Red Sulphur Springs Time Capsule House

A few weeks ago, we visited the old Jim Dunlap house in Indian Creek, Red Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, WV. The property is essentially an 1830s-40s time capsule. It’s never had indoor plumbing, and retains all of its original woodwork and paint. You’d never know it was there, hidden up an overgrown farm road, located on a knoll overlooking Indian Creek near its mouth at the New River. Nearby is an old cemetery with some interesting burials of notable people who died while vacationing at the nearby Red Sulphur Springs resort, circa 1830s through the Civil War. The property is for sale, with some acreage. Hopefully someone saves this beautiful property.

Byrnside’s Fort Open House and the Farmer’s Day Parade 2022

We had great turnout at our first open house at Byrnside’s Fort on Friday evening, June 3, Farmer’s Day weekend 2022 here in Union, West Virginia. Here’s also a couple pics of the Farmer’s Day parade on Saturday was so long, it reportedly took an hour and a half to finish. I was limited to watching it via drone however, since I had chicken wings on the grill. The little town of Union hosts thousands of people each year for this little celebration of rural life. Even for the open house on Friday evening, so many people turned out that I didn’t even get a chance to speak with everyone. We learned some great ideas for the next open house, which we’ll try to get scheduled soon. Thanks everyone for showing up, as well as for the numerous folks who reached out to send regrets. Here are a few pics.

Confederate Civil War Camp Found Near Union, WV

Recently, Bill Burns of Union, WV found the site of a Civil War camp occupied by Confederate soldiers. Many of the finds tell the story of Civil War camp life, including the .58 caliber Gardner bullet, carved into a chess piece, along with a flattened and marked lead gaming piece. Also found were pewter harmonica reeds, coins, buttons and buckles, including the fantastic brass Confederate “heavy frame” buckle. These would date prior to Federal occupation of the southern Greenbrier Valley, most likely circa 1861-63.

John Over’s 1777 Powder Horn

This antique powder horn is dated 1777 and belonged to John Over. He was drafted into the Lancaster County militia in 1777 and sent to guard the frontier gaps and fords along the Delaware River. One can imagine him passing time that summer, scratching his name and date onto his horn, in a manner much like we may doodle during zoom meetings today. He would serve in the subsequent years as well in the war, which we know was quite interesting, since his pension statement survives, detailing his service.

Byrnside’s Fort Open House – Farmer’s Day Weekend 2022

Join us on Friday, June 3, 2022 from 5 pm to 8 pm at the site of Byrnside’s Fort, 1 mile South of Union, West Virginia on Willow Bend Road, for an open house. This is Friday evening during Union’s annual Farmer’s Day celebration. Come check out the preservation progress on Byrnside’s Fort, as well as the artifacts we’ve found. Here’s a link to the Facebook event page:

18th Century Iron Kettle Excavated at Byrnside’s Fort

This 18th century iron cooking kettle was found in the yard at Byrnside’s Fort. Here it is next to a larger non-excavated example, which survived at a nearby fort site about 9 miles away. Usually you find them in much smaller pieces. These early examples generally have no markings on them, other than casting marks and designs. This example appears to have been used until completely worn out, and then buried in a nearby pit with other refuse. This was one of those simple necessities which would have been carried over the mountains via pack horse, utilizing precious cargo space. Therefore they were used until the bottom eventually failed, which is probably what happened with this kettle.

The Attack on Donnally’s Fort – a Revolutionary War Battle in the Greenbrier Valley

Few people realize that there was a Revolutionary War battle in West Virginia’s Greenbrier Valley. It wasn’t fought between the British and Americans, but rather between the native allies of the British and the frontier settlers and militiamen of Virginia’s Greenbrier Valley. I’ve previously researched the site, and even found a human tooth, possibly from the battle. Check out the recent drone footage of the site, which provides a unique perspective on one of West Virginia’s few Revolutionary War sites.

The Historic Map-Dot Called Lowell, West Virginia

In June of 2019, I wrote about the relatively unknown Gwinn home, well maintained and preserved along the Greenbrier River at a dot-on-the-map known as Lowell, West Virginia. This is now in Summers County, West Virginia, just barely across the border from Monroe County, and indeed originally a part of Monroe County (then Virginia). On Saturday, February 12, 2022, I finally made my way back over there to attempt to acquire some better photographs of the place and surrounding area. Sometimes in the winter time you can get a better view of things, without the leaves on the trees and tall grasses and other foliage. But for some reason this place just really doesn’t like to be photographed, instead preferring to remain in the shadows.

Recent Drone Photos Showing the Site of the Battle of Point Pleasant

On the evening of Friday, January 24, 2022, I flew my drone over Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The setting sun appeared to be shining a spotlight on the old battleground from Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774. From this angle you get a great view of the perspective of the battlefield. General Lewis’s army was camped right here at the point. However, the battle itself took place throughout what is modern-day Point Pleasant. There’s a lot of history buried on this little stretch of ground….

An 1851 Chickering Piano and the Virginia War Musicians

We acquired the antique Chickering piano at the auction of the contents of the Dickson property late last year, which was full of local Greenbrier Valley history. It was sort of a sight-unseen type of thing, and we knew nothing about antique pianos, or even moving them. Recently, I was able to learn more about the piano after discovering that one of my clients was an expert on antique pianos. We still need to get it moved, so a couple of days ago I took her out to look at the piece, as well as the logistics of moving it. She was able to find the serial number, indicating an initial manufacture date of 1851. She was also able to find some other markings written in pencil on some wood inside the piano.