OAK HILL, WV (SWVO) – Country music legend Hank Williams was discovered dead in the back seat of his Cadillac in Fayette County on New Year’s Day 1953.
Williams, 29, was en route to a scheduled concert in Canton, Ohio, after his New Year’s Eve show in Charleston, West Virginia, was canceled due to bad weather.
He had hired a young driver, Charles Carr, a 17-year-old college student, to take him from Montgomery, Alabama, through Tennessee and into West Virginia.
After stopping in Knoxville on December 31, Williams received an injection believed to be a mix of morphine and vitamin B12.
The pair continued driving into West Virginia, and sometime in the early morning hours of January 1, Carr realized something was wrong.
Around 5:30 a.m., he pulled into the Skyline Drive-In restaurant in the Hilltop area of Oak Hill, where he discovered Williams was unresponsive in the back seat.
Local authorities were called, and Williams was taken to a nearby hospital in Oak Hill where he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
The official cause of death was listed as acute heart failure, though drugs and alcohol are believed to have contributed.
The Skyline Drive-In, where Williams’ body was found, has since become a landmark known as “Hank’s Last Stop.”
A historical marker now stands in downtown Oak Hill, commemorating the country star’s final moments.
Though his life was cut short, Williams left behind a legacy of classic songs like “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and “Cold, Cold Heart.”
The Skyline Drive-In remains open to this day and is located at 6329 Legends Highway, Oak Hill, WV 25901.
About The Author
