History Unraveled Archive

In the early 1800s stenciling was the way to go if you wanted to decorate your walls and floors.  Wallpapering was new and expensive, while stenciling was easy to do and not a cost-prohibitive venture. Many patterns can be traced back to colonial New England. That being said, stenciled walls were therefore, all the rage.  […]

In 1920, local women formed the Greenbrier County Woman’s Association. Their goal was to create a community house in the red brick building on the corner of Lafayette and Washington Streets (where Brick House Antiques stands today). The community house was to have a public library, a first aid room, and quarters for the county […]

In 1750, freight wagons were a new transportation technology that transformed travel and commerce. These wagons were built to move goods between remote white settlements in Virginia and the Ohio River Valley to more established settlements like Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. The Coffman Wagon was employed by local merchants beginning in the late 1700s. […]

Did you know that Lewisburg once had a fortune-teller in town? Mildred Bess Carter was the daughter of Ed Carter, a Black barber in Lewisburg. When Mildred was born in August of 1895 she had a caul, or piece of amniotic sac that covered her face. According to legend this caul was why she was […]

Nancy Hart was a West Virginia woman who operated as a spy during the Civil War. Nancy, like the majority of men, women, children, and horses in our region, supported the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Nancy and other local Confederates believed that slavery and owning other people was an acceptable practice. While I totally […]

Looking for a new medicine to help your cold and flu symptoms? Looking for a new medicine to help your cold and flu symptoms? 100 years ago, you might have visited your local drug store for a patent medicine like Hill’s Bromide Cascara Quinine, as seen in this advert in the Greenbrier Independent from January […]

The evolution of Christmas in America is a case in point. Gaining a historical perspective on America is not easy with current events and social media sucking up all of the oxygen. However, looking back through the decades and centuries it seems clear that life in these United States has always been more or less […]