Keystone is a city in McDowell County,

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. Per the 2020 census, the population was 176. Keystone is one of the few municipalities in West Virginia with an African-American majority, with 65 percent of the residents being black. The term "Free State of McDowell" was coined by Matthew Thomas Whittico, a local newspaper editor and community leader from Keystone in the early 20th century.Deaner, Larry Scott (2004). ''Home in the McDowell County Coalfields: The African-American Population of Keystone, West Virginia'' (M.A., Geography thesis). Ohio University. Keystone possessed a unique combination of political, social, and economic characteristics that made it an attractive place for African-Americans to migrate to in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

History

Keystone was founded in 1892 by the Keystone Coal & Coke Company. Keystone was then incorporated in 1909 by the

Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

of McDowell County. Its name is derived from the name of the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and coke company operating at that point. The city was formerly known as Cassville. On May 1, 1895, 15,000 union miners (predominantly black) assembled in Keystone and armed themselves, planning to march across the state line to Virginia in order to force the Virginia miners in one bordering mine (also predominantly black) to unionize. The governor of Virginia, Charles O'Ferrall, ordered an artillery company and six infantry companies to the Virginia border, but West Virginia Governor William MacCorkle refused repeated requests from O'Ferrall to reciprocate. This was in response to the N&W Railroad lowering the minimum price guarantee on coal shipped to Tidewater ports. The operators reduced wages by 20% in response and encouraged their miners to strike. By the end of April that year, the mines on the WV side had completely shut down, but a large mine across the state line in Virginia continued to operate. The strike collapsed by the end of August. The UMWA was a relatively young union, and could not support a strike of this magnitude. In the end, most of the mines resumed operations with mostly imported strikebreakers.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land. The town is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

(former

Norfolk and Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

) network.

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 282 people, 122 households, and 74 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 183 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 34.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 65.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, and 0.4% Asian.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.7% of the population. There were 122 households, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 25.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.3% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the city was 38 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23% were from 25 to 44; 31.9% were from 45 to 64; and 12.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 41.5% male and 58.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 453 people, 203 households, and 120 families living in the city. The

was 1,397.1 people per square mile (546.6/km²). There were 236 housing units at an average density of 727.8 per square mile (284.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.85%

, 24.50%

, 0.44% Native American, 0.22% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.22% of the population. There were 203 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.6% were

living together, 29.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 21.4% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 70.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 68.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $10,417, and the median income for a family was $12,639. Males had a median income of $14,167 versus $18,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $7,033, the second lowest in the state. About 48.8% of families and 46.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 63.8% of those under age 18 and 25.5% of those age 65 or over.

Residents

* Stewart A. Calhoun, lawyer and state legislator

References

External links

Coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains – Keystone, WV
{{authority control Coal towns in West Virginia Cities in McDowell County, West Virginia Cities in West Virginia Populated places established in 1892 1892 establishments in West Virginia 1909 establishments in West Virginia Populated places established in 1909