Historic Explorations is based in the coalfields of southwest Virginia. We cover a diverse amount of history, including coal mining and local history throughout the Appalachian Mountains. We also cover entertainment history, from Hollywood’s golden days to music icons.
In this special episode of Historic Explorations, I had the privilege of sitting down with Peggy Beverly of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, for a heartfelt conversation that reaches across more than a century of life, memory, and change in Southwest Virginia. Born on Christmas Day in 1924, Peggy’s life began in the mountains of Wise County during a time when the region was shaped by coal camps, close-knit communities, hard work, church life, and families who learned to make do through difficult times. Raised in Norton, Virginia, Peggy came of age during the Great Depression and graduated from Norton High School in 1943, right in the middle of World War II — a period that left a lasting mark on her generation and on communities throughout Appalachia.
Throughout her life, Peggy witnessed extraordinary changes in the world around her, from the hardships of the Depression and the uncertainty of wartime America to the rise of modern technology, shifting community life, and the transformation of Southwest Virginia over the decades. She built a life rooted in family, faith, service, and place. In 1947, she married Charles F. Beverly, beginning a life together that became part of the fabric of Big Stone Gap and Wise County. Her memories offer a personal window into a generation that valued perseverance, humility, loyalty, and the simple but powerful importance of helping one another.
Peggy also gave many years of service through her work and community involvement. She worked at People’s Life Insurance and First National Bank before becoming part of the early story of Mountain Empire Community College, joining MECC when it opened in 1972 and serving there until her retirement in 1987. Through her work at the college, Peggy helped students and families at a time when education was opening new doors for people across the coalfields and mountain communities of Southwest Virginia. Her role was more than employment — it was a form of quiet service that touched lives in meaningful ways.
After retirement, Peggy continued to pour herself into the community she loved. She volunteered for more than three decades at The Fox House, remained active through Trinity United Methodist Church, and participated in local organizations such as the Dogwood Garden Club and the Big Stone Gap Music Club. Her life reflects the kind of steady dedication that often does not make headlines, but deeply shapes a town: showing up, serving others, preserving community ties, and carrying forward the values of faith, kindness, and responsibility.
This conversation with Peggy Beverly is more than an interview — it is a living piece of Appalachian history. Her voice carries the wisdom of 101 years, the memory of a changing region, and the grace of someone who has lived through hardship, joy, loss, love, and service. Through her story, listeners are reminded that history is not only found in old buildings, archives, or textbooks; it also lives in the memories of people who have seen the world change and still hold close the values that shaped them. Peggy’s life stands as a beautiful tribute to Wise County, Big Stone Gap, and the enduring strength of Southwest Virginia’s people.
When the Minor Building first rose in 1908, it symbolized Big Stone Gap’s optimism during a time of rapid industrial growth. Designed with classical architectural elements and built to serve a bustling Appalachian town, the structure quickly became more than just an office space—it became a community hub. Over the years, it housed a well-known dentist office, and it provided meeting space for the local Masonic lodge, whose members carried out generations of tradition within its walls. Eventually, the building transitioned into the corporate headquarters of the Westmoreland Mining Company, a dominant force in the region’s coal economy. During that early era of excitement and expansion, workers placed a time capsule inside the building—sealed in 1908 and hidden for more than a century.
More than 117 years later, when a local couple purchased the aging structure, they never expected the building to reveal such a layered past. What began as a restoration project soon became a full-scale historical uncovering. As they walked through old rooms, examined the original architecture, and uncovered remnants left by dentists, lodge members, and mining executives alike, the couple realized they were stepping into a preserved story of community life, labor, and local memory.
Their discoveries deepened when they found a forgotten collection of photographs and documents from the 1970s through the early 1990s—visual records of daily operations at Westmoreland Mining. These photos revealed the people who worked there, the offices they occupied, and the routines that shaped decades of Appalachian industry. The images helped map the building’s evolution, capturing not only corporate life but the small, human details that connected the Minor Building to generations of residents.
Then came the building’s greatest revelation: a 1908 time capsule hidden within its walls since the day construction finished. Inside were newspapers, civic documents, symbolic items, and artifacts offering a vivid snapshot of life in early 20th-century Big Stone Gap. The capsule connected the building’s earliest purpose—before the dentist’s drill hummed or the Masonic lodge met—to the aspirations of the town’s founders. Opening it was like hearing a voice from the past, reminding the community of who they were and who they hoped to become.
This episode takes listeners inside that remarkable journey. From the building’s multifunctional past—medical care, fraternal gatherings, industrial management—to its rediscovery and rebirth, we explore how its new owners have become caretakers of Big Stone Gap’s heritage. As they work to transform the Minor Building into an antique mall, they aim to honor every layer of its history, displaying artifacts, preserving stories, and creating a place where visitors can feel the past in the present. This is the story of a building that never stopped remembering—and of a community rediscovering itself through what it left behind.