Scotts Run is a geographical division of the Cass District in Monongalia County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, United States. Currently, it encompasses thirteen small, unincorporated communities. Located a few miles from Morgantown, this area's predominant industry in the early twentieth century was coal mining and production. Scotts Run became well known nationally during the years of the Great Depression, when photographers and the relief efforts of First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

publicized the impoverished conditions faced by the community. Since the decline in the coal industry in the area, Scotts Run's population has rapidly decreased. However, the current community is active in revitalization efforts to promote new businesses and heritage tourism.

Pre-Industrial history

In the late 19th century, Scotts Run's primary industry was

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

. The population was largely homogeneous, consisting of American-born white farmers who owned small plots of land. Because the hillsides were unsuitable for most crops, the farmers of the Cass District mostly raised

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

, particularly

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

. Farmers were primarily forced out of the area because of high land prices after the coal fields began to be developed.

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

William Barton Rogers William Barton Rogers (December 7, 1804 – May 30, 1882) was an American geologist, physicist, and educator at the College of William & Mary from 1828 to 1835 and at the University of Virginia from 1835 to 1853. In 1861, Rogers founded the M ...

conducted the first surveys of the coal producing potential of the area in 1836. By 1902, two companies had purchased land near the mouth of the Run. However, the lack of a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

outlet slowed the development of the area, until the Morgantown and Wheeling Railroad was completed in 1916. Demand for coal produced by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

contributed to the rush to develop the coal field.

Coal boom

Scotts Run is part of the Fairmont Coal Field, which is on the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

coal seam 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 fro ...

. The large Pittsburgh seam was known as "the most valuable mineral deposit in the world". During the years from 1917 to 1932, between

and the Great Depression, the Scotts Run area faced rapid industrialization and intense development of the bituminous coal industry. Despite geographic limitations, the area's development was one of the fastest in the nation. During this 15-year period, at least 60 mines operated in the area. Development also brought about changes in Scotts Run's population. The industry's rapid expansion resulted in a labor shortage, which was filled by a flood of workers moving into the area. Not only was the population steadily increasing, it was also becoming much more diverse. Many of the people moving into the area were

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

and African Americans. By 1930, 13 percent of Cass District's population were immigrants, while another 13 percent were African American. These new residents provided a secure labor force for mining expansion. The development of the Scotts Run area coincided with the

mechanization Mechanization is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text a machine is defined as follows: In some fields, mechanization includes the ...

process of the 1920s. The emergence of coal-loading machines and gathering locomotives replaced hand-loading and mules. Scotts Run's largest boom year was 1923, during which 37 mines from 33 different companies actively operated. However, the overextended industry was in steady decline from 1923 until the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929.

Great Depression era

The coaling industry, in comparison to the boom of the 1920s, had basically collapsed by 1932. Already suffering, the industry could not sustain the economic downturn brought about by the

Stock Market Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

. Residents of Scotts Run not only suffered from

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

, but also from ethnic and racial prejudice and limited educational opportunities. The rampant poverty in Scotts Run attracted the attention of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

missionaries and the American Friends Service Committee in 1931. Later in 1933, the Roosevelt administration sent relief workers. Scotts Run became America's image for the bleakness of the Great Depression. One writer for ''Atlantic Monthly'' declared that Scotts Run was “the damndest cesspool of human misery I have ever seen in America.” Although the suffering at Scotts Run was probably no different from that of other coal hollows in Appalachia, it garnered national attention because of its accessibility to photographers, reporters, social workers, and government officials through automobile and railroad. First Lady

also brought national attention to the Run. Roosevelt first toured the mine camps of the area in 1933, and returned several times, forging long-term relationships. Following the first lady were media outlets and famous photographers such as

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...

Marion Post Wolcott Marion Post Wolcott (June 7, 1910 – November 24, 1990) was an American photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression documenting poverty, the Jim Crow South, and deprivation. Early life Marion ...

, and

Ben Shahn Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as ''The Shape of Content''. Biography Shahn was bor ...

. Eleanor Roosevelt's involvement culminated in the relocation of a number of families at the resettlement community of Arthurdale in nearby

Preston County Preston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 34,216. Its county seat is Kingwood, West Virginia, Kingwood. The county was form ...

. Local relief efforts also existed. The Scotts Run Settlement House, in existence since 1922, provided a large amount of assistance. Another example was Morgantown's First Presbyterian Church’s establishment of a missionary project for Scotts Run, which opened The Shack, a community center which eventually was used to start a co-op for supplemental farming. The 1930s marked a steady decline in industrial work in Scotts Run. Many of the residents relocated, some to Arthurdale, and many of the younger male residents served in the armed forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and did not return to the area upon the war’s end.

National Research Project

In 1936–37, documentary photographer

Lewis Hine Lewis Wickes Hine (September 26, 1874 – November 3, 1940) was an American sociologist and muckraker photographer. His photographs were instrumental in bringing about the passage of the first child labor laws in the United States. Early life ...

created photo studies of 14 American industrial communities, including Scotts Run, for the National Research Project of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Unemployed man attending meeting of the Workers Alliance Council - All of the men are... - NARA - 518383.jpg, Unemployed men attend a meeting of the Workers Alliance Council in Scotts Run File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Unemployed bachelor, Jere - This is typical of a particular group of stranded men in an... - NARA - 518397.jpg, Unemployed miner in the abandoned Jere camp File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Peter Percupu, Roumanian miner, unemployed, known in Scott's Run as "Ground Hog." Too old... - NARA - 518422.jpg, Romanian miner too old to work File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Employed miner's family - Sessa Hill - This picture was taken at the natural supper hour.... - NARA - 518391.jpg, Mine mechanic and his family File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Pursglove Mines Nos. 3 and 4 - This is the largest company of Scott's Run. Scene shows... - NARA - 518378.jpg, Pursglove Mines Nos. 3 and 4 File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. (Unemployed miner.) - NARA - 518409.jpg, Unemployed miner File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. New Hill - A new camp. The best community on Scott's Run - NARA - 518384.jpg, Miners' homes in the best community in Scotts Run File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Interior of the Jere WPA nursery - These children are from unemployed miners' homes. - NARA - 518388.jpg, WPA nursery for children of unemployed miners File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. (Unemployed miner.) - NARA - 518413.jpg, Unemployed miner File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. Miner returning from work at New Hill - There are no mine wash houses in West Virginia.... - NARA - 518393.jpg, Miner returning from work File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. (Recreation and community activities.) - NARA - 518403.jpg, Library in Scotts Run File:Scott's Run, West Virginia. (Woman gathering coal.) - NARA - 518411.jpg, Woman gathering coal

Mining disasters

The 13

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

communities along Scotts Run had a reputation of being "disaster free" before

. The owners of the Christopher and Pursglove mines, in particular, were known as being highly safety conscious, and had even won awards for the safety of their mines. However, in 1942 and 1943, the dangers of

, coupled with the added production pressures placed on the mines by the war effort, caused three mine disasters to occur along Scotts Run within nine months of each other. On May 12, 1942, a locomotive cable short-circuited at the same time as a malfunction with one of the

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a m ...

doors, and it caused a methane explosion and collapsing roofs. Fifty-six men total were killed in the blast. On July 9, 1942, the nearby Pursglove No. 2 mine experienced an explosion when a roof fall caused a 550-volt trolley wire to fall onto the track and ignite the

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...

and

coal dust Coal dust is a fine powdered form of which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal. It is a form ...

filled air. The mine had used substandard

rock dust Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

to coat the mine's surface, which could have contributed to the intensity of the blast. Twenty were killed. A third disaster occurred on January 8, 1943, when a haulage locomotive caught fire and 11 men sent to fight the blaze were suffocated by the smoke.

Scotts Run today

Mine mechanization made a large labor force extraneous, and the population of Scotts Run has been in steady decline since the 1930s. New technologies also produced

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

reliant on diesel engines lessened the demand for coal. By the 1950s, the mines left in the Run were consolidated into a few large parcels, mostly controlled by the Consolidation Coal Company. Finally, the construction of Interstate 79 bisected the Scotts Run area and eliminated remaining coal company housing. Remnants of the mining industry remain scattered about the region, such as rusting mine

tipple A tipple is a structure used at a mine to load the extracted product (e.g., coal, ores) for transport, typically into railroad hopper cars. In the United States, tipples have been frequently associated with coal mines, but they have also been use ...

s and

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...

in the area streams and rivers. Although the population is much smaller than during the coal boom, residents are actively attempting to preserve Scotts Run's history and bring new business to the area.

References

External links

Scotts Run Settlement House

Arthurdale Heritage, Inc.

eWV

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Unincorporated communities in Monongalia County, West Virginia Coal towns in West Virginia