Iaeger West Virginia: An Appalachian Coal Town in McDowell County

[Music] [Music] the last episode got me thinking when i was on those courthouse steps in mcdowell county in welch west virginia the very same steps where two men were gunned down in cold blooded murder by coal company operatives like i said in that video these events eventually led the mine wars in mcdowell mingo and logan county west virginia i'm told you can even still see the bullet holes in the sides of buildings where the mate one massacre occurred but before i head all the way over there and see this for myself several of you in the comments of these videos which by the way i appreciate you so much for watching and commenting but many of you have mentioned for me to explore yeager west virginia so that's exactly what i'm going to do today heading up route 52. labor disputes aside a few hundred people still live in jager it originally supported the timber industry but jaeger grew into the rail head for the coal industry it was the norfolk and western railroad that opened this county up to work the surrounding coal seams and in the late 1960s that same railroad was operating the longest and heaviest freight train in the world that ran between jaeger west virginia and portsmouth ohio just over 150 mile long trek this super train was over four miles long and it pulled 500 coal cars they did this with six 3600 horsepower diesel engines and it took just over six hours to make the journey [Music] story goes that norfolk and western was the last railroad to diesel eyes in the united states i've heard they tested out a massive steam turbine locomotive they called john henry right here in jaeger it was nearly as long as a football field maybe longer and weighed about a million pounds in the end the diesels won out in performance i'm going to turn left now and head downtown but if you kept going over the bridge just a minute or two up the road i'm told you need to stop at newberry's and try the strawberry lemonade it's delicious [Music] jaeger is situated where the tug fork and dry fork rivers meet it was here major andrew lewis camped in the 1750s during the french and indian war he was headed to engage in battle with native american indians who'd been raiding settlements in virginia spoiler alert and didn't end well for that lewis expedition bitter cold and food shortages spelled disaster for them [Music] as some call it there's been a lot of hillbilly gold extracted from these mountains like so many other towns and buildings that were built by coal in the coal fields of appalachia what remains is supported by what's left of the coal industry and other service businesses and tourism like the hatfield and mccoy trails and spearhead trails as we roll into downtown here you can see a newer playground and activity area that's been built just up here you can see the vfw the empty chair the prisoner of war missing in action memorial [Music] here on the right it's got to be one of the tiniest city halls i've ever seen [Music] [Music] as a drive past buildings i see a fire department a church a barber shop and what used to be a montgomery ward catalog sales agency [Music] here at the end of the street are a few other interesting buildings i'll show you it appears to be an old hardware store [Music] a bank and across the tracks is an old hotel or what's left of it that railroad workers used to stay in [Music] before i head out of town i want to show you the old jaeger grade and junior high school now they've built a brand new one just up the road but i thought this one was worth showing because it's a hundred years old this year [Music] i see a rainbow up ahead which many people believe is a sign of good things to come [Music] i hope you've enjoyed this episode of exploring appalachia with me josh here on the mountain roots channel if you did please help me by giving this video a thumbs up sharing it with your friends and family because ultimately i think the stories the people the places here of appalachia that's all something worth sharing so thank you for checking this episode out and we'll see you in the next one [Music] you

Channel: Mountain Roots

Views: 284,455

Keywords: appalachian holler, real appalachia, mcdowell county west virginia, mcdowell county parts unknown, anthony bourdain west virginia, anthony bourdain mcdowell, Appalachia, appalachian mountains, appalachian people, appalachian holler dwellers, appalachian holler hunters, mcdowell wv, coal, coal miners, appalachian, coal camp, wv holler, Appalachian, wv, Hatfield, mine wars, soft white underbelly, west virginia, Welch, Iaeger, Iaeger WV, Iaeger West Virginia, mountain roots

Id: w-gF0TwXl6Y

Length: 7min 52sec (472 seconds)

Published: Thu May 19 2022