Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 14

OUR BLUE RIDGE TOWNS
'PEOPLE ARE THE KEY TO EVERYTHING'
'Coal Town, USA,'
and Proud of It
When coal was king, Welch, West Virginia, was called " Little New York, " with residents
from all over the world and its own Coney Island. What's next for Welch?
Text and present-day photos by JOAN VANNORSDALL
E
arlier this year, I read a story about Welch in
the New York Times. Which followed the one
I'd read in the Washington Post a year earlier.
Both were long stories, built on largely negative
statistics-and both left me with the feeling
that Welch was trying, really trying...but it was
doomed to fail.
I went to Welch to see and listen and understand for
myself how this small mountain city in the southernmost
county of West Virginia was doing. The town where John
F. Kennedy campaigned in the spring of 1960, standing
outside America's first municipally owned parking garage.
Where a century ago, legendary Matewan Sheriff Sid
Hatfield and Deputy Ed Chambers were gunned down on
the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse by Baldwin-Felts
detectives. Where America's first food stamps
were delivered in 1961 to an unemployed miner's family
with 13 children.
And where I discovered how a place that was once the
hub of the rich Pocahontas coalfield, with eight departWELCH:
DID YOU KNOW?
1. It has the largest number of veterans per capita in America.
2. The year 2021 will mark the 103rd annual Veterans Day parade-another
American record.
3. Actor and game show host Steve Harvey was born in Welch.
4. Author Jeannette Walls ( " The Glass Castle " ) attended Welch High
School.
5. Coalwood, in McDowell County off Route 16, was childhood home
of Homer Hickam, NASA engineer and author of the memoir
" October Sky. "
6. Welch's Veterans Park is home to the West Virginia boxcar from the
French Gratitude Train, sent by the French as thanks for American
assistance during and after World War II. -JV
14 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
ment stores and 25 restaurants, is making itself known all
over again by wearing its history proudly and focusing on
its children.
It was just luck that I wandered into the Jack Caffrey
Arts and Cultural Center when I did. I'd taken the back
roads to Welch, picking up Route 52 outside Bluefield,
driving the southern portion of the Coal Heritage Trail, a
loopy chain of former coal towns connected by railroad
tracks, with company houses lining the road and spreading
up the steep mountainside.
Inside the front door of the Caffrey Center sits Jay
Chatman, president of the McDowell County Historical
Society and board member of the National Coal Heritage
Area. Chatman is the author of " McDowell County Coal
and Rail, " and many of the artifacts in the Center belong
to him.
" In the 1940s, Welch had over 6,000 people. And McDowell
County over 100,000-we had 55 mining operations
here, " Chatman says. " Over the next few decades,
coal production diminished throughout the county,
and the strikes drove some folks away. " (Today, the city
of Welch has about 1,700 people; McDowell County
17,600.)
" I think tourism and retirees coming here can help, "
he says.
The tourism draw for McDowell County is largely ATV
trails-over 340 miles in the county, part of the HatfieldMcCoy
Trails system. Camps of lodging cabins have
sprung up, a few historic houses have been renovated as
B&Bs, and it's not unlikely that you'll see an ATV riding
down Welch streets toward the next stretch of trail.
You may also see a trolley car in Welch-the only one
in southern West Virginia, it's said-and if you're especially
fortunate, you'll get to ride with Jason Grubb, business
development specialist and strong advocate for his
hometown. You'll see whole brick wall murals painted
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Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021

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