Welch, W.Va. | McDowell County Coal History

Apr. 2006 image by author Welch, WV is the largest city in and county seat of McDowell County.

Aug. 2007 image by author Reenactment of the assassination of Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers by Baldwin-Felts detectives on the McDowell County courthouse steps; the very spot where the murder took place on Aug. 1, 1921. This was to promote Jean Battlo's drama "The Terror of the Tug." In 1920 Hatfield had stood up to the Baldwin-Felts mine guards in defence of local miners at Matewan in Mingo County, where he was the Police Chief, culminating in a shootout in which Albert & Lee Felts, five other mine guards, and the mayor of Matewan (Cabell Testerman). A year later, when Hatfield and his friend had to go to the courthouse in Welch, the Baldwin-Felts extracted their revenge.

Mar. 2017 image by author It's a testament to the engineers and builders that these Welch homes haven't slid off the hillside yet. Train tunnel is on the right of the photo.

Jan. 2017 image by author More hillside homes.

Feb. 2017 image by author When you live in Welch you often have to climb stairs. Nice cut stone work, and nicely maintained into the 21st Century.

Mar. 2017 image by author Valley bottoms in McDowell County are narrow.

Mar. 2017 image by author If you think this a lot of homes to put on this steep hillside, realize that 20 years ago there were even more homes there.

Feb. 2017 image by author Row of large homes, Tug Fork in the lower left of the picture.

Feb. 2017 image by author To have any kind of back yard someone terraced the rear of this lot.

Feb. 2017 image by author In Welch you usually can't build out, so you have to build up. This was where people parked their cars.

Feb. 2017 image by author More garages under apartments.

Feb. 2017 image by author Illustrating more vertical construction, the building on the left is 5 stories tall.

Feb. 2017 image by author Homes overlooking Downtown Welch.

Feb. 2017 image by author Downtown Welch was once booming. One older man once told me that he never went to Welch on Saturday because there was no place to park and you could hardly walk down the street.

Feb. 2017 image by author Marquee Cinemas on left, Social Security Administration, on the right, and the old Welch High School on the hillside in the background.