Hatfield & McCoy Homecoming Festival will help preserve history

LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - The Hatfield and McCoy families settled their famous feud by signing a truce nearly 20 years ago. That was the last time both families came together for a reunion festival. Now, there is a renewed energy in preserving the feud’s history and the Hatfield & McCoy Homecoming Festival will reunite the families once again.

“We’ve had a lot of visitors here from all over the world,” said Jackie Hatfield Jr.

Hatfield Jr. opened up a new museum at the last Hatfield homeplace in early 2022. He has gathered photos and artifacts, with the goal of bringing back as much history as he can. The Hatfield homeplace serves as the headquarters of the Hatfield & McCoy Foundation, a non-profit with both families involved. They’ve planned the Hatfield & McCoy Homecoming Festival for Oct. 6-8 in Williamson, West Virginia. The festival will bring the families together and bring the community together for a weekend of fun.

It will also serve as the foundation’s main fundraiser, enabling it to bring home additional pieces of the feud’s history that have been lost in time.

“The family lands were divided up, things were sold out of the homes before they were burned,” said Hatfield Jr.

Obtaining those items often comes at a cost. But Hatfield believes educating the public about the feuding families will spark folks who posses artifacts to come forward.

“We would love to revive the graveyard and take care of it the way it should be, as well as the Hatfield homeplace here,” said Hatfield Jr. “We’re hoping that we can bring in enough sponsors so that we don’t have to charge an entry fee or anything like that for the festival. But that will all depend on how much sponsorship we can get.”

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