What are some of the local stories of myth that are popular in West Virginia that are often told within West Virginia literature are recited by West Virginia children?
The one that I know of is John Henry. John Henry was supposedly a slave who was freed after the war. He worked on the railroad laying down rails and putting in spikes. One day a new steam engine spike driller arrived and the company said that it would replace men. John Henry challenged it to a race. He put a 20 lb hammer in each hand and they started laying track and spiking them in. When the race was over John Henry won. He raised both hammers, but had an aneurysm then and there. The greatest driller in the C&O Railroad was dead. At least, that is how the legends go…