The Hatfield-McCoy miniseries on the History channel is a hit on cable television, and the impact is trickling down to Southern West Virginia and Southeastern Kentucky. The chamber of commerce is getting dozens of call daily from people wanting to learn more about the famous feud.
"These are all outsiders. They are coming from all over the United States. It's not your locals who are going to see the feud sites," said Natalie Young, Executive Director of the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Young said the chamber is now looking into starting bus tours of the feud, but it won't include where the production was shot. The miniseries was shot in Romania. Pam Haynes, director of the West Virginia Film Office said they approached producers about filming here but it was a business decision by the History Channel to shoot in Romania.
"We wish it was shot here but you think about it, movies about the O.K. Corral were not shot at the O.K. Corral. Movies about the Battle of the Bulge were not shot at the Battle of the Bulge. It's part of film making," said Mingo County Historian Bill Richardson.
"I understand why they did it and it is still a huge boost to our economy," said Young.
Many who watched the miniseries don't mind that it was not shot in the mountains where the feud actually happened.
"I don't think it took away from anything. I thought they did a pretty good job with it. I liked the movie," said Bill Wiedel of Delbarton.
"We know where it happened. We know where it went on and I guess to get the full effect maybe they had to shoot it somewhere else," said Brittany Maynard of Naugatuck.
County leaders plan to continue to ride the wave of tourism generated by the History Channel production, hoping the interest in the Hatfield-McCoy feud doesn't go away.
To learn more about seeing the sites of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, head to
www.hatfieldmccoycountry.com
www.tugvalleychamber.com
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