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Troll_For_Truth t1_iz6yvzq wrote

Reply to comment by hteultaimte69 in An essay on The Harlan County War by BonesOfTheWaywardSon

Once the mines closing and the rerouting if the river were done, there wasnt much left, and it descended into what it is today. It needs a renaissance

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vorschact t1_iz8183p wrote

Mr. Peabody's Coal Company hauled it away.

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Madame_Kitsune98 t1_iz8hab2 wrote

That’s closer to where I’m from. Paradise is Muhlenberg County, next door to me in Hopkins County.

My people came to Western Kentucky by way of North Carolina, East Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. I reckon I have family who mined coal around Harlan.

Hell, my great-granddad mined for gold in the Yukon, and when my granny was born, they were living in Bisbee, Arizona, because he was mining copper.

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The_Observatory_ t1_iz9scip wrote

And speaking of mining and labor wars, Bisbee is famous for the 1917 Bisbee Deportation, where the Phelps Dodge mining company, in collusion with the Cochise County (AZ) sheriff, sent a posse to round up 1,300 striking mine workers, stick them on rail cars, and send them to a tiny, remote area in New Mexico called Tres Hermanas. Bisbee is also famous for the Warren Ballpark, one of the oldest surviving baseball stadiums in the country.

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Madame_Kitsune98 t1_iza5f8c wrote

I would think they were there in 1917, Granny was born in May of 1918.

I had no idea. That’s something I need to read more about. Thank you!

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The_Observatory_ t1_iza74xn wrote

You're welcome! I used to live in Arizona (I'm in East Tennessee now), and when my wife and I visited Bisbee we learned about the deportation. Apparently, when the posse rounded up the striking mine workers, they were held on the baseball field at Warren Ballpark until they were railroaded out of the state. I need to go back and read about where they all went after they were dumped off in rural New Mexico. I wonder how many went back to Arizona, and how many said "forget it" and went somewhere else.

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SergIsCynical t1_iza1rhs wrote

There’s not a whole lot you can do with a town like Harlan, factories don’t want to come because it’s secluded and businesses don’t want to open there because any business there that isn’t Walmart, a fast food place, or a grocery store is already failing because of the impoverished residents and dwindling population.

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Troll_For_Truth t1_iza9azi wrote

Spot on. I always thought if I ever won the big lottery like that big 1 billion one id build something there. A start. Wouldnt fix anything, but a start. There was once talk of a textile (sock) factory, a few other smaller ones since, but nothing came of it. I always shouted about tourism but that didnt go anywhere either. Lots of rugged wilderness, trails, even kingdom come park nearby. Hell the AT isnt too terribly far. Probably too far but still. Place needs a refocus and advertising. Its hard to see my old neighborhood gone on google earth. Our house is still there but isnt in the best shape. Im never going to be gone because practically an entire side of resthaven is family. Always going back.

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caesar15 t1_iz8ia0j wrote

The coal mines had done so much bad for the place (and the earth), and yet they depended on them. Ironic.

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Troll_For_Truth t1_iz9md4u wrote

Funny how that works isnt it. Same said for oil.

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caesar15 t1_izcfhyd wrote

Indeed. The world will be better with it gone, but that doesn't mean everybody wins.

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