Logan County History

Railroad History of Logan County

*This article is from the 1952 Centennial Program Booklet published by the city of Logan. By Wib G. Whited The program of industry in Logan county was made at the completion of the railroad. In 1902 Major McKindrey, chief engineer for the Guyan Valley Division, cam to Logan by way of Dingess on the Norfolk […]

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Logan’s Telephone 1905 – 1952

*This article is from the 1952 Centennial Program Booklet published by the city of Logan. By L. E. “Chief” Thompson Since the advent of the telephone 76 years ago this service has played an important part in the development and growth of every community, and so it has been with Logan. The first telephones in

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Early Travel in Logan County

By Dwight Williamson The Ohio, Guyandotte, Tug, and Big Sandy rivers, as well as Indian trails, were no doubt the first avenues of travel into the lands of what was centuries ago simply known as the unsettled mountains of western Virginia. Mostly Scotch-Irish settlers hailing as protestant immigrants from Northern Ireland, who had been looked

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Recalling one of the worst floods in Logan

By Dwight Williamson Although it might be difficult to pinpoint any one particular year in Logan County history as most significant, the year of 1963 has to stand out as a very important time in the annals of local history. A few things of paramount interest at the time include the worst flooding in the

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History before our eyes

By Dwight Williamson In one way or another, we all are making history just by existing. However, for people who really study history, the quote, “Nothing has really happened until it is recorded,” most definitely applies. So,—let it be written and let it be said—that Logan County history is being made right before our eyes—in

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The journey of Logan’s Woman’s Club

By Dwight Williamson The closing of so many Sears’s stores across the nation, including the one at Aracoma near Logan and the Charleston Town Center Mall location, is sad to see in these turbulent economic times. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Logan County is suffering badly. Vacant buildings in the

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Remembering some of the coal camp communities

By Dwight Williamson It once was a thriving community which even included a bowling alley and a movie theater. Gone with the coal dust wind is the community of Sharples, which no longer has a school of any kind in the Logan County territory that includes the areas of Clothier, Kelly Hollow, Dobra, Mifflin, Blair,

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Don Chafin and the Battle of Blair Mountain

By Dwight Williamson Imagine this: It is a hot sultry day in late August of 1921 in bustling downtown Logan as you await the afternoon edition of the only real source of local news for Logan County -The Logan Banner. Paperboys with their canvas bags strapped across their shoulders full of newspapers fresh off the

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Logan County Courthouse 1875-1905

Courthouse photo taken in 1903 Logan Banner, Moments in History by Bob Spence. Shown at the right of today’s column is the courthouse built in Logan in the 1870s and torn down in 1905. This photograph is on loan from Ronna McClure and many thanks and appreciations are extended to her. It is remarkable for

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U. M. W. of A. in Logan County

by Melvin Triola Published in 1952 The United Mine Workers of America attempted to organize the Logan field in 1921.  Their organizing campaign was halted on Blair Mountain at that time by the organized effort of the coal operators in Logan County, with which everyone is familiar. After being unsuccessful in this campaign, they did

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