“You rented a house from the coal company, and we slept three and four in a bed. That's the way it was when the immigrants came from across the pond, and, to us, that was considered somewhat of a luxury - the fact that we, we had a bed and a house to live in.”Harry Switch
Harry Switch
My name is Harry Switch, and I grew up in the mining community of No. 7 Elbert. My parents immigrated from the Ukraine when the United States Coal and Coke company needed miners and mass-recruited Europeans. We were never financially rich, but our neighborhood was rich in culture with people working and living together from different areas of the world. I've watched the industry and landscape of my home drastically change but will always cherish the memories from my childhood and adulthood in this community.
“We have a brain drain here. When I finished West Virginia University, my advisor told me not to stop here because he could see that eventually the coal business would change.”Ellis Ray Williams
We should have been diversifying our economy
Ellis Ray Williams
My name is Ellis Ray Williams, and I've lived in Gary, W.Va, since 1927, when my father moved my family here from South Carolina to get a job in the mines. Education has always been valued in my family, and when my father heard that Gary had five high schools for African-Americans, he knew this is where we belonged. After the war, I got a degree in sociology and industrial education at West Virginia University and began a career in the school system. I believe that McDowell County should be proud of the opportunities that it gave to the people, like my father and our family, who came here from the south to work.
Footage shot at the Big Creek Missile Agency launch range in 1960 at Cape Coalwood. Submitted by Homer Hickam, who can be seen wearing the military-style cap.
Reba and Bill Bolt
We are Reba and Bill Bolt, and we met here in McDowell County and married – 61 years ago. While working in the Olga Coal Company’s factory, Bill assembled the rockets for Coalwood’s own Rocket Boys. Years later, we founded the October Sky Festival, celebrating the Rocket Boys, which brought thousands to our county. But in 2012, 13 years after the inaugural event, the festival was moved to Beckley, W.Va., in hopes that it would attract more people, like it once did.
A dark day's work in the heart of the mountains
Source: West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training.
Coal Mining in West Virginia
- Coal Production
- Total Employed Miners
- Fatalities
- 1900
- 22,647,207
- 29,017
- 141
- 1910
- 59,274,708
- 68,135
- 320
- 1920
- 89,590,271
- 97,426
- 320
- 1930
- 122,429,767
- 107,832
- 412
- 1940
- 126,619,825
- 130,457
- 376
- 1950
- 145,563,295
- 119,568
- 185
- 1960
- 120,107,994
- 48,696
- 115
- 1970
- 143,132,284
- 45,261
- 63
- 1980
- 121,583,762
- 55,502
- 33
- 1990
- 171,155,053
- 28,876
- 12
- 2000
- 169,370,602
- 14,281
- 9
- 2011
- 139,424,080
- 22,336
- 6
“These miners still want to continue working. Technically they shouldn't because if they stay in the exposure, the disease is going to get worse. But realistically they have to because it's the only thing in their community to do. It's either be a coal miner or be unemployed.”Anita Wolfe
Ollie Bishop
(1938-2013)
We’re seeing a rise in disease, especially in younger miners
Anita Wolfe
My name is Anita Wolfe, and I am a public health analyst and the program coordinator for the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, located in Morgantown, W.Va. I have worked for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for the past 33 years. I have lived in West Virginia all my life and come from a long line of coal miners. I consider myself an advocate and friend of the coal mining community.
“I'd like to see the region not be so divisive and the conversation be more than about coal jobs or no coal because there's a lot more that's here.”Rob Goodwin
Citizens just shouldn’t have to deal withimpacts from coal mining
Alexander Wright
My name is Alexander Wright, and I am a resident of Newhall, W.Va. With assistance from Rob Goodwin, I have worked to bring attention to the effects of mountaintop removal mining and put pressure of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to hold mining operators in compliance with the law. My home is surrounded by mountains that are occupied by large-scale mining operations, mainly owned by German and Russian companies. In November 2012, I witnessed black water spilling into Cucumber Creek near my home, and I am very concerned about water quality, dust, blasting and the potential threat of flooding in the area.
Rob Goodwin
My name is Rob Goodwin, and I grew up in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York. I moved to West Virginia as a volunteer with Coal River Mountain Watch, a non-profit whose mission is to stop mountaintop removal mining, to improve the quality of life in the region and to help rebuild sustainable communities. I started the citizens enforcement project to help citizens navigate the processes to address coal mining impacts, and in the summer of 2012, I began working with Alexander Wright and other citizens of McDowell County.
Eric Mathis
My name is Eric Mathis and I was born in Winston Salem, North Carolina. I moved to West Virginia in 2007 and am proud to call Williamson my permanent home. From my experience growing up in rural NC and seeing the important role sustainable economic development has played in community projects I helped develop during my studies at Appalachian State University, I hope to continue working with Williamson and other communities to bring their vision of community revitalization to life.
“I'd be lost to death if I didn't have this place to come to. What would I do?”Ed Shepard
I’d love to see it boom again, but I don’t see any possibility of it
Ed Shepard
I’m Ed Shepard, and I’ve owned and managed the Union 87 service station in downtown Welch for the past 63 years. Prior to running this station, I worked various odd jobs around the area, until leaving high school when World War II started. I served in the 1st Raider Battalion as a sniper, fighting in battles such as Guadalcanal and Okinawa. I’ve seen McDowell County in its prime, when cars were bumper-to-bumper along the streets in Welch. And I’ve been around and felt the effects of the county’s busted economy after a large number of coal mines closed.
- Back to Start
- Around the Bend
The story of McDowell County, West Virginia is the story of America.
Of boom
and bust economies. Of small towns facing changes beyond their control.
And of challenges
and triumphs of every size.
Explore this corner of America through the stories of over 30 residents who live here today.
Hollow is the story of their home.
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