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11 Most Endangered
Blair Mountain Battlefield
Year Listed: 2006
Location: Logan County , West Virginia
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development, Poor Public Policy
Latest News
June 2009: A petition urging the State of West Virginia to work with Blair Mountain property owners and permit applicants to reach a solution that will allow both mining and preservation of this historic site has been sent to Governor Joe Manchin. The petition was signed by 559 members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the general public.
Aerial view of Blair Mountain Battlefield in West Virginia.
Credit: National Trust for Historic Preservation
Significance
The 1,600-acre Spruce Fork Ridge of Blair Mountain, about 90 minutes southwest of Charleston, W.Va., was the scene of the showdown in 1921 between a miners' army at least 7,000 strong and a 3,000-man defensive force headed by Logan County Sheriff Don Chafin and other law officers, many of whom were on the coal companies' payrolls. The defensive force, bolstered by private planes that dropped homemade bombs on the miners, dug trenches, blocked roads, felled trees and mounted machine guns along the 15-mile ridgeline. The miners used natural pathways to mount the ridge and breach Chafin's line. The confrontation was the largest armed labor conflict in the nation's history, with miners seeking the right not only to unionize but also to exercise civil liberties such as freedom of speech and assembly.
Updates
April 6, 2009: The State of West Virginia, on behalf of petitioning landowners, has requested the delisting of Blair Mountain, which was placed on the National Register just last week. The criteria are stringent for delisting a historic place, and it remains to be seen whether or not the State's claims will stand. Read more.
March 30, 2009: Blair Mountain was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The culmination of almost 20 years of effort, the nomination withstood multiple challenges by the coal companies and land companies who control the historic site. As a nationally recognized historic place, Blair Mountain's significance and integrity is indisputable. While this will help document the site for future generations, listing on the National Register is only a small part of what's needed to save and interpret Blair Mountain. Read more here.
Progress has been slow in the fight to save Blair Mountain, and the United Mine Workers of America remains mute about the union's endangered heritage.
Since 2006, mining permits for Blair have been held up in court due to suspected Clean Water Act violations involved in surface mining. Recently, despite a decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow permitting to proceed, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced its own review of strip-mining's impacts to streams and waterways. The EPA's decision will grant another temporary reprieve for Blair Mountain.
Read More:
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Blair Mountain National Register Nomination |
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