By Mia Gooch
Appalachian locals are building organizations to honor its coal mining history and restore their environment.
An Appalachian coal train. J.C. Burns. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Near the 5-square-mile city of Nelsonville, Ohio, the northern end of the Appalachian foothills sprawl their way throughout the Hocking Valley region. Historically, these valleys were the thickest coal beds in Ohio, mined so intensely that a newspaper journalist referred to Nelsonville as a “little city of black diamonds.” People in this region were not wealthy by most measures, but their manual labor extracting fossil fuels was accelerating the growth of the nation.
A procession of men heading home after completing a mining shift. Marion Post Wolcott. CC0.
But for the environment and people’s health, the cost of this growth was devastatingly high.
As coal production soared, miners bore the physical strain. Extracting this sedimentary rock required grueling labor that took a heavy toll on people’s health. Rock remnants from explosions thickened the air, and soot permanently coated the lungs of miners and residents. The mining industry was both environmentally and physically taxing. Extracting coal from underground and hauling it into train carts was not a sustainable way of life. Eventually, large companies began pushing local labor out of the industry for technological replacements, and workers were displaced from their jobs and lives. By the time the coal industry collapsed, Nelsonville and similar “little cities of black diamonds” were already ivy-covered ghost towns. The rest of the country seemed to move on after the end of this coal boom, and the remaining locals were left to pick up the pieces of hollowed-out communities and torn-up landscapes.
Rather than glamorizing the industry that destroyed their health and environment, people decided to find ways to honor the grit and resilience of Appalachian workers who lived through it.
In our modern travel industry, small communities are often overshadowed by corporate tourism. Several Appalachian communities have experienced extensive corporate land ownership. But amid these corporate claims, there has been an increase in local initiatives to preserve their heritage. From the old mining valleys of southeastern Ohio to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, people have built businesses and restored historical sites with the goal of recovering stories once overshadowed by mining’s destruction.
As Nelsonville, Ohio, was the first to be called a “little city of black diamonds.” The town has since reclaimed their title to educate people about its community’s past triumphs and hardships. Mining halls have been commemorated, and heritage festivals have been held to preserve this local history. Cheryl Blosser, historian for the grassroots organization Little Cities of Black Diamonds Council, said “I still think our goal is, is education, but we’re starting to see that, some of that is working, that we’re developing tourism, that the education part and the history part, we have to share that, and in order to share that we need to find other people who can help us, which means developing tour guides, teaching people how to do what we’ve been doing."
Farther down in western North Carolina, a family-owned theme park named Tweetsie Railroad has taken an experiential approach. They have preserved the last steam locomotive of the historic East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad for excursions through the Blue Ridge Mountains. While their focus is on local railroad travel rather than extraction, their intention is the same as that of the Little Cities of Black Diamonds: to authentically preserve local heritage and honor their community’s endurance.
A family smiles for a photograph outside the Tweetsie Railroad entrance. Andrew Holmes. CC BY-NC 2.0.
Preserving this era is not about celebrating the use of coal, but about remembering the humanity and stories that existed in these towns. In a piece with The Athens News, Matt Zuelfe wrote, “With the help of concerned individuals and active groups, we can preserve our rich local history. And it is a history worth preserving.” As a response to the town becoming a tourist draw, he said “We shouldn’t underestimate how interesting our own area is. If you don’t believe it, turn off the History Channel, go out, and talk to one of the many people right next door who have lived history.”
Mia Gooch
Mia a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in Media & Journalism with a double minor in Education and Social & Economic Justice. She’s passionate about informal education and creating fun experiences where people of all ages can explore new perspectives and develop new skills. When she’s not in the classroom, she loves contemporary dance classes, spending time with friends and family, baking, and being outdoors!