Welch History

Welch History. . , Welch is named for Captain Isaiah Welch, a surveyor whose accounts of rich coal seams in the Elkhorn Valley helped encourage development of the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W, now Norfolk Southern Corporation). In 1888 Captain Welch bought land at the confluence of Elkhorn Creek and Tug Fork, in anticipation of the arrival of the railroad. The rail line reached Welch in 1891. The city became the McDowell County seat in 1892 and was incorporated in 1894. Within a few years, more than 30 mines were in operation nearby, bringing a large influx of both native-born and foreign mine workers to the area. , Welch is probably best known for two very different events: the 1921 murder of Sid Hatfield and the 1960 visit of presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. , On August 1, 1921, former Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield and Deputy Ed. Chambers were killed on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse by operatives of the Baldwin-Felts detective agency in retaliation for the killing of several of their men in Matewan on May 19, 1920. Outrage over their murders led to the Battle of Blair Mountain in which federal and state troops defeated the miners and thwarted the United Mine Workers’ attempts to organize the southern West Virginia coal fields., John F. Kennedy visited Welch twice during the 1960 Democratic Primary campaign, speaking out against the “poverty, want, and Hunger” that he saw in the region. Kennedy’s experiences in Welch and nearby led to the development of the nationwide Food Stamp program and other anti-poverty legislation for Appalachia., The commercial heart of Welch was concentrated along McDowell and Wyoming streets, near the N&W Railway station. A 1911 fire destroyed many of the town’s wooden buildings, which were replaced by brick and stone buildings constructed by Italian stone masons employed by the N&W. By the early 1920s, Welch contained two dozen coal company offices, a state hospital, and a thriving commercial district. Welch’s economic fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the regional coal industry, however. Mine closings, the increasing mechanization of the industry, and the diversion of rail traffic away from Welch during, the post-World War II era led to a decline in the local and regional economy. Flooding throughout the past century, including the devastating floods of 2001 and 2002, have also damaged the town, but have led to revitalization efforts along the Tug Fork riverfront., (newspaper article reproduced on the panel)

SID HATFIELD SLAIN BEFORE COURT HOUSE , Noted Figure in Recent West Virginia Mine Troubles , Is Killed in a Gun Fight. , COMPANION ALSO SHOT DEAD , Chief Witness in Mingo County Trial , Arrested Pending Investigation of Shooting..

WELCH, W. Va., Aug. 1., Sid Hatfield’s career in West Virginia ended today on the Court house steps of this village. It remains for a Coroner’s Jury to pass judgment as to who shall be held for trial on a charge of having fired the shot that ended the life of a picturesque figure in the industrial strife of Mingo County. C. E. Lively, a private detective, is held pending a verdict. , Hatfield, former Chief of Police at Matewan, and central figure in the trial early this year of more than score of men charged with the killing of a private detective fourteen months ago, and his friend, Ed. Chambers, also a defendant in that trial, fell as a result of pistol shot wounds received as the two men were entering the little Court House where Hatfield was to face trial on another shooting charge.

, New York Times article: published August 2, 1921