Near Pursglove in Monongalia County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)

Scotts Run
⎯⎯⎯
The First Shack

Scotts Run Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Forest McDermott, June 1, 2010

1. Scotts Run Marker

The opposite side is The First Shack marker

Inscription. Scotts Run By the 1930s 10,000 residents representing 28 nationalities and tied to the coal industry crowded the hillsides, victims of severe poverty brought on by a coal recession and Great Depression. "The Shack" and Scotts Run Settlement House brought needed services and interest of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in relief programs.

The First Shack North 50 feet was first site for "The Shack", community center set up by Presbyterian mission worker Mary Behner to serve mining families of Scotts Run. Opened in a former stable of Pursglove Coal Co., 1932. Site of educational, religious and community service programs, and political, social and labor meetings. Relocated in 1938.

Erected 2008 by West Virginia Archives & History.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • Women. In addition, it is included in the Eleanor Roosevelt, and the West Virginia Archives and History series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1932.

Location. 39° 40.013′ N, 80° 1.063′ W. Marker is near Pursglove, West Virginia, in Monongalia County. It is on West Virginia Route

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7 east of #8 Hollow Road, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pursglove WV 26546, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Central West Virginia.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Scott’s Run Veterans Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Osage Spot (approx. ¾ mile away); Eleanor Roosevelt (approx. ¾ mile away); They Counted (approx. ¾ mile away); Music (approx. ¾ mile away); Christopher No. 3 Mine Tragedy (approx. ¾ mile away); Scott's Run Railway Co. (approx. ¾ mile away); Bunny Hop (approx. 0.8 miles away).

Also see . . . Scott's Run: An Introduction. 1994 publication by Ronald L. Lewis. Excerpt:

As in other West Virginia coalfields, the importation of workers produced a racially and ethnically diverse population. The 1920 manuscript census identified the following foreign-born nationalities among the adult (voting age) residents of Scotts Run: Austrian, Bohemian, Canadian, Croatian, English, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Irish, Lithuanian, Polish, Rumanian, Russian, Scottish, Serbian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Welsh. Ninety-three percent of these immigrants were from southern or eastern Europe, and approximately 60 percent of Scotts Run's population was foreign born, with native whites and blacks divided about equally for the remaining 40 percent.

The coal boom beginning during World
Photographed by Forest McDermott, June 1, 2010

2. The First Shack Marker
The opposite side is the Scotts Run marker
War I and continuing into the early 1920s was the first and last high mark for the industry on Scotts Run. By the late 1920s, coal entered the downward spiral which ultimately led to the depopulation of the hollow. During the economic collapse of the 1930s, Scotts Run became America's symbol of the Depression in the coalfields, setting the standard measurement for human suffering among miners. A writer for the Atlantic Monthly declared that Scotts Run was "the damndest cesspool of human misery I have ever seen in America." To what degree life was worse here than in other coal hollows is difficult to determine, but there was plenty of misery to go around. Scotts Run received so much attention because it was far more accessible to the outside photographers, reporters, social workers, and government officials who aimed the media spotlight into this particular corner of the coalfields.

(Submitted on March 1, 2025.)

Additional keywords. Coal Industry, Great Depression, First Ladies of the United States of America, FLOTUS

Scotts Run/The First Shack Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Forest McDermott, June 1, 2010

3. Scotts Run/The First Shack Marker

Photo taken looking east on WV Route 7

Photographed by Forest McDermott, June 1, 2010

4. Scotts Run/The First Shack Marker

#8 Hollow Road is visible behind the marker.

Credits. This page was last revised on March 1, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 13, 2011, by Forest McDermott of Masontown, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 1,658 times since then and 91 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 13, 2011, by Forest McDermott of Masontown, Pennsylvania. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Scotts Run⎯⎯⎯The First Shack

Scotts Run
⎯⎯⎯
The First Shack