Crichton is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

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 reside ...

Greenbrier County Greenbrier County () is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. Its county seat is Lewisburg. The county was formed in 1778 from Botetourt and Montgomery Counties in Virginia. History P ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. Crichton is located near the western border of Quinwood.

History

Crichton was founded as a company town in 1921 by Walter Crichton for the nearby mine. The town and the mine were subsidiaries of Johnstown Coal and Coke, which was a large mining company with its headquarters in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

. The company was formed in 1912 by Walter Crichton's brothers Harry and Andrew and the mine at Crichton was the first in a series of mines Walter was responsible for as the company expanded its reach into West Virginia and western

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. The mine closed in 1951 and Johnstown Coal and Coke itself ceased all operations in 1959. The town is still home to approximately 100 residents and an elementary school.

References

Unincorporated communities in Greenbrier County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Coal towns in West Virginia {{GreenbrierCountyWV-geo-stub