McDowell County, West Virginia

McDowell County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,111.[2] Its county seat is Welch.[3] McDowell County is the southernmost county in the state. It was created in 1858 by the Virginia General Assembly and named for Virginia Governor James McDowell.[4] It became a part of West Virginia in 1863, when several Union-affiliated counties seceded from the state of Virginia during the American Civil War. McDowell County is located in the Cumberland Mountains, part of the Appalachia region.

McDowell County
County
McDowell County Courthouse in Welch
McDowell County Courthouse in Welch
Nickname: 
Free State of McDowell
Map of West Virginia highlighting McDowell County
Location within the U.S. state of West Virginia
Map of the United States highlighting West Virginia
West Virginia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 37°22′N 81°39′W
Country United States
State West Virginia
FoundedFebruary 28, 1858
Named forJames McDowell[1]
SeatWelch
Largest cityWelch
Area
 • Total535 sq mi (1,390 km2)
 • Land533 sq mi (1,380 km2)
 • Water1.4 sq mi (4 km2)  0.3%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total19,111
 • Estimate 
(2021)
18,363 Decrease
 • Density36/sq mi (14/km2)
DemonymMcDowellian (Colloquial)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district1st
Websitemcdowellcountycommission.com
A coal miners house and family, 1946

Due mostly to a decline in employment in the coal mining industry, McDowell County's population has decreased from almost 100,000 in 1950 to less than 20,000 in 2020. The people of McDowell County suffer high rates of drug abuse and poverty, and have a life expectancy well below the national average.

History

On February 20, 1858, McDowell County was formed from the northern portion of Tazewell County.[5] In 1861, as the nation lurched toward civil war, delegates from McDowell County voted in favor of Virginia's secession from the United States.[6] The northwestern counties of the region were Union-affiliated and voted to secede from Virginia the following year, but McDowell, Greenbrier, Logan, Mercer, Monroe, Pocahontas, Webster, and Wyoming counties in the southern section all refused to participate. The status of these eight counties would be decided by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Virginia v. West Virginia.[7]

McDowell was one of fifty former Virginia counties that were recognized as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. The same year, the residents of McDowell County chose Perryville, now English, then the most populous town, as their new county seat.[4] However, in 1866 the state legislature relocated the county seat to a farm near the mouth of Mill Creek. There it remained until 1874, when it returned to Perryville.[5] The location of the county seat remained in dispute until 1892, when it moved to Welch.[5]

In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the largely rural state, where population density was low. In 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts.[8] McDowell County was divided into three districts: Big Creek, Elkhorn, and Sandy River. In the 1890s, Browns Creek District was formed from a portion of Elkhorn, and North Fork District was created from parts of Browns Creek and Elkhorn. A sixth district, Adkin, was created from part of Elkhorn District in the early 1900s. These districts remained stable until the 1980s, when Adkin, Elkhorn, and North Fork were consolidated into the district of North Elkin.[9]

Referring to the unconventional demographics and political state of McDowell County, a local newspaper editor described the county as "the Free State of McDowell", a description that has stuck in the popular imagination.[10] The origin of this moniker is unknown. Tom Whittico, the founder and first editor of The McDowell Times–the first African-American paper in West Virginia–, said he used it because African Americans had greater electoral power, civil freedoms, and freedom from segregation in McDowell County than in other locations in the state.[11]

McDowell County had the first World War One Memorial to honor black soldiers.[11]

By the first half of the 20th century, McDowell County's economy was dominated by coal mining. In 1950, it was the "leading coal producing county" in the United States. Sixteen percent of the county's population in 1950 was employed in the coal mining sector. However, in the next few decades major breakthroughs in mechanization in the coal industry resulted in job declines. By 1960 the mining workforce had decreased from around 16,000 to around 7,000. Many people left because of the lack of jobs, but people with longstanding family ties were reluctant to do so.[12]

While running for president, John F. Kennedy visited McDowell County and promised to send help if elected. His first executive order created the Food Stamps program and the first recipients of food stamps were in McDowell County.[13] In May 1963, the increasing rate of poverty in McDowell County led President Kennedy to remark in a speech given in the city of Welch:

I don't think any American can be satisfied to find in McDowell County, in West Virginia, 20 or 25 percent of the people of that county out of work, not for 6 weeks or 12 weeks, but for a year, 2, 3, or 4 years.[14]

Geography
Anawalt Lake Wildlife Management Area in McDowell County

McDowell County, the southernmost county in West Virginia, is located at 37.37°N 81.65°W / 37.37; -81.65. It is bordered by Tazewell County, Virginia, to the south; Buchanan County, Virginia, to the west; Mingo County to the northwest; Wyoming County to the north; and Mercer County to the east. The county is located in the Cumberland Mountains, a sub-region of the Appalachian Mountains. The highest elevation in the county is approximately 1,036 m (3,399 ft) on the northwest slope of Flat Top Mountain.[15]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 535 square miles (1,390 km2), of which 533 square miles (1,380 km2) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) (0.3%) is water.[16] The county is roughly in the shape of a semi circle, with the border following the mountains around the county.

Demographics

The county hit its peak of population in 1950 with almost 99,000 people, but job losses in the next decades caused sharp declines in population.

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18601,535—
18701,95227.2%
18803,07457.5%
18907,300137.5%
190018,747156.8%
191047,856155.3%
192068,57143.3%
193090,47931.9%
194094,3544.3%
195098,8874.8%
196071,359−27.8%
197050,666−29.0%
198049,899−1.5%
199035,233−29.4%
200027,329−22.4%
201022,113−19.1%
202019,111−13.6%
2021 (est.)18,363[17]−3.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[18]
1790–1960[19] 1900–1990[20]
1990–2000[21] 2010–2020[2]

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 22,113 people, 9,176 households, and 6,196 families residing in the county.[22] The population density was 41.5 inhabitants per square mile (16.0/km2). There were 11,322 housing units at an average density of 21.2 per square mile (8.2/km2).[23] The racial makeup of the county was 89.1% white, 9.5% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Asian, 0.0% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.4% of the population.[22] The largest ancestry groups were: 13.7% Irish, 12.0% German, 11.5% English, 8.0% American, 2.8% Sub-Saharan African, 2.7% Italian, 2.0% Dutch, 1.1% Scotch-Irish [24]

Of the 9,176 households, 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.5% were non-families, and 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 43.8 years.[22]

The median income for a household in the county was $22,154 and the median income for a family was $28,413. Males had a median income of $31,229 versus $26,776 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,955. About 27.5% of families and 32.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.3% of those under age 18 and 20.1% of those age 65 or over.[25]

Life expectancy

Of 3,142 counties in the United States in 2013, McDowell County ranked last in the life expectancy of both male and female residents. Males in McDowell County lived an average of 63.5 years and females lived an average of 71.5 years, compared to the national average for life expectancy of 76.5 for males and 81.2 for females. Moreover, the average life expectancy in McDowell County declined by 3.2 years for males and 4.1 years for females between 1985 and 2013, compared to a national average for the same period of an increased life span of 5.5 years for men and 3.1 years for women. High rates of smoking and obesity and a low level of physical activity appear to be contributing factors to the declining life expectancy for both sexes.[26]

In 2020, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked McDowell County as 55th of 55 counties in West Virginia in "health outcomes," as measured by length and quality of life.[27]

Drug-induced deaths

In 2015, McDowell County had the highest rate of drug-induced deaths of any county in the United States, with 141 deaths per 100,000 people. The rate for the United States as a whole was 14.7 per 100,000 people.[28] Neighboring Wyoming County had the second highest rate.[29]

Economy
Coalwood, home of the 'Rocket Boys," who experimented with home-made rockets in the 1950s, the subject of the film October Sky

The county has been classified as a "food desert" by the USDA. In 2017, there were only two full-sized grocery stores to serve the county's 535 square miles (1,390 square kilometers).[30] The county's only Walmart Supercenter, the county's largest employer, closed in 2016.[31]

Financial services remain scant in the area. In 1999, The First National Bank of Keystone, the only bank located in the coal town of Keystone and the town's major employer at the time, was closed by the FDIC due to fraud. Management had been falsifying the bank's financial statements by booking income from loans the bank did not own, giving the appearance that the bank was generating large profits when it was in fact insolvent.[32] At the height of the scandal, executives buried large volumes of documents in a trench in an attempt to conceal the fraud from the bank's accounting firm and from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.[33]

Poverty

In 2020 McDowell was the third-poorest county in the U.S. (out of 3,143 counties), with a median annual household income of $26,072. The percentage of the population living in poverty was estimated at 31.8 percent.[34][35] This compares with a median annual household income of $67,521 and a poverty rate of 11.4 percent in the U.S. as a whole.[36]

Politics

The power of industrial and mining political systems turned the county towards the Republican Party between 1890 and 1932, even supporting William Howard Taft during the divided 1912 presidential election.[37] However, starting in 1936, the county realigned towards the Democratic Party, given its strong unionization in the coal mining sector, voting for the Democratic candidate in every election from 1936 to 2008 except Richard Nixon's 1972 landslide.

Since 1996, the county has trended Republican again. In 2020, Republican Donald Trump won the largest share of the vote ever for a Republican presidential nominee in the county, garnering 78.9% of the vote.

United States presidential election results for McDowell County, West Virginia[38]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 5,148 78.87% 1,333 20.42% 46 0.70%
2016 4,629 74.11% 1,438 23.02% 179 2.87%
2012 3,959 63.98% 2,109 34.08% 120 1.94%
2008 2,882 44.82% 3,430 53.34% 118 1.84%
2004 2,762 37.84% 4,501 61.67% 36 0.49%
2000 2,348 32.15% 4,845 66.34% 110 1.51%
1996 1,550 18.88% 5,989 72.97% 669 8.15%
1992 1,941 19.84% 7,019 71.76% 821 8.39%
1988 2,463 25.36% 7,204 74.16% 47 0.48%
1984 4,284 33.25% 8,546 66.34% 53 0.41%
1980 3,862 27.70% 9,822 70.44% 259 1.86%
1976 4,107 28.01% 10,557 71.99% 0 0.00%
1972 8,942 56.76% 6,811 43.24% 0 0.00%
1968 4,020 21.23% 12,842 67.81% 2,075 10.96%
1964 3,684 16.95% 18,046 83.05% 0 0.00%
1960 6,555 25.16% 19,501 74.84% 0 0.00%
1956 11,138 39.77% 16,865 60.23% 0 0.00%
1952 10,663 30.19% 24,657 69.81% 0 0.00%
1948 9,687 30.78% 21,545 68.46% 240 0.76%
1944 11,023 36.35% 19,300 63.65% 0 0.00%
1940 13,906 36.26% 24,449 63.74% 0 0.00%
1936 9,975 28.11% 25,471 71.79% 35 0.10%
1932 16,069 56.35% 12,365 43.36% 80 0.28%
1928 14,810 64.02% 8,294 35.85% 31 0.13%
1924 12,422 62.95% 5,561 28.18% 1,749 8.86%
1920 12,198 70.58% 5,068 29.33% 16 0.09%
1916 7,086 65.62% 3,692 34.19% 20 0.19%
1912 4,341 46.54% 2,497 26.77% 2,489 26.69%

Government
Position Name
Commissioner Cody Estep
Commissioner Cecil Patterson
Commissioner Michael Brooks
Prosecuting Attorney Brittany Puckett
Sheriff James Muncy
County Assessor Ray Bailey
County Clerk Donald Hicks
Circuit Clerk Francine Spencer

Education

McDowell County Schools operates the county's public K-12 education system of 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 public high schools in McDowell County including Mount View High School, and River View High School. The county also has a private school, Twinbranch Pentecostal Christian Academy which is located in Twinbranch.[39]

McDowell County Schools were under state control as a 'take-over' county from 2001 to 2013.[40] Some medical services have been brought onsite into schools to reduce student absenteeism among families with only one car, and personal items such as sneakers and backpacks are now made available to students. A mixed use, multistory building in Welch aimed at reducing the housing shortage for teachers is scheduled to open in 2020.[41]

Melville Davisson Post used McDowell County as the setting of his short story "Once In Jeopardy". This 1890s tale of the working out of a legal problem is rich in description of the people, customs, politics, and recent history of the area, including the impact of the railroad coming through and the rise of Republican influence.[42]

Author and NASA engineer Homer Hickam grew up in Coalwood, McDowell County. His memoir October Sky, which was adapted into a Hollywood movie, is based on his childhood amateur rocket building experiences in Coalwood.

Transportation

Major highways

The West Virginia Division of Highways is currently trying to construct new highways, such as U.S. Route 121, known as the Coalfields Expressway.[43]

Airport

The county had one airport, Welch Municipal Airport, which has closed indefinitely.

Communities

Cities

Towns

Magisterial districts
  • Big Creek
  • Browns Creek
  • North Elkin
  • Sandy River

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

See also

References
  1. "West Virginia Counties". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on September 23, 2001. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. Lewis, Virgil (1889). History of West Virginia. Philadelphia, PA: Hubbard Brothers, Publishers. p. 728.
  5. Byrne, George (1915). 1915 Handbook of West Virginia. Charleston, WV: Lovett Printing Company. p. 88.
  6. "Votes for Secession by County - Virginia Convention of 1861 - Civil War Collections - University of Richmond". secession.richmond.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  7. Klement, Frank L.; Curry, Richard Orr (March 1965). "A House Divided: A Study of Statehood Politics and the Copperhead Movement in West Virginia". The Journal of American History. 51 (4): 720. doi:10.2307/1889831. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 1889831.
  8. Otis K. Rice & Stephen W. Brown, West Virginia: A History, 2nd ed., University Press of Kentucky, Lexington (1993), p. 240.
  9. United States Census Bureau, U.S. Decennial Census, Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.
  10. Deaner, Larry Scott (2004). Home in the McDowell County Coalfields: The African-American Population of Keystone, West Virginia (M.S., Geography thesis). Ohio University. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  11. Williams, P. Ahmed (1980). Maurer, B.B. (ed.). Mountain Heritage. McClain Publishing Company. pp. 186–187. ISBN 9780870122798.
  12. "Why Don't People Who Are Stuck in Depressed Appalachian Towns Just Leave?". December 10, 2016.
  13. "50 Years into the War on Poverty, Hardship Hits Back". The New York Times. April 20, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  14. Kennedy, John F. (1964). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963. Best Books on, 1964. p. 366. ISBN 9781623769031.
  15. "Flat Top Mountain, Northwest Slope, West Virginia". Peakbagger. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  16. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  17. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021". Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  18. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  19. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  20. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  21. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  22. "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  23. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  24. "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  25. "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  26. "McDowell County, West Virginia", healthdata.org. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  27. "2020 West Virginia Report". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  28. "Increases in Drug and Opioid Overdose Deaths — United States, 2000–2014". www.cdc.gov. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  29. "Underlying Cause of Death, 1999-2015 Results". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  30. Coyne, Caity (April 7, 2018). "In McDowell County 'food desert,' concerns about the future". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  31. "What Happened when Walmart Left," The Guardian, , accessed January 19, 2020
  32. "Millions Vanish From West Virginia Bank". Los Angeles Times. October 31, 1999. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  33. Pasley, Robert S. (2017). Anatomy of a Banking Scandal. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-53179-5.
  34. "SAIPE State and County Estimates for 2020". United States Census Bureau.
  35. "Quick Facts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  36. "Income and Poverty in the United States, 2020". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  37. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 334-337 ISBN 0786422173
  38. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  39. "Welch Nazarene Christian Academy - Welch, West Virginia/WV - Private School Review". Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  40. Mays, Mackenzie (May 8, 2013). "McDowell regains school control after 12 years". Charleston Gazette. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  41. Balingit, Moriah (October 19, 2019). "Rebuilding the village: A West Virginia school system strives to lift up its children by tackling poverty". Washington Post. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  42. "Once in Jeopardy" . The Man of Last Resort – via Wikisource.
  43. "Coalfields Expressway". Coalfields Expressway Authority. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
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