Alvin Goins was a hard worker who, like many Appalachian men of his time, never finished school and was unable to read or write. That never stopped him from getting work as a laborer in and around his home of Rhea County, Tennessee.

But Mr. Goins was a little bit different.

He was a mathematical genius, able to look at a pile of block, bricks and lumber and calculate in his head, almost to the last piece of wood, how much material would be needed to do the job.

Today we tell his story.

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Starting in the latter part of the 19th century and continuing up into the 20th century a valley in Clay County, West Virginia, became the site of a series of mysterious disappearances and deaths.

It only stopped with the aid of an organized mob (yeah, we know, an oxymoron, but also true).

Today we tell the story of the mysterious Booger Hole.

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On Friday, August 14, 1914, three Glen Alum Coal Company employees were returning to the mine office with that week's payroll.

They didn't make it with the money to the mine alive.

Today we tell the story of the great Glen Alum payroll robbery.

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In 1912 a young man's life was transformed by his witnessing a historic tragedy: the infamous Carroll County courthouse shootout, which left several prominent lawyers, police officers and a judge dead. Bob Childress left a life of violence, ignorance and alcohol abuse for a life of faith and service, establishing several churches in his part of Appalachia, many of which still exist today.

Today we tell this man's remarkable story.

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The Pocahontas coal field, located in southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia, was one of the most productive coal areas in the United States. The town of Pocahontas, in Tazewell County, Virginia, and for which the field was named, was granted a town charter by Virginia on January 31, 1884.

Less than two months later tragedy struck when the Laurel (East) mine suffered a series of massive explosions powerful enough to move homes off their foundations and uproot massive trees.

Today we tell the story of the Laurel mine disaster of 1884, a tragedy that cost the lives of at least 114 men and boys.

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In November 1966 a man on his way home from work literally drove into Appalachian history when he encountered a UFO blocking his way on I-77 outside Parkersburg, West Virginia. Not only that, he actually "spoke" to the occupant of said UFO!

Today we tell the fascinating story of Woodrow Derenberger and his encounter with....something.

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In 1948 Clintwood, Virginia, held an election for the town's offices. After the campaigning, the voting, and the vote counting, something unique for it's time had happened: All of Clintwood's elected officials were women!

Today we tell the story of the first all-female elected government in Appalachia.

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From the 1930s to the 1980s an itinerant preacher from Georgia traveled throughout Appalachia and beyond in a ramshackle wagon pulled by a herd of goats. It was his way of spreading the gospel and of seeing the world beyond his home. Over those years Ches McCartney became world-renowned as the Goat Man.

Today we tell his story.

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In 1820 French orphan Martin Fugate and his wife Elizabeth arrived as new settlers in eastern Kentucky. Unknown to them, they carried genetic traits that would pass on to their descendants, causing many of them to have skin that was a purplish-blue color.

Today we tell the story of the blue people of Kentucky.

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On Christmas Eve, 1945, a mysterious fire broke out at the Fayetteville, West Virginia home of George and Jennie Sodder. Try as they might, George and his oldest son were unable to put out the fire, nor were they or their neighbors able to call for help, as all the phone lines in the area had stopped working. Five of the Sodder children were trapped inside the burning house, with no hope of rescue.

Then things got really strange.

Today we tell the story of the mysterious Christmas Eve fire and what may or may not have happened to those children.

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