The History and Culture of Coalfields Southwest Virginia

Through the eyes of a lifelong Mountaineer

Residents of the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia are too often unaware of the intelligence, resilience, and fierce independent spirit of their ancestors.

A lack of balanced historical education focused on the region is part of the problem. Too many sources focus only on the negative aspects, and frequently those are biased, inaccurate, or both.

As a lifetime resident of Virginia’s coalfield counties, Frank Kilgore decided to tackle that problem. Drawing on his knowledge, education, and life experience as the descendant of generations of hard-working mountaineers, Frank shines a light on the best and brightest of mountain culture.

Learn about the hills and hollers of our beautiful region from a writer with deep knowledge and respect of the land, people, and surprising multicultural origins of far Southwest Virginia.

This new title begins with much of the historic and cultural material of Frank’s bestselling J.D. Vance Is a Fake Hillbilly from Fake Hillbilly Publishing and expands upon it, adding geology, natural history, and more emphasis on the accomplishments of our region’s best and brightest.