I grew up and still live in an area that is dotted everywhere with tiny mining towns that sprang up during booms in different hollers and have now been abandoned and totally forgotten, with no trace save for maybe a cellar here, a stack there, and the red creek water.

Historic mining towns weren't necessarily meant to last, and have been largely forgotten regardless of who primarily worked them. In my area, though, the African American history of these towns has seen a great resurgence, and people have taken specific interest in preserving the history of the African American towns. Unfortunately the same enthusiasm has not caught on for the Hungarian or German communities that were once near me, many of which are not lucky enough to have even a sign in remembrance of where they once worked and died. I've found that these things usually come in cycles.

Luckily, some people like me have been at least working to research and preserve maps and first-hand accounts throughout the 1800's to early 1900's. It's hard for some people to believe that the back road location that they share with two or three other houses once had 16 saloons and a hotel.

Local history is my favorite to research, and with mining towns it's often easier than people think. That being said, we're still suffering under the heavy burden of a lack of infrastructure, the opioid epidemic, and poverty that keeps people focusing on the "now", understandably so. People from outside of Appalachia often bring a stereotypical view or are disrespectful in their approach, which further exacerbates the problem IMO.

"Once the day's mining or railway track laying was over, Irish immigrants would take out their fiddles and sing ballads. African Americans would play the banjo and sing harmonies; miners from Eastern Europe sang folk songs and played brass instruments.

It was into this dynamic environment that music icon Bill Withers was born in 1938. Withers' contribution to the world of music is legendary. The multi-Grammy-winning artist's songs Ain't No Sunshine, Just The Two Of Us and Lean On Me – inspired by his early days in Slab Fork and nearby Beckley – are world-renowned."

That's incredible! I never knew this. I'm from McDowell and spent many years in southern WV. I'd be interested to go on this tour one day. Wonder if it's motorcycle friendly?

Interesting, I would love to take this tour.

I'm very tempted to take this tour next time I drive through this region!

Some fun facts about African Americans in my corner of Appalachia:

• Cheryl LaRoche's book talks some about how in Southeast Ohio and Northern Kentucky, the iron furnaces were an important part of the region's Underground Railroad network. Ironton was founded by a white abolitionist, and many African Americans worked in the iron industry on both sides of the river, so that became a mode of mobility and a geographic guide for freedom seekers.

• Lewis Woodson, regarded by some as the "father of Black nationalism," lived with his father and siblings for a number of years in Chillicothe and later in Jackson County, Ohio. Woodson later advocated for African Americans to move to Ohio and places like it, and used his father's rural Ohio community as an example of the possibilities for Black self-determination that didn't require moving abroad. Woodson felt that the rural landscape would allow African Americans to live away from racists, but also felt that there was some moral and spiritual value in that.

• Richard L. Davis was born in Roanoke, Virginia, and moved to Rendville, Ohio, notable for being an integrated mining town in the 19th century. Now, for some important context, Hocking Valley's coal industry had experienced labor strikes in that area, and at least some were temporarily broken by Black strike breakers, because coal companies new they could exploit racial labor issues by bringing in Black workers from Southern States to work for a much cheaper price, given that white unions excluded them. Davis helped to found the United Mine Workers Of America, and focused his energy on securing Black members, and in doing so made significant progress in breaking the caller line in the region.

That's not even scratching the surface, and clearly I am only talking about one tiny pocket of Appalachian Ohio. I'm sharing this because, particularly among people outside the region, there are these popular assumptions that Appalachia is just white people, or that any Black history began with the Great Migration. But across the region, if you know where to look, you can find so much early Black history.

This post caught my attention. Thanks for sharing.