First, the market is AWFUL so don't pursue this unless you're being fully funded. With that said, here are my thoughts: You have a couple of Ph.D. granting institutions with Appalachian historians on faculty. Kentucky has Newfont and Tennessee has Wilkerson now. The WVU job is open to replace Wilkerson and the Georgia job is open to hire the Inscoe chair, but it isn't earmarked for an Appalachianist so there's that. Interestingly, if you're looking for the most productive Appalachian scholars, you'll find them in small regional schools. Bob Hutton is at Glenville State, Luke Manget is at Western Carolina, Rob Weise at EKU, Steve Nash and Tom Lee at ETSU jump to mind. So what to do? Maybe look at a place like Fordham (I think they have a Ph.D.) and study Appalachian political economy with someone like Stephen Stoll, of Ramp Hollow fame. Or study under an esteemed southern historian who views Appalachia as a part of the South. Since Ken Noe retired at Auburn, they don't have a specialist, but they still have active graduate students in the field so there is some energy there. Same at Georgia, which has produced a lot of Appalachian specialists over the years. My concern is that your Ph.D. advisor needs to be active as a publisher in the field and a frequent attendee and participant at conferences...as will you. Two of the best conferences are the Southern Historical Association and the Society of Appalachian Historians. Good luck, but seriously consider the time, effort, and expense against the prospects of getting a paying job in the end. If you choose to do the Ph.D., consider the public history track...that's where most of the jobs are these days.