Dante is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

in Russell and Dickenson counties,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, in the United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 649.

History

Dante (rhymed with "paint", sometimes rhymed with "pant", but never rhymed with "

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

") was originally called "Turkeyfoot" due to the confluence of hollows. It was originally settled in the late 1700s and early 1800s by western frontiersmen. Explosive growth occurred in the early 1900s with the discovery and exploitation of numerous bituminous

coal seams Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. Southern industrialist George L. Carter made it the northern terminus of the

Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile segmen ...

and the headquarters of the Clinchfield Coal Company, which began to mine the nearby hollows (mainly Bear Wallow and Straight Hollow) during the early part of the 20th century. As a result, immigrants from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and other central European countries flocked to the area. In 1912, the construction of the

Sandy Ridge Tunnel Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...

just north of Dante allowed the Clinchfield Railroad to extend all the way to

Elkhorn City, Kentucky Elkhorn City is a home rule-class city in Pike County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 982 at the 2010 census. The city is located in proximity to the Breaks Interstate Park. History Elkhorn City was first settled by William ...

. The coal seams surrounding the community were largely exhausted by the mid-1960s and were closed in favor of new mines such as Moss #3 (A, B, C and D mines) in Duty, Virginia. Dante was mostly a decaying

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

until 2016, when a renewed interest from its residents prompted community organizations to begin discussions on a path to revitalization. This plan has included reestablishment of a general store and redevelopment of the many abandoned Clinchfield Railroad grades and mine tramways into ATV trails. CSX Transportation terminated rail crew operations at Dante Yard in 2015, and the Clinchfield Coal Company offices are now apartments.

Revitalization

In early 2016 the Dante Community Association was formed with citizens of Dante and representatives from Russell County. The goal of the organization is to promote the revitalization of Dante and the surrounding area by investing in infrastructure, economic development, and the community at large, they are currently in the process of applying for a planning grant.

Geography

Dante is located in northwestern Russell County. The Dante CDP extends west into Dickenson County to include the settlement of West Dante. The communities are located in the valley of Lick Creek, which flows south to the

Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in Ki ...

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, and is thus part of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

watershed. Sandy Ridge, overlooking Dante to the north, lies along the Tennessee Valley Divide, with waters on the opposite side flowing north via the

McClure River The McClure River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 13, 2011 tributary of the Russell Fork in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located in Dickenson County in th ...

to the Russell Fork/ Levisa Fork/ Big Sandy River system, reaching the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

near Huntington, West Virginia. Dante is north of St. Paul and south of Clinchco via

Virginia State Route 63 State Route 63 (SR 63) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 58 Alternate (US 58 Alternate) in St. Paul north to SR 80 and SR 83 in Haysi. Route description SR 63 begins at an in ...

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Dante has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Dante, Virginia
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References

External links

{{authority control Census-designated places in Russell County, Virginia Census-designated places in Dickenson County, Virginia Census-designated places in Virginia Coal towns in Virginia