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I am not sure it that simple John. West Virginia has been a broken state since long before it became a state. Before the Europeans came here, American Indian tribes did not live in the region that is now West Virginia. They did find it vital for burial, ceremonial purposes such as spirit quests and the proving of a man's worth as he transitioned from boy to adult. It has always been a hard land, hard to get into and even rougher to move through. Once inside it is hard to leave, because it changes the way those that find their way here and how they look at the world and themselves.
Once the Europeans came to America, none settled here that had a better choice. Only those that were outcast of the day, Italians, Irish, Hessians and those with nothing else of worth to those colonial centers along the coast came here. West Virginia developed a strong under current of Celtic traditions. Listen to West Virginia's brand of music and you will hear echoes of Ireland.
Then West Virginia was just western Virginia and the land and the people were exploited by their betters in Richmond, Culpepper and Tidewater. This set the foundation for what was to come. The power brokers did not live in West Virginia but owned its riches and its people; taking both away when they could. The local West Virginia government was often a body of transplants that could not wait to go back to civilization once they had made their fortune.
Even once Pierpont formed a state, the mentality was there, which is why Wheeling was the first capital. It was as close to not being in West Virginia as was possible. Both Pittsburgh and Cleveland were near-by and that city served as a gateway to siphon the best of West Virginia without getting to mired in actually being in West Virginia. Wheeling still does not see itself as really a part of West Virginia and if you visit there, it certainly feels more like Pittsburgh than it does with any other part of the state.
Before coal, there was salt and even a bit of oil. but, like in the colonial times, these two resources set the foundation for the way coal and the later chemical industry would be established. Each brought in the dregs of society from places like North Carolina and Virginia to work and often die in harsh conditions, with little notice or thought for the individual these industries used like disposable people. Most were buried in mass in unmarked graves and few there are that even know their tales.
The rail lines came and the river boats lost sway and with those trains came the need for coal. More dregs were brought in to mine coal, company towns were erected and whole families were plunged into abject slavery to the coal barons. It lasted from after the Civil War until about 1910, when the unions brought some relief to the suffering, but before long they became what they first stood against and once more the unionized worker had a new master.
This lasted until WW II, when the need for vast quantities of chemicals were demanded by the allies. Coal now had a peer in the chemical worker, but he like his coal brother was unionized and his soul, his family his future was owned by a company that sat well-outside the bounds of the state. That company did not see him, did not see West Virginia, except as a stockpile to be converted from raw material to profit. In their pursuit to produce the latter the ground down the workers, the state and its people to make sure that margin was as great as possible. Their enablers were those we residents elected from among ourselves to office.
Instead of seeking our redress, they sought, more often than not, to further their own rewards, having been elevated to a height of prominence. The people of West Virginia had no champion except those that took on that mantel and wore it in charade.
It eventually became easier and more cost production to move the chemical industry to Texas in the 1970's, when the cost of fuel bloomed and made transport an heavy cost factor. Coal could be bought easier from Wyoming or from foreign producers because the liberal trend in the nation demonized all coal. West Virginia lost its only cards on the table.
While it is easy to say we made no plans for what came after coal or chemicals, but the truth is, we did not make the plans those industries. The people of West Virginia have never had the power to do anything. We have been exploited until the exploitation became to costly.
Even now, it is very difficult to tear down most of the buildings in the Charleston CBD because they owned and managed by out of state trusts, tied to families, often empty of living members to sign off on the documents to end that ownership. Many parts of West Virginia are still owned by those living and mostly dead that never came here, never appreciated and probably never knew part of the holdings were in West Virginia.
It does not have to be that way, but for now it is. We elected Jim Justice as governor and before him were a string of those just like him. Our current elected officials are mostly the same, with those few worthy individuals far too out numbered to make a difference or raise their voice. We have elected a mayor that sees her current office as a resume item. But who was the choice? A man that was part of the old way of thinking, he just wanted to better himself, not the city.
The people that lack vision in West Virginia are the people of West Virginia. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
This is very insightful, and perfectly valid for your portion of West Virginia, but you are essentially painting the whole state with the same brush and that lacks validity. It isn't just Wheeling that is more like Pittsburgh, it is the whole northern part of the state from Sutton north. You didn't mention the very heavy industrial developments along the Mon and Ohio River valleys combined with chemicals on the Ohio that certainly rivaled anything that happened elsewhere. Also, the Eastern Panhandle does not fit your mix at all and the parts east of the Alleghenies always were low country related instead of being in the isolated parts of Appalachia. Still, it is a very good description for Kanawha and the areas further south in the state. I enjoyed reading it.
While there are indeed some Celtic descendants from Sutton north, they are in the distinct minority including my own family. Northern WV is primarily Germanic with other ethnicities in the industrial and coal areas, mostly from Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe, while the EP primarily has low country English roots.
Northern WV Spanish have always considered themselves to be Euros, not Hispanic, so the Rodriguez, Lopez, and Ovies families among several others have no relationship with anybody from south of the border and do not relate to them culturally.
Also, as you pointed out, the northern part of the state, even the hilly and mountainous parts, has always been much closer to the heavily populated areas and thus not as isolated, and not at all isolated for as long. These factors resulted in a very different mindset, some of which persists until this very day.
Last edited by CTMountaineer; 10-02-2019 at 09:16 PM..
A new tech company "Infor" has opened up in downtown Charleston with ambitions of hiring 100 or so. The company specializes in software/business solutions. It is always good news when new companies are bring high paying jobs back into downtown. Them, along with N3 who opened up a couple years ago in the Tech Park are showing that tech companies can and are willing to locate here in the Kanawha Valley.
Looks like something will finally happen to the B&B Loans building on Summers Street. After years of hoping for it to be rejuvenated, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation has purchased it with the intent to use it as their HQ. Honestly this is a little disappointing because they will just be relocating from the former Huntington Bank building. Also, the bottom floors won’t be used for commercial space.
I sure hope that they at least put some TLC into the building and make it attractive again.
The Charleston Area Alliance is hoping to attract new businesses to the area by developing a new strategic plan. They hope to concentrate their efforts on growing and maintaining the local workforce. Some of the goals include creating more downtown housing opportunities for young professionals, encouraging more downtown services to stay open later making the area more attractive for urban living, and marketing the area for companies looking for young adults.
The National Weather Service is building a new building at the WV Regional Tech Park. The building will have the capacity to hold another tenant in the future. It’s nice to see new construction, but especially at the Tech Park.
An all electric bus manufacture is opening a plant in South Charleston behind Park Place (Smith Fastener building), and will eventually employ 200 workers. This will be this companies first plant east of the Mississippi, and is a testament to the attractiveness of South Charleston as a place to do business. I wish Charleston had the leadership that SC has.
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