West Virginia. “The Mountain State”—western
part of the Commonwealth of
Virginia until June 20, 1863.
Settled by the Germans and
Scotch-Irish. It became a line
of defense between the English
and French during the . . . — — Map (db m146136) HM
The Battle of Matewan was one of the defining events of the West Virginia Mine Wars of the early 1920s. The battle — often called the Matewan Massacre — took place on the afternoon of May 19, 1920, when a group of Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency . . . — — Map (db m178411) HM
John W. English. “We had an idea. Build trails for riders from all over the country to come here to enjoy the
beautiful mountains and to interact with the people of West Virginia.
Build the trails on private property with the cooperation of . . . — — Map (db m178367) HM
“Lens Creek Valley is electric and bustling…”
writes one journalist. "The men … are mountaineers, in blue overalls or parts of khaki uniform, carrying rifles as casually as picks or sticks … They mention the towns they come from, . . . — — Map (db m206836) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m178524) HM
The Tug Fork River is 159 miles long, with approximately 90 of those miles running along West Virginia's southwest border with Kentucky. Because of its rough terrain and steep hills, Tug Valley was one of the last places to have settlements in . . . — — Map (db m306417) HM
[Unreadable]
Mingo County's thick, high quality coals (above and below the surface) traditionally ranked it as one of West Virginia's top coal producing counties. Numerous coal camps in Mingo County housed miners and their families. . . . — — Map (db m178578) HM
William Anderson Hatfield
1839-1921
Famed Feud leader, William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, was born September 9, 1839 in what is now Mingo County, West Virginia. He married Levicy Chafins and had 13 children. He was a Confederate . . . — — Map (db m307459) HM
This city is named for Wallace J. Williamson, whose family owned vast tracts of undeveloped land along Tug Fork in what was originally southwestern Logan County, West Virginia. In 1888, following a visit to the area by a Norfolk and Western . . . — — Map (db m178351) HM
In August 1921, an estimated 15,000 coal miners and their allies participated in the largest armed labor uprising in US history.
But this was just the finale of a drama begun a decade earlier. In 1912, on Paint Creek and Cabin Creek, . . . — — Map (db m206809) HM
Descended from English settlers, the Hatfield clan made its way to western Virginia by the 1770s. The first Hatfield to arrive at Tug Fork Valley was Ephraim, nicknamed "Eph-of-All", from Russell County, Virginia. He and his second wife, Anna . . . — — Map (db m306427) HM
In 1887, 442 passengers traveled by rail to Bluefield; by the next year, that number had increased to 13,448. Almost overnight, Bluefield had become the "Gateway to the Billion Dollar Coalfield."
The Coal Boom
In the late 1800s, . . . — — Map (db m305224) HM
Matewan and the surrounding area have a rich and sometimes violent history that revolves around coal, the railroad and flooding. In the early 19th century, the Ferrell family settled in the area along the northern edge of Tug Fork and a then-unnamed . . . — — Map (db m87949) HM
John Paul Riddle
Riddle was born May of 1901 to two teachers, Tandy and Bessie Riddle. His mother passed in 1903, and he spent at least some time living with his paternal grandmother on Shelby Creek. It's said that he dreamed of flying even . . . — — Map (db m306441) HM
In August 1921, an estimated 15,000 coal miners and their allies participated in the largest armed labor uprising in US history.
But this was just the finale of a drama begun a decade earlier.
In 1912, on Paint Creek and . . . — — Map (db m206835) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
