Blair Mountain Listed Nationally
As An
Endangered Historic Site!
|
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has
listed Blair Mountain Battlefield, the site of the armed
insurrection that marked the climax of the 1921 West Virginia
mine war, on the "11 Most Endangered Sites" list for 2006. This
is the first time a West Virginia site has been included on this
prestigious list. |
The story of Blair Mountain is
a story of West Virginians.
Often, West Virginia’s best assets—its people, places, and stories—go
underrepresented or ignored on the outside. And yet, West
Virginians and West Virginia places have played incredibly important
roles in events that have determined the history of the entire United
States.
Events like John Brown’s insurrection at Harper’s
Ferry have shaped the national character of the United States. One of
the most underrepresented places in West Virginia, and indeed in U.S.
history, is the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain.
Spruce Fork Ridge is the nationally
significant site of the "Battle of Blair Mountain," a
1921 armed insurrection of unionized
coal miners fighting for better working conditions and an end to the
oppressive control of the coal industry in southern West Virginia.
Considered the largest domestic conflict since the Civil War, the battle
engaged thousands, including police officers, coal company mercenaries,
vigilantes and the U.S. Army. The 1,600-acre ridge, located l/2
hours southwest of Charleston (WV), remains a remote and beautiful place
of hardwood forests and precipitous hillsides. Through the contour of
the ridgeline, the earthen trenches and machine gun bases that mark the
mountainside, and the firearms and shell casings that litter the forest
floor, the site still evokes the bloody conflict of 1921.
Blair Mountain marked a turning point in the
national movement to better the conditions of working people by
demanding the legalization of unions, and in the use of the federal
government to protect workers’ rights. The miners’ effort broke down
racial and ethnic barriers to solidarity, and paved the way for
successful unionization a decade later. For a state that is often
unfairly perceived as backward, this is an important story to tell.
Blair Mountain was an important stepping stone in the ongoing story of
how our country has developed morally and come to recognize its
responsibilities to all of its workers.
Although it falls within the National Coal Heritage Area, Spruce Fork
Ridge faces the immediate threat of strip-mining by coal companies that
own or lease most of the ridge. Proposed mountain-top removal
mining would obliterate the site. To date, the coal companies have used
lawsuits and other tactics to block preservation.
The site's history and its importance to
labor and civil rights in this country remains, regrettably, little
known. Working with the National Trust Southern Field Office and
local advocates, the Preservation
Alliance of West Virginia seeks to raise public awareness
nationally about the significance of and threat to Spruce Fork Ridge.
The Alliance believes that a
national press and political strategy will help produce the
leverage needed to secure a preservation solution with the property
owners. Our goal is to permanently preserve the site for heritage tourism, interpretation
and increased public access as part of the National Coal Heritage
Area.
The listing on
the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic
Places seeks to encourage collaboration between historic
preservationists, miners, and the coal companies to preserve this site,
to tell the story of coal mining in West Virginia, and to communicate
its significance to the nation. We believe that a means must be found to
assure that Blair Mountain becomes a highly visible resource to tell the
story of our country's labor history and respect for our workforce, and
we want to work with the owners of the site to help this happen in a
positive way.
As a
nationally-significant site, Blair Mountain can become an asset that
supports and contributes to long-lasting and sustainable heritage
tourism in the region. West Virginia’s best assets are its people and
its places. Blair Mountain is a real place that tells a story about real
people. Recognition, preservation, and interpretation of Blair Mountain
will create a permanent memorial to this pivotal national event and to
the miners who fought there.
