Scotts Run, West Virginia
Scotts Run became well known nationally during the years of the Great Depression, when photographers and the relief efforts of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicized the impoverished conditions faced by the community.[5][page needed] The rampant poverty in Scotts Run attracted the attention of Protestant missionaries and the American Friends Service Committee in 1931.[4] One writer for Atlantic Monthly declared that Scotts Run was “the damndest cesspool of human misery I have ever seen in America.”[citation needed] Although the suffering at Scotts Run was probably no different from that of other coal hollows in Appalachia, it garnered national attention because of its accessibility to photographers, reporters, social workers, and government officials through automobile and railroad.Eleanor Roosevelt's involvement culminated in the relocation of a number of families at the resettlement community of Arthurdale in nearby Preston County.Another example was Morgantown's First Presbyterian Church’s establishment of a missionary project for Scotts Run, which opened The Shack, a community center which eventually was used to start a co-op for supplemental farming.[6] In 1936–37, documentary photographer Lewis Hine created photo studies of 14 American industrial communities, including Scotts Run, for the National Research Project of the Works Progress Administration.[7] Mine mechanization made a large labor force extraneous, and the population of Scotts Run has been in steady decline since the 1930s.Finally, the construction of Interstate 79 bisected the Scotts Run area and eliminated remaining coal company housing.[4] Although the population is much smaller than during the coal boom, residents are actively attempting to preserve Scotts Run's history and bring new business to the area.
Unincorporated communityCountryUnited StatesWest VirginiaCountyMonongaliaTime zoneEastern (EST)GNIS IDMonongalia CountyMorgantowncoal miningGreat DepressionEleanor RooseveltagriculturelivestockcattleGeologistWilliam Barton RogersrailroadWorld War IPittsburghcoal seamindustrializationbituminous coalimmigrantsAfrican Americansmechanizationeconomic downturnStock Market Crash of 1929unemploymentpovertyProtestantmissionariesAmerican Friends Service CommitteeRoosevelt administrationAppalachiaWalker EvansMarion Post WolcottBen ShahnArthurdalePreston CountyThe ShackWorld War IILewis HineWorks Progress Administrationminingventilationmethane explosionmethanecoal dustrock dustlocomotivesdiesel enginesConsolidation Coal CompanyInterstate 79tipplesacid mine drainageMonongalia County, West VirginiaCounty seatCitiesWestoverBlacksvilleGranvilleStar CityBrookhavenCassvilleCheat LakePentressOtherlocalitiesArnettsvilleBaker RidgeBehlerBertha HillBowlbyBrewer HillBrowns ChapelCanyonChaplinCheat NeckChestnut RidgeClinton FurnaceCrossroadsDaybrookDellslowDelmarEastonEverettvilleFieldcrestFlaggy MeadowFort GrandFort MartinGeorgetownGreystoneGum SpringHagansHalleckHarmony GroveHilderbrandHog EyeHolmanJakes RunKimberlyKlondikeLaurel PointLittle FallsLowsvilleMacdaleMaidsvilleMcCurdyvilleMcMellinMiracle RunMooresvilleMorgan HeightsNationalNew HillOpekiskaOsgoodPedlarPierpontPioneer RocksPrice HillPursgloveRagtownRandallRichard