Nogay discusses latest update to his history book
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WEIRTON -- Michael Nogay doesn't want to see area residents lose their history.
It started with the influence of his father, who taught English and history, telling him of the importance of Harmon Creek, and continued with family postcards and letters, reading Allan W. Eckert's "That Dark and Bloody River," and eventually doing his own research.
"I started thinking more about Hollidays Cove," Nogay said, referring to the late 18th century community which later would become part of the current city of Weirton. "It got in my psyche."
The history of Hollidays Cove, which was founded in 1793 and grew up around a Revolutionary War fort, along with stories of local forts constructed throughout the Tri-State Area, are included in Nogay's book "Every Home A Fort, Every Man A Warrior."
"I wanted to make sure everything was preserved," he said of the book, which originally was published in 2009.
Nogay recently released a new, updated version of the book, which features a hardcover binding and color photographs of local landmarks, maps and muster rosters from some of the local forts.
The new version of the book currently is available for purchase at the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center at a cost of $20. Approximately 1,000 copies are available, and all proceeds will benefit the museum.
During a reception held Tuesday at the museum, Nogay explained many of the stories of the local forts, including Hollidays Cove Fort, Nessly's Blockhouse, Sappington's Fort and Fort Decker, had been passed down through oral history or had passing mentions in various books, little had been done to compile the information.
"We've talked about these places, but no one had done it," Nogay said.
Working with Dennis Jones, president of the Weirton museum, Nogay was able to create a map of all known fortifications in the area for inclusion in the 2009 paperback version of his book.
Through continued research, Nogay explained he found a lot of information about the size of Hollidays Cove Fort, and other areas, and felt it was time to update his publication. That work began about one year ago.
The included muster roster photos, for example, show that Hollidays Cove Fort, in 1777, had staffing of comparable size to Fort Pitt.
"We lost that history," he said. "Thanks to the modern marvel of search engines, we can find some of this now."
Nogay said, in addition to work on his book, he wants to find ways to further preserve local history, suggesting the possibility of erecting historical markers or an arch over Cove Road to denote the previous location of Hollidays Cove.
(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com, and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)