Burned West Virginia Hotel To Fall
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Dec. 1, 2010
Two weeks ago, an accidental fire damaged a 93-year-old West Virginia hotel with ties to the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain. No one was seriously hurt in the Nov. 15 blaze, but 60 occupants had to evacuate the Aracoma Hotel, located in the city of Logan.
Locals initially hoped that the historic hotel would be repaired, but part of the brick structure collapsed on Thanksgiving Day, leaving little hope for rehabilitation.
"It definitely has to come down," says Serafino Nolletti, mayor of Logan. "That corner section—all four floors collapsed in like a pancake."
The Aracoma served as the headquarters for state and local law enforcement officials during the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, a five-day clash between coal miners and police and strikebreakers intent on preventing unionization of the coal industry.
Decades later, in spring 1960, John F. Kennedy stayed at the hotel during his presidential campaign. Dwight Williamson, a Logan County magistrate who remembers Kennedy’s visit, says that losing the hotel is "really sad, especially for those of us who were small children when Senator Kennedy was here."
The four-story Aracoma Hotel was used both as an overnight hotel and as long-term housing; its lower floor contained several businesses. Although the hotel has been altered over the years, preservationists consider the building significant for its link to labor history.
"We're especially saddened because the battlefield itself is threatened with surface mining and other industrial development," says Nell Ziehl, program officer in the Southern Field Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "If the Aracoma is demolished and the battlefield is destroyed, there will be little left in Logan County to tell the story of Blair Mountain."
The city is currently soliciting bids for demolition, but no teardown date has been set, according to Mayor Nolletti. For public safety reasons, the city has blocked off two downtown streets near the hotel.
"Everybody really hates to see it go," Nolletti says.
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Comments
Submitted by Brian at: December 3, 2010
It sounds like the community really does appreciate the building and they would save it if they could... However I know that many buildings across Europe suffered bombardment in WWII and yet they have been rebuilt. A pancaked corner may be serious damage, but not really any different than a building hit by a bomb. It can be rebuilt! Of course it can be rebuilt!!!
Submitted by TaxiManSteve at: December 2, 2010
More of our nation;s labor heritage... It is bonafide history as worth remembering as the mansions on the hill... goes before the wrecking ball...Like burned-out steamer Verona which lies in the sediment of Seattle harbor, the ship of the Everett Massacre.... Too bad we don't remember. ---SWL