. The hike route passes old homesites and a cemetery. Participants should bring an extra pair of wading shoes to ford the Bluestone River at the end of the hike, and $2 to ride the tram back to starting point.
Hinton History Walking Tour - 5:30 to 7 p.m. Meet in the parking lot behind the Hinton Post Office. Explore Hinton's historic district and discover the rich railroad heritage of the town. Visit historic homes, freight and passenger depots, the Campbell-Flannagan-Murrell House Museum and the Railroad Museum. Lore of Appalachia Night Hike - 7 to 9 p.m. Bring a flashlight and meet at the Rend Trailhead along W.Va. 25 near Thurmond for a two-mile walk during which some of the Gorge's legends and superstitions will be detailed. Not recommended for children under 9.
Quinnimont Church Service Project - 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meet at Grandview Visitor Center and take a bus to the service project site, where volunteers will lend a hand to preserve historic Quinnimont Church, which will be included in a future African-American heritage driving tour of the park. Volunteer spaces are limited and reservations are required. Call 304-465-2634 or send email to adrienne_jenkins@nps.gov.
Bluestone Walk - 10 a.m. to noon. Bring hiking boots and meet at the bottom of Pipestem Resort State Park's tramway for a two-mile walk along the Bluestone National Scenic River to find signs of the Bluestone Gorge's earliest settlers.
Extended Historic Thurmond Tour - 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meet at Thurmond Depot Visitor Center for a one-mile walk through the once-bustling railroad town's historic district.
African American Heritage Celebration - 1:30 to 6 p.m., Cliffside Amphitheater at Grandview. Explore the African-American history and traditions of the New River Gorge through performances and historic exhibit stations covering railroading, coal mining, John Henry and Carter G. Woodson, and learn ways to record family stories. Participants are urged to bring historic photos from the New River Gorge for scanning to help build the park's historic records collection. From 2 to 3 p.m., Joseph Bundy of the West Virginia Humanities Council's History Alive program will portray Martin Delany, one of the first black commissioned field officers of the Civil War, and a leader in the Underground Railroad movement. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., performances by gospel groups, including the Gospel Reunion and Mount Vernon Ministries Choir will take place.
Main Street Bramwell History Tour - 2 to 3 p.m. Meet at the Coal Heritage Interpretive Center in the former Bramwell railroad depot and join Mayor Mary Lou Stoker for a tour of Bramwell's downtown historic district and hear stories of the town's early coal prospectors and mine operators and their families.
Milling Around at Glade Creek Grist Mill - 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Meet at Babcock State Park's Glade Creek Grist Mill to explore the inner workings of a grist mill and learn how this tool helped provide a food staple for people's daily lives. The program will be repeated from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Jordan's Chapel Tour - 3 to 5 p.m. Meet in the lobby of McKeever Lodge at Pipestem Resort State Park to car caravan to the site of this historic Methodist church, built in 1852.
Campfire Stories: History by the Fire - 8 to 9 p.m. Meet at Twin Falls Resort State Park's campground campfire circle, where David "Bugs" Stover will tell local ghost stories and offer tales of life and work in the coal mines.
Historic Nuttalburg Tour - 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet at Canyon Rim Visitor Center near Fayetteville to car caravan to the site, where participants will explore, through a one-mile walk, one of the largest and longest-operating mines of the early 1920s in the New River Gorge.
Country Roads Walk - 10 to 11:30 a.m. Meet at Pipestem Resort State Park's park headquarters building for a 1.5-mile walk to explore Pipestem's pre-park history, including a former school and abandoned home sites.
Historic Thurmond Tour - 11 a.m. to noon. Meet at Thurmond Depot Visitor Center for a half-mile walk through the former boom town's historic district.
Sunday@Two: Harriet Tubman - 2 to 3 p.m. in the Hulett C. Smith Theater at Tamarack in Beckley. Ilene Evans of the West Virginia Humanities Council's History Alive program will portray escaped slave and Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman in a living history performance.
Ranger's Choice: Railroading - 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Canyon Rim Visitor Center near Fayetteville. Come and go as you please during an informal talk about the history of railroading in the New River Gorge.
Fun Around the Campfire - 6 to 8 p.m. Bring a camp chair, blanket and a favorite campfire snack and join National Park Service rangers and youth leaders from Youth Arts in the Parks at the Burnwood Day Use Area across U.S. 19 from the Canyon Rim Visitor Center for songs and stories about the history and traditions of camping.
For more information on this year's hidden history programs, contact Jodi French-Burr at 304-574-2115 or jodi_french-burr@nps.gov.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com, 304-348-5169 or follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.