Spot where Hank Williams died

Hank Williams died in the back seat of his 1952 Cadillac convertible on the night of December 31, 1952 / January 1, 1953, as his driver Charles Carr was taking him from Knoxville, Tennessee, to a concert in Canton, Ohio. Williams had been given morphine and chloral hydrate by a doctor in Knoxville -- compounding the alcohol and pills already in his system. Carr stopped for fuel somewhere in Oak Hill, West Virginia, reached into the back seat, and found Williams unresponsive. He was taken to Oak Hill Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival in the early hours of January 1, 1953. He was 29 years old.

The circumstances of his death -- the medication, the drive through the night, the fuel stop -- have been reconstructed many times, but the exact moment and location of his death remain slightly unclear. The traditional marker is near the intersection of Skyline Drive and Oak Hill Avenue, close to where the car is believed to have stopped. Oak Hill, a small city in Fayette County, has acknowledged the connection with a historical marker.

Oak Hill has leaned into its place in country music history, and the Hank Williams death site marker draws visitors from the country music world year-round. January 1 sees annual commemorations. The marker describes the basic facts: that Williams died here, at the dawn of 1953, leaving behind a catalogue of songs that had already changed popular music and would continue changing it for decades after his death.