Appalachia's Alternative to Mainstream America: A Personal Education

In many communities across North America in the 1960s and 1970s, the rural-relocation movement became both a way of life and a path forward for many people inclined to buck the mainstream—and Paul Salstrom embraced it. His experiences in rural Lincoln County, West Virginia, led him to the self-sufficient, “neighborly networking” lifestyle well known in many Appalachian communities since the early nineteenth century.

In Appalachia’s Alternative to Mainstream America, Salstrom outlines his App...