West Virginia's Coal Towns Lost Up to 99% of Their People

West Virginia dug the coal that ran America's trains, steel mills and power plants. Whole towns were built in the hollows to get it out of the ground — and when the coal jobs left, the people followed. One of these towns now has five residents. Another is named War. Another once had a billion-dollar bank. For each of these 10 towns, we went back to the U.S. Census, found the year it peaked, and measured exactly what has been lost since — and why. Is your hometown on this list? Tell us in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:50 #10 Matewan 2:07 #9 Williamson 3:21 #8 Richwood 4:27 #7 Logan 5:34 #6 Benwood 6:41 #5 Bramwell 7:44 #4 War 8:40 #3 Kimball 9:57 #2 Keystone 11:17 #1 Thurmond 12:39 What it all means HOW WE MEASURED Population = U.S. decennial census count for the incorporated place (peak census year vs. 2020). Change = (2020 − peak) ÷ peak. Town boundaries may have changed over time. SOURCES Population: U.S. Census decennial counts, via each town's census table on Wikipedia. West Virginia statewide: 2,005,552 (1950) vs. 1,793,716 (2020). History: Wikipedia articles on Matewan, Williamson, Richwood, Logan, Benwood, Bramwell, War, Kimball, Keystone and Thurmond (West Virginia); Battle of Matewan; Battle of Blair Mountain; Benwood mine disaster; Coal House (Williamson); Bramwell Historic District; World War Memorial (Kimball). Keystone: e-WV, "Keystone"; Goldenseal, "Cinder Bottom" (2017); OCC news release NR 99-75 (Sept. 1, 1999). IMAGES Historic photographs: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division (Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, National Child Labor Committee, Historic American Engineering Record, Carol M. Highsmith Archive, American Folklife Center "Tending the Commons") — public domain / no known restrictions. Newspapers: Chronicling America, Library of Congress. Maps: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Library of Congress Geography and Map Division. Aerial imagery: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), via USGS The National Map (public domain). PHOTO CREDITS (via Wikimedia Commons) • Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia) (CC BY-SA 3.0): Bellaire Bridge (Benwood) • 3 further Wikimedia Commons images: public domain / CC0 Licenses: creativecommons.org/licenses Narration voice is AI-generated. Research, script, maps, charts and editing by Peak Population. No AI-generated historical images are used. #WestVirginia #Appalachia #CoalTowns #SmallTownAmerica #AmericanHistory