Denim Quilt, April 2007
2 months ago
It was the greatest disaster ever known to this Western Virginia mountain village.
On May 2, 1929, the unusually violent storm slammed into the little community of Rye Cove, VA in the mountains of Scott County.
During the storm a tornado directly struck the local two-story schoolhouse, with over 150 children and teachers inside. The building was completely leveled, and the debris caught fire from an overturned stove. Thirteen were killed. The dozens of injured were rushed by special train to the hospital in Bristol. 
A. P. Carter, of the famous Carter Family, was in the next valley on the day of the storm. He rushed to Rye Cove to help with the rescue efforts. He was touched by the horror of what he saw and soon composed "The Cyclone of Rye Cove." The Carter Family recorded the song that same year for RCA Victor.
"The Cyclone of Rye Cove"
Oh, give us a home far beyond the blue sky,
Where storms and cyclones are unknown,
And there by life's strand, we'll clasp with our glad hands
God's children in a heavenly home.
Oh, listen today in a story I tell,
In sadness and tear dimmed eye,
Of a dreadful cyclone that came this way,
And it blew our schoolhouse away.
CHORUS:
Rye Cove, (Rye Cove), Rye Cove, (Rye Cove),
The place of my childhood and home,
Where in life's early morn I once loved to roam,
But now it's so silent and lone.
When the cyclone appeared, it darkened the air,
And the lightning flashed over the sky,
And the children all cried, "Don't take us away,
And spare us to go back home."
There were mothers so dear and fathers the same,
That came to this horrible scene,
Searching and crying, each found her own child,
Dying on a pillow of stone
Related posts: "You've been fooling me baby"
"It was daytime, but the sky was as dark as night"
sources: www.blueridgeinstitute.org/ballads/audio.html
scott.k12.va.us/rci/Transcript.htm
cyclone+of+Rye+Cove Rye+Cove+Va Carter+Family AP+Carter appalachia appalachian+mountains+history appalachian+history
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There's some Appalachian history
at my blog.
said...
12:05 AM
There's consistently fantastic articles on this site mate.
I pretty much read nearly everything - it's probably only one of a handful of blogs that catch my attention.
I hope the that inclusion on History Nexus and the History Widget has brought you some more visitors.
I appreciate the time you spent on this blog - tell me, do have a number of articles written that you present on a regular basis, or do you write when you uncover the items through research as you go on?
What's your number of visitors like? There are so many blogs out there it's hard to make a mark in the Google rankings.
The plan is with History Nexus to add a blog in itself sometime soon, but to me more focused on the structure of history blogging rather than opinionated items in itself - hopefully your consent to an interview when this happens. :)
Anonymous said...
1:59 PM
>>There's consistently fantastic articles on this site >>mate.
>>I pretty much read nearly everything - it's >>probably only one of a handful of blogs that >>catch my attention.
Coming from someone who makes it his business to find engaging history blogs, that's quite a high compliment!
>>Tell me, do have a number of articles written >>that you present on a regular basis, or do you >>write when you uncover the items through >>research as you go on?
Both. Sometimes, as with this tornado article, I can write the article well ahead of time, knowing that it will run on the calendar date that matches the event itself. Other times I'll be doing research on my main topic and encounter some unexpected find which in turn becomes a spin-off article all its own.
>>What's your number of visitors like? There are so >>many blogs out there it's hard to make a mark >>in the Google rankings.
Currently about 175 visitors a day stop by. Not a huge audience by internet standards, but I'm nonetheless absolutely tickled to find this many people consistently interested in Appalachia.
It IS hard to make a mark in Google rankings, but that's never been my own main goal. I think bloggers who have a clear sense of what they want to communicate, are disciplined, passionate, and have a game plan will end up rising in the rankings as all those qualities show through in the blog itself.
>>The plan is with History Nexus to add a blog in >>itself sometime soon, but to me more focused >>on the structure of history blogging rather than >>opinionated items in itself - hopefully your >>consent to an interview when this happens. :)
Well, I don't pretend to hold myself up as an authority on anything, but I'd certainly be happy to discuss the challenges of blogging about history with you, yes.
Dave Tabler said...
8:47 PM