Hank Thompson Flood Story 1-28-1986 

Harold Trivett was born on May 13, 1924, in Dickenson County, Flatwood. He was raised on a large farm of 1,560 acres, where he learned farming from a young age. By the time he was five, he was already milking cows, and by six, he was milking two cows, walking two miles to school, and then returning to milk them again. Harold completed his education at Virginia Tech (VPI). After finishing school, he worked in a store in Haysi for three years before moving to Grundy, where he built a building and started a business named Arington Trivett, also known as the Family Shop, in 1950.

Harvey Morgan interview; Luncheon talk following interview with mother.

Helen Combs Johnson was born on February 7, 1912, in Grundy, Virginia, where she was also raised. She was delivered by her uncle, who was a doctor, in her family home located downtown, where the Combs Building currently stands. Her early childhood was marked by a significant event when the town burned down on Christmas Eve in 1915. Johnson, along with her brother, was rolled up in a blanket and taken to safety by her parents, who managed to save most of their wedding presents before their home was consumed by the fire.

On February 14, 1986, Michael Kline interviewed Helen Sites in Tucker County, West Virginia, for the Tucker County Flood Audio Recordings project. Sites recounts her upbringing in a large family of fourteen children on a farm in Brushy Run, Wingo, where her father, Guy Auville, also ran a store and post office. She describes her experiences during the November 4, 1985, flood, detailing the days of continuous rain leading up to the disaster and the harrowing moments when rising water forced her and her friend Helen Wooddale to seek shelter in a nearby barn.

Michael Kline interviewed Henry Gwyn Edwards for the Steamboat Era Museum Oral History Project. Henry Gwyn Edwards, born on December 18, 1904, in Mill Point, grew up in the area and still resides near his childhood home.  Edwards provides background about his early life, education, and career. He recounts his reluctance to attend school as a child and how his father took him on horseback to his first day of school. He completed his education at Cubs Creek High School, the only high school in the county at that time.

At that time, you didn’t buy the oysters.  You bought the man and the boat.  Now, the white man got from five to ten cents more on a bushel than the colored person got.  Same oysters, but that’s the way they worked the system.

Dr. Jim Vangundy interview 4-17-1986 

Jimmy Hall is a native of Knott County, Kentucky, with deep familial roots in the region. His ancestors, having emigrated from England, settled in Kentucky following the Revolutionary War, establishing a lineage that would endure the trials and transformations of the area. Hall's childhood unfolded in Shingle Branch, where he witnessed the construction of Carr Creek Lake—a development that would forever alter the landscape he knew.

Joe Hall is a long-time resident of Knott County, Kentucky, with deep roots in the community and a wealth of personal history tied to the region. His life story is interwoven with the landscape of Knott County, from the rural farmlands of his youth to the environmental transformations that have since taken place. Hall's experiences span the educational, ecological, and cultural shifts within the area, including the evolution of local schools and the construction of significant infrastructure.