A worker emerges from the deadly tunnel.
As the men drilled and blasted a tunnel through the mountain, they drilled through rock that contained high levels of silica. The dry drilling technique that was used released large amounts of silica dust into ... More
Unknown Railroad Tunnel - National Parks Gallery
The process of building a tunnel in the 1870s was slow and difficult work. Holes were drilled into the layers of rock using a hand drill and hammer. Holes were then filled with powder and blasted in order to ma... More
The Great Bend Tunnel - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
In February of 1870, workers began drilling the Great Bend Tunnel where the Greenbrier River makes a seven-mile meander around Big Bend Mountain. Over 800 men, many of them African American, cut a 6,450 foot-lo... More
Storer College - National Parks Gallery
Storer College, in Harpers Ferry, WV opened its doors in 1867. By 1870, Storer was the only teacher-training institution for African Americans in the state of West Virginia.
Mills Branch School News Clipping
The first African American school in Raleigh County was built in 1873 by the Trap Hill District Board of Education at Mills Branch.
Winona - National Parks Gallery
The development of the coal lands surrounding Winona occurred due to the efforts of John Nuttall, who had by the 1880s acquired a tract of 30,000 acres of coal lands along Keeneys Creek in the highlands above h... More
Mt. Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
Mt. Chapel Missionary Baptist Church started as an informal gathering in Ansted in 1891. At that time Reverend Coleman, the state missionary, baptized about 20 people and also agreed to organize a church.
Gauley Bridge Depot - National Parks Gallery
The Gauley Bridge Railroad Station was constructed in 1893. It is one of the pre-designed “company trademark” stations built in small communities throughout West Virginia during this time.
The Whispering Serenaders - National Parks Gallery
Many black music groups formed in the Appalachian coalfields region. The Whispering Serenaders was one of those groups that performed in southern West Virginia in the early 1900s.
McKendree Nurses - National Parks Gallery
A whites-only nurse training program was established in 1901 to provide better qualified nursing staff at the hospitals.
DuBois High School - National Parks Gallery
In 1906 a levy was passed in Fayette County to establish the county’s first high schools, one for white children and one for black children. Eleven years later, this became a reality for African American studen... More
Mt. Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
As in many African American communities, the church became the center of the community’s existence.
Hawks Nest Workers Memorial Cemetery
Of the approximately 5,000 men that worked on the project, an estimated 2,900 worked inside the tunnel. Of these men, silicosis claimed the lives of at least 764 workers. A majority of the dead were African Americans.
Hawks Nest Workers Memorial and Grave Site
A monument marks the cemetery where many African American workers were laid to rest after losing their lives working in the Hawk's Nest Tunnel.
Lincoln High School - National Parks Gallery
Originally called the “Hinton Colored School,” it was renamed the “Lincoln School” around 1916. The first school building was located on James Street near the present day location of the Second Baptist Church.
Camp Washington Carver - National Parks Gallery
A modern day view of Camp Washington Carver.
Train station The Gauley Bridge Depot - Public domain photograph.
The Gauley Bridge Depot still stands by the tracks near the Kanawha River.
Bright Hope Lodge No. 9 - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
Bright Hope Lodge No. 9 building in Montgomery, WV
Stratton High School - National Parks Gallery
In 1919, the first all-black high school in Raleigh County, named after Reverend Daniel Stratton, was opened and graduated its first two students that same year.
Conveyor and Tipple in 1927 - Public Domain image, National Parks Gall...
The Nuttallburg mine and company town provides a fine example of an early New River Gorge coal mining operation.
Nuttallburg in 1927 - National Parks Gallery
The town of Nuttallburg in 1927, showing houses, coal tipple, and coal conveyor.
Nuttallburg Tipple and Coal Convetor c 1927
conveyor Public domain photograph by National Parks Administration, nature conservation, tourism, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
Stratton High Band Patch - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
Band patch from Katie Deason's band jacket from when she attended Stratoon High School in the 1930s.
Inside the Tunnel c 1930 - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
In 1930, construction began on a three-mile tunnel through Gauley Mountain located between Ansted and Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. When finished, the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel would divert water from the New River to... More
Band Patch - National Parks Gallery
Band patch from Katie Deason's band jacket from when she attended Stratoon High School in the 1930s.
Plot map of Harlem Heights community; 1940
Harlem Heights is an atypical African American community located within the City of Oak Hill, West Virginia. While most African American communities in the New River area were coal mining or industrially-based,... More
Slab Fork Coal Company Store and Residential Sect 1947
The reach of the company town extended beyond employment and a place to live. It was also the organizer of social life in the town.
Slab Fork Company Houses 1947 - Public Domain image, National Parks Ga...
Slab Fork, like many company owned coal camps in southern West Virginia, was home to many cultures and ethnicities.
Slab Fork Coal Mine 1947 - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
From the south, African Americans brought banjos, group harmonies, and spirituals, eastern Europeans brought brass bands and folk tunes, and Scotch-Irish immigrants brought fiddles and ballads. As the sounds mi... More
Slab Fork Company Houses 1947 - Public Domain image, National Parks Ga...
Bill Withers, famous for his songs, “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” was born in Slab Fork, WV. His song, “Lean on Me,” tells about families and neighbors relying on one another during hard times in West Virginia.
Betty Sims on her bike on Harlem Heights
Betty Sims on her bike in front of her house on Broadway Ave in 1948
DuBois Class of 1954 - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
In Fayette County, school officials announced that all schools would be integrated at the beginning of the 1956-57 school year. Here in Mount Hope, the older white high school was converted to a middle school. ... More
Coal Miners at Nuttallburg - Public Domain image, National Parks Galle...
Although life above ground was segregated, underground black miners worked side by side with white miners.
Stairs to Nowhere - National Parks Gallery
These stairs in the middle ofthe forest are almost all that remain of the McKendree Miner's Hospital.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Hospital Ruins
Several old foundations and concrete walls remain around the site of the McKendree Miner's Hospital.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Stairway Ruins
Today old foundations and stairs mark where the homes and buildings of Nuttallburg once stood.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Coal Tipple
The coal tipple still stands over old railroad tracks at Nuttallburg.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Miner's Memorial
A memorial remembers coal miners at Helen, WV Public domain photograph of a cabin, log house, dwelling in National Park, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Mining Coal
In the mines, black miners were provided equal wages for equal work. About 75 percent of black workers became coal loaders. Others were daymen and coke workers.
Bright Hope Lodge No. 9 interior
Interior of the Bright Hope Lodge No. 9 building: African American fraternal organizations, like Bright Hope Lodge #9 began as a means of meeting the economic and social needs of the African American community.... More
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Gregory Whiting
Gregory Whiting, one of Bright Hope Lodge No. 9's Worshipful Masters.
DuBois High football game flier
For a time after integration, male black students were allowed to play on the football and basketball teams, but they could not play any other sports.
Coal Prep Plant at Slab Fork - Public Domain image, National Parks Gal...
As migrants arrived in the coal company town looking for work, they often found a common language in music.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Baseball Team
During the day, black and white miners worked side by side mining coal, but on weekends they played on segregated baseball teams.
Stratton Elementary School - National Parks Gallery
Today Stratton High is operating as Stratton Elementary School
African American Coal MIners - Public Domain image, National Parks Gal...
Although Helen had separate and segregated residential areas and businesses, equality for the black coal miner did exist in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. African Americans could vote, hold public o... More
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Batteau Crew
Prior to the construction of the railroad, batteaux were used to transport goods down the New River. Many of the captains and crews of these boats were African Americans.
J. Hobart Hale - National Parks Gallery
J. Hobart Hale was one of Bright Hope Lodge No. 9's Worshipful Masters.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Lawrence Washington
Lawrence Washington, one of Bright Hope Lodge No. 9's Worshipful Masters.
Harlem Heights home - National Parks Gallery
The people of Harlem Heights took pride in their community by keeping it clean and attractive.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Leroy Diggs
Leroy Diggs was one of Bright Hope Lodge No. 9's Worshipful Masters.
Harlem Heights Today - National Parks Gallery
Today, the community of Harlem Heights has a Masonic lodge and three churches.
Betty Sims on her bike - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
As the community began to develop; paved roads replaced dirt roads. Residents acquired indoor toilets and running water as well as other amenities and services.
Mary Sims and Hassie Wilkerson - Public Domain image, National Parks G...
Harlem Heights grew to become a rather upscale African American community. Though relatively small, it grew large enough and politically active enough to have its own voting precinct.
Order of the Eastern Star, Naomi Chapter No. 10
Bright Hope Lodge No. 9's sister chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Naomi Chapter No. 10. Bright Hope Lodge # 9 and Naomi Chapter #10 have created positive role models for African American males and females, p... More
Bright Hope Lodge No. 9 - Public Domain image, National Parks Gallery
The sign on teh Bright Hope Lodge No. 9 building
New River Gorge national park and preserve - W.C. Lawrence
W.C.Lawrence was one of Bright Hope Lodge No. 9's Worshipful Masters.
Charles and Irene Wills with Hiawathia
Unlike a coal town where homes were owned by the company, most of the residents of Harlem Heights were homeowners.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Pullman Porter
Following the Civil War, George Pullman established the Pullman Sleeping Car Company. Pullman sleeper cars were contracted out to all the passenger railways in the United States and the porters hired to staff t... More
Residents of Sawmill Hollow - Public Domain image, National Parks Gall...
photo courtesy of Betty Sims Brown In the Harlem Heights area, the Homeseekers Land and Building Company charged “very little for lots.” This allowed African Americans to be able to purchase land and build a home.
Church Anniversary Newspaper clipping
The people of Harlem Heights took pride in their community by keeping it clean and attractive. They actively supported their churches, civic clubs, and fraternal organizations. Some residents worked as communit... More
African American Railroad Workers
African Americans made up the majority of workers whose sweat, muscle, and blood carved the C&O Railway, its branch lines, and other railroads through the mountainous landscapes.
John Henry and the Great Bend Tunnel
A statutue of John Henry stands outside the Great Bend Tunnel at the John Henry Park in Talcott, WV.
Clarence Edmondson, former band director
DuBois High School offered many classes such as home economics, French, chemistry, world history, math, and English. Students could participate in the band that performed at football games and competitions.
Tourist Attraction - Nuttallburg Coal Conveyor
The coal conveyor still stands at Nuttallburg. Thsi conveyor brought the coal down from teh mine to the tipple.
New River Gorge national park and preserve - Hospital Ward
Patients at McKendree Hospital were seprated into different wards; one ward was for white patients and one for black patients.
Tourist Attraction - Black Church at Thurmond
At the heyday of coal mining and industry in the New River Gorge, coal camps and towns were segregated with white residents worshiping in seprate churches from black residents. This is the black church that sti... More
Old advertisement for a segregated sandwich shop
During segregation, many places would not allow African Americans to eat in “whites only” restaurants. This flyer for Elgie’s Sandwich Shop shows how black patrons were regularly discriminated against in the community.