The historic site, where minors and lawmen clashed in 1921, has been put back on the National Register of Historic Places.
After a decade-long legal battle, the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places has announced the addition of 1,600 acres of rugged West Virginia land to the register to honor another battle almost a century ago.
The listing will protect the site—sacred to many coal miners—from mountaintop removal mining and other development. In 1921, some 10,000 armed miners clashed with local lawmen and company agents over the right to unionize. The week-long fracas on Blair Mountain remains the largest armed insurrection in the U.S. since the Civil War. The battle ended when federal troops arrived and the miners dispersed and though they were defeated, the battle helped raise awareness of dire conditions for workers in Appalachia’s coalfields and eventually led to stronger unions.
Fast forward to 2008, when the site was listed on the historic register, but then de-listed at West Virginia’s request soon after, putting it at risk of mining. A coalition of local groups and environmental organizations took the issue to court, where it journeyed through twists and turns until the announcement on June 27 adding it back to the national register.
“I am so proud of the many who have been fighting this modern day battle for years and those who still fight for their rights to deserving pensions, honor, respect, and a quality of life,” said Natalie Thompson of Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition whose great-grandfather fought in the Battle of Blair Mountain. wvhighlands.org; crmw.net; sierraclub.org/west-virginia
The story above appears in our Sept./Oct. 2018 issue.
