Saturday, September 04, 2010
Plans To Renominate Blair Mountain On National Register
WEST VIRGINIA....
The Division of Culture and History, through the Office of Historic Preservation, plans to renominate the site of the Battle of Blair Mountain for a place on the National Register of Historic Places. The area was placed on the National Register in March 2009, then removed nine months later, after a new list of landowners at the site seemed to indicate a majority of the landowners wanted the historic site to be opened to coal mining. Massey Energy and Arch Coal are among the companies that have indicated some interest in developing mining operations in the area. Gordon Simmons, president of the West Virginia Labor History Association, says the list turned out to have some dead people on it, and he believes there was no adequate basis on which to revisit the issue. The Battle of Blair Mountain was fought for five days, in late August and early September 1921, along the 15-mile ridge separating Boone and Logan counties. At least 7,500 coal miners marched from Marmet to Blair Mountain, planning to continue into Logan County to organize nonunion mines. The miners confronted a force of 3,000 law officers, many of whom worked directly for coal companies.
The Division of Culture and History, through the Office of Historic Preservation, plans to renominate the site of the Battle of Blair Mountain for a place on the National Register of Historic Places. The area was placed on the National Register in March 2009, then removed nine months later, after a new list of landowners at the site seemed to indicate a majority of the landowners wanted the historic site to be opened to coal mining. Massey Energy and Arch Coal are among the companies that have indicated some interest in developing mining operations in the area. Gordon Simmons, president of the West Virginia Labor History Association, says the list turned out to have some dead people on it, and he believes there was no adequate basis on which to revisit the issue. The Battle of Blair Mountain was fought for five days, in late August and early September 1921, along the 15-mile ridge separating Boone and Logan counties. At least 7,500 coal miners marched from Marmet to Blair Mountain, planning to continue into Logan County to organize nonunion mines. The miners confronted a force of 3,000 law officers, many of whom worked directly for coal companies.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 6:38 PM 
