In a corner of southwest West Virginia lies a museum that documents a dark and troubled era in the history of West Virginia and the nation. The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, situated in Matewan, presents to the world the long and ongoing struggle of coal miners and their families for humane and just treatment – a struggle that first erupted in violence and tragedy here in Mingo County a hundred years ago.
Rugged Mingo County is today one of the greatest coal producing counties in the nation, and coal has been the lifeblood of its communities for generations.
At the turn of the twentieth century, West Virginia miners endured some of the most dangerous working conditions in the world, with unbelievably high death rates, receiving in return poor wages and lives totally controlled by the mining company.
It was in the early 1900s that the workers in the region first began organizing and unionizing. This led to a series of escalating conflicts known as the Mine Wars, which pitted miners against the powerful forces of mining companies and their hired agents.
The Mine Wars Museum, located on the first floor of the Matewan National Bank, explores these bloody events that unfolded in the West Virginia coalfields, in which the town of Matewan played a major part.
In 1912-1913, the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek Strikes resulted in machine gun warfare and a state of martial law being declared by the West Virginia governor. The Battle of Matewan transpired in 1920 after hundreds more miners unionized, resulting in the mining company sending agents to Matewan to evict the miners’ families. The town mayor and the police chief (the famed Sid Hatfield of Hatfield-McCoy vintage) took the side of the miners, and the end result was a shootout that took ten lives. The mine wars came to a bloody climax the following year in the Battle of Blair Mountain.
After mine company agents assassinated Sid Hatfield on the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse, thousands of armed miners marched into Logan County, where they were met by militia, police, and company agents with machine guns and makeshift “bombs” dropped from rented aircraft.
The guerilla warfare claimed the lives of around one hundred, and only ended when 2500 federal troops were sent in by President Warren Harding. Outside the Civil War, Blair Mountain is the largest armed insurrection in American history.
The Mine Wars Museum explores these tragic events in a well-organized timeline that touches on many related events such as the Monongah mining disaster, the worst mining disaster in America. Interactive exhibits include an array of historical artifacts, photographs, films, and artwork.
You will enjoy the knowledge and warmth of the tour guides, who have deep community roots and personal ties to the museum’s subject matter.
Come to the Mine Wars Museum of historic Matewan, reflect on the sacrifices and suffering of generations of miners that built America’s economy, and learn a tragic side of West Virginia history that is seldom recognized. For more of West Virginia’s coal history, don’t miss the coal museum in Boone County, either.
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