Heritage
Friends of Blackwater celebrates the rich history of the Blackwater Canyon area through educational materials, interpretive signs, guided tours, and more.
New Signs at Davis City Park
Friends of Blackwater have a brand new set of signs currently standing in Davis City Park near the pavilion, uses historic photos and maps to show the evolution of the sawmill complex that sat between the Blackwater River and the Town. The original plan was for Emmie, Cheyenne, and I to dig up all the […]
New Vinyl Banners along Blackwater Rail Trail!
Recently, Friends of Blackwater, in collaboration with historian David Vago, have made some vinyl banners that are currently hanging along the Blackwater Rail Trail. These banners focus on the history surrounding the city of Thomas, particularly about the railroads and the various industries that helped make the town boom in its hay day. The first […]
Tucker County WV Railroad Heritage Webinar Recording
Tucker County, West Virginia has a rich heritage of railroading, coal mining, and timbering. You can explore historic sites, and learn hidden stories from the past, in a one-hour live, interactive Zoom webinar with historian David Vago on a webinar that was hosted on October 29th- click here to view the recording of this educational […]
Celebrating WV Women Trailblazers
Happy 100th anniversary to the 19th Amendment! On August 19th in 1920, Tennessee became the 50th state to ratify the 19th amendment, granting women across the United States the right to vote and 8 days later on August 26th, when we now celebrate Women’s Equality Day, it was signed into law. Friends of Blackwater is […]
Coke Oven Clean Up 2020- Success!
On Saturday, August 15th at 10 a.m., we cleaned up the iconic coke ovens along the Blackwater Rail Trail to Douglas Falls. These ovens have interpretive signs, benches, and a bike rack, but have become so overgrown with vegetation that threatens to cover them up and weaken the structural integrity of these historic structure. We […]
Meet our new Heritage Vista!
Hello, Friends of Blackwater supporters. My name is Alicia Erjavec and I have been raised in West Virginia almost my entire life. I grew up in Clarksburg and graduated from Robert C. Byrd High School in 2015. I also graduated from Fairmont State University this past December with a degree in English Literature and a […]
Watch Now – “Shootout at the Depot” Webinar
Thanks to everyone who joined us for “Shootout at the Depot” – How a 19th Century Tucker County Gunfight Became a National News Sensation, and Pitted Neighbor Against Neighbor! Between Zoom registrants and Facebook attendees, we had over 50 people attend the live stream of this event, and we’re excited to share a recording of […]
Watch Now – Industrial Immigration in Tucker County Webinar
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this wonderful webinar with Dr. Hal Gorby from WVU! Between Zoom attendees and people streaming via Facebook, we had a live audience of over 40 people join us for the event. If you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry – you can watch a recorded version of the […]
Gene Stratton-Porter: A Conservation Legacy
As famous in her heyday as any contemporary author today, Gene Stratton-Porter was a celebrated naturalist, author, photographer, and film producer. Born in Indiana in 1863, she grew up with a love of nature, especially birds, and spent her childhood roaming farms and forests, learning about their unique habitats and capturing the beauty of the […]