Southwest Virginia's Coal Towns Lost Up to 93% of Their People

Southwest Virginia's coalfield once fed steel mills, power plants and ships. Today its towns are some of the emptiest in the state. Here are five coal towns, counted down by how much of their population is gone: Appalachia, Grundy, Dante, St. Charles and Pocahontas. Which town should we visit next? Tell us in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: the Virginia coalfield 1:19 #5 Appalachia, Wise County 3:12 #4 Grundy, Buchanan County 5:15 #3 Dante, Russell County 6:43 #2 St. Charles, Lee County 8:06 #1 Pocahontas, Tazewell County 9:43 Recap THE NUMBERS (U.S. Census counts) Appalachia: 3,595 (1930) to 1,432 (2020), down 60% Grundy: 2,287 (1960) to 875 (2020), down 62% Dante: 2,405 (1950) to 572 (2020), down 76% St. Charles: 550 (1950) to about 70 (2020), down 87% Pocahontas: 3,775 (1920) to 268 (2020), down 93% oiceover is AI-generated. #CensusGhosts #CoalTowns #Virginia