West Virginia Hillbilly

Emile Hodel became editor of the Beckley Post-Herald

Michael Benedum built the Bridgeport Civic Center

Reorganization transferred state mental health and penal institutions to Department of Mental Health and the Commissioner of Public Institutions

Weirton Steel purchased Browns Island for $40,000

S. Maude Kaemmerling willed 3,135 acres of land in Canaan Valley to West Virginia for recreational use

FMC developed new source of brine at Bens Run

City National Bank opened its doors under President Donald Shonk

Bishop mine explodes again

Deer restocking program ended

Roy Bird Cook received the Award of Merit from the West Virginia Library Association

Little Jimmy Dickens left the Grand Ole Opry

Irvin Dugan retired as newspaper artist

Donald Duncan's sons took over the Duncan Yo-Yo Company

Fairfax Stone dedicated as state historic monument and became state park

Gunner Gatski played football one year for Detroit

The Knights of the South Branch was organized to revive medieval jousting

Roy Lee Harmon wrote Unto the Hills

Logan High School and its field house and athletic fields were constructed on Hatfield Island

Ken Hechler moved to West Virginia to teach at Marshall College (now University)

The first interstate highway construction contract in the state was awarded on I-64 for a bridge across a road in Cabell County

Jean Lee Latham was awarded the Boys' Clubs of America Junior Book Award for Trail Blazer of the Seas

The McClains were approached by WVU professors who feared that early West Virginia histories would be lost if not reprinted

Kyle McCormick wrote The Story of Mercer County

John Norman served on the aircraft carrier Saratoga

A group from West Virginia and Ohio purchased land to establish a college with an independent board of trustees, now Ohio Valley University

Marbon Chemical is built

The announcement of plans to merge the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central System was made

Filippo Colasessano's son began selling pepperoni rolls in his Fairmont lunch spot

The Division of Disease Control began a statewide polio vaccination program

The Kanawha River bridge was opened in Winfield

Red Ribble stopped photographing southern West Virginia

Otis Rice began teaching at West Virginia Institute of Technology

The Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company company stores were sold

The Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company coal reserves were leased to the Island Creek Coal Company

Jay Rockefeller went to the International Christian University in Tokyo

Shenandoah Downs purchased land north of Charles Town Race Track for night harness racing

WVU Rod Hundley became All-American in basketball

Jim Sprouse began practicing law

Beckley radio station WAJR increased to 5,000 watts

Ernest T. Weir died

The last high school basketball was played under the African-American West Virginia Athletic Union

Benjamin Starks founded the Beacon Journal in Charleston

The Federation of Labor and Industrial Union Council agreed to combine as the West Virginia Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

West Virginia State College lost its federal land-grant status

Stanley H. Martin became president of West Virginia Wesleyan College

The Whipple mine shut down and the company store closed

The Winfield bridge was completed

WSAZ radio switched affiliation to NBC

A craft sales shop was established at the Culture Center in Charleston

Ruth Ann Musick published Coffin Hollow

It was discovered that Friars Hole Cave connected with Snedegars Cave

Glade Creek Mill was dedicated

Excavation at Grave Creek Mound by the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey identified a moat surrounding the mound

K. K. Hall granted injunctions against a wildcat coal strike

The Raleigh Register and Post-Herald of Beckley were sold to Clay Communications

Recorded 26 instant libraries serving the residents of West Virginia

Corridor E (now I-68) was completed as part of the Appalachian Development Highway system

Kanawha Valley Bank moved into the new One Valley Square building

Logan County began production of the drama, The Aracoma Story

Harley Warrick painted a Mail Pouch sign in the State Museum

Three new justices were seated on the five-member court after the general election

Kathy Mattea entered WVU

Irene McKinney published her first book of poems, The Girl with the Stone in Her Lap

New Mennonite Congregation started in Monroe County

The Midwives Alliance of West Virginia was founded

Alan Mollohan married Barbara Whiting

Morgan Morgan's log house was restored by the Berkeley County Historical Society

The Morgantown Dominion Post began publishing once a day

Two cougars were captured in Pocahontas County

The Greenbrier Historical Society moved its museum from the city library to the North House

Breece D'J Pancake entered the creative writing program at University of Virginia

Jayne Anne Phillips enrolled in the University of Iowa's Writers Workshop

A stone was dedicated in Lewisburg to honor Dick Pointer's heroism

Pricketts Fort State Park opened during the 1976 Bicentennial

Elinor Horwitz wrote Contemporary Folk Artists

Otis Rice became book review editor of West Virginia History

Soupy Sales hosted ABC's Junior Almost Anything Goes

Chris Sarandon was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and a Best Acting Debut Golden Globe Award for Dog Day Afternoon

Red Sovine wrote the song "Teddy Bear"

Anne Spencer's Lynchburg home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

The West Virginia State Farm Museum was started by Walden Roush

The Stifel family deeded the Edemar estate to Oglebay Institute for a fine arts center

Boyd Stutler's John Brown materials were acquired by the State Archives

The Ohio Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation was chartered by the Unitarian Universalist Association

Control of the WAJR company was transferred to the Greer family heirs

Uncle Homer Walker performed at the Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife

Charles W. Ferguson II died

WesBanco became a bank holding company

The Archives and History moved to the Culture Center

The West Virginia Department of Culture and History was created by legislature

Wheeling Downs began dog racing

The WVSSAC reestablished the girls state basketball tournament

The Graham House was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Barry Vance moved permanently to West Virginia

John Chambers went to work for IBM

John McKay became coach of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

State legislature passed and county residents endorsed Sunday racing at Mountaineer Race Track

A baccalaureate degree in Bible was added at Ohio Valley College (now University)

William Price McNeel became editor of the Pocahontas Times

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel began construction of continuous caster

State ex rel. Board of Education v. Rockefeller changed the financing of public schools

Union Carbide headquarters moved to Danbury, Connecticut

The elecro-metallurgical plant at Alloy was sold to the Elkem Company

Legislature gave the governor the authority to appoint the director of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey

Mike Shott became general manager of WHIS radio

Meredith Sue Willis wrote Higher Ground

Margaret Workman was appointed to an unexpired term on the Kanawha Circuit Court by Governor Rockefeller

WVMR began broadcasting on 1370 AM

U.S. 48 redesignated as I-68

Study concluded a $23 million plan for a lodge, cottages, and a golf course

Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital added a Medical Office in Parkersburg

Robert L. Smith retired as Charleston Gazette publisher

Key Centurion Bancshares purchased by Bank One

Roy Clarkson retired as professor emeritus at WVU

Clover Archeological Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Stephen Coonts was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni

Drover's Inn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

L. A. Puopolo directed The Turning

Ruel Foster co-wrote with Bob Conner Buck: A Life Sketch of James H. Harless

Denise Giardina published The Unquiet Earth

Denise Giardina published The Unquiet Earth

Little Sleepy Glenn was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame

Charles James III moved the James Produce Company to California

Pickney Benedict published Wrecking Yard

Mail Pouch Tobacco stopped painting signs

Ellie Mannette arrived in Morgantown

The William Penn Association closed the Mount St. George facility

MTR Gaming Group purchased the Chester track and named it Mountaineer Park

Camp Twin Creeks at Minnehaha Springs became coed

The West Virginia Motorsports Council was established by Governor Wise

Mountain Stage began broadcasting on public television

North Bend State Park added a 305-acre lake

Brad Paisley joined the Grand Ole Opry

Ashby Berkley and his sister sold the Pence Springs property

Jayne Anne Phillips published Motherkind

Pilgrim's Pride bought out WLR Foods poultry processors

The PROMISE scholarship was funded

The governance role in St. Joseph's Hospital by the Sisters of St. Joseph ended

Mary Lee Settle wrote I, Roger Williams

Michael Smith performed at the presidential inaugural prayer service

The Smoke Hole Lodge closed

Surface mining production was 60 million tons

The Thomas Memorial emergency center was expanded

Marsh Wheeling Stogies stopped making cigars

Joseph Carter was elected president of UMWA District 17

The West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association merged with the West Virginia Coal Association

Carl J. Smith began serving as director of the Geological and Economic Survey

Grant Cooper became conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Major renovations took place at Kanawha Airport