William Blake purchased 3,062.25 acres of land for $1258.00 in 1796. This land was part of the Henry Banks survey in Montgomery County, Virginia (at the waters of Loup Creek and the New River). He would move his family to an old Indian Fort in 1805 to what is now Mount Hope. He chose this region due to his faith in the fertility of the soil. Egypt was the name given to the valley.
After the Civil War, the fort reopened as a public school. The trustees sought a name for the new school. In the early Spring, there was a luxurious growth of wild pea vines. People brought their cattle to feed on these tender plants. As Egypt meant hope to Jacob's people, the school in Egypt Valley meant hope for the people whose children attended it. Judge J.H. ("Fud") McGinnis suggested its name, Mount Hope.
Due to Mount Hope's remote wilderness location, the town became known as a rootin', tootin', shootin', coal miner's haven. Major news stories from the day included the deaths of young, scorned lovers, men murdering their wives after long nights spent at a local saloon, and contested municipal elections resolved by gunshot. The burg was said to be as dangerous as the wild-west town of Tombstone, AZ.
The last days of the Loup Creek Pompeii came to an end at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 24, 1910. A great fire erupted that would wipe Mount Hope from the map. The fire, which broke out at Hawks and Lewis saloon, operated by a Greek family, was reportedly started by an Italian family living above, whose gasoline stove exploded. Mayor J.E. Garrett questioned its origin and called in the State's first Fire Marshal, Charles A. Ellison, to investigate the incident.
Contrasting historical records of the Great Fire claim the flames that rose to overtake the town were due to a gasoline stove from the residence of W.R. Gray and started in a frame building near the Union Church. Nevertheless, 'The Los Angeles Herald' reported on the tragic event 24-hrs later, “… at least 2,000 homeless persons are sleeping tonight on the commons” and, “… the National Guards, tents were distributed, and an effort is being made to house as many as possible.”
From 1888, the first year we have accurate records of coal production in West Virginia, Fayette ranked first of all counties in coal production. The New River Smokeless Coal "weather and age" monument, installed beside one of WV's highway drinking fountains, has been standing since October 1932. The cannel coal type of bituminous coal, also classified as oil shale, found in the Sewell Coal Seam surrounding the region of Mount Hope, was highly sought after during industrialization. Little to no degradation has occurred since the monument's installation.
The opening of the New River coalfields signaled a shift in the region's demographics as European immigrants and southern Blacks flooded the area looking for economic opportunity. Until the 1930s, Fayette County had the second-highest population of African Americans in the state of West Virginia, second only to McDowell County to the southwest. Fayette County also has the distinction of electing the first African American state legislator in 1896.
African American History in West Virginia is deeply rooted in the rise of the bituminous coal industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Coal production increased from less than 5 million tons in 1885 to more than 40 million tons in the southern counties alone by 1910. In 1893, Samuel Dixon came to the settlement to run the MacDonald Colliery Company. In 1900, he went out independently, and the coal companies he consolidated became the New River Coal Company in 1905.
Samuel Dixon, born in Scarborough, England 1856, emigrated to Fayette County in 1877 as the son of an ironstone miner. He was able to take his ancestral knowledge of mining and quickly put it to work for his uncle. This visionary would purchase land throughout the coalfields of WV and operate retail coal yards in many cities, including Cincinnati and Chicago. He was one of 7 men indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on April 11, 1908, on charges of peonage.
Samuel Dixon was deputized in an attempt to keep his camps under control. Coal companies would use labor contractors to persuade immigrants and newly-freed slaves to move to the booming coalfields with the promise of work. Providing transportation, room & board to newly-freed slaves, Polish, Italian, German, and Swedish immigrants, the men became indebted to the company. Unaware of WV's harsh conditions, many would attempt to leave. Only to be arrested and returned to ensure reimbursement of the company's expenses.
Home of L.C.Patteson as of 1922, the father of Okey Patteson, WV's 23rd Governor, and later Gov. Patteson's home. L.C. Patteson was the son of Henry Patteson, who owned the Patteson Farm in Nicholas County. The Patteson Farm was the location of the battle of Carnifex Ferry. L.C. Patteson moved his family to the bustling berg of Mount Hope before the Great Fire of 1910 from Dingess, Mingo County. In the Great Fire, he would suffer a total loss of over $7,500 (2021, ~$212,522).
The Great Fire of 1910 saw a total loss of over $500,000 (2021, ~ $14,168,158) with only $125,000 (2021, ~ $3,549,039) in insurance to cover the damages. Civic groups immediately started capital improvement campaigns. Samuel Dixon would lend his coal operators to the construction companies. Within less than four months, twenty-seven new business buildings were under construction. All the buildings were rebuilt in brick, stone, or concrete. The Phoneix City of the New River Gorge was born.
Construction for a new town clinic began in the fall of 1933. Doctor G. G. Hodges, formerly of Oswald, was running a well-established practice in the adjacent community of Kilsyth at the time of construction. A new office was needed along the Main Street of Mount Hope to provide the excellent doctor with better parking. Mrs. Hodges complained about the ill patients waiting to be seen around her home. The doctor would ease her complaints by adding the adjacent connecting side structure just a few years later.
Due to Samuel Dixon's foresight after the town's destruction, he quickly backed the planning and development of the burg. A new sewer system was installed, streets were paved, and electrical servicewas provided to all new buildings. The population of the town quickly grew to 2,500. Shortly after, a national recession caused a dip in coal prices, and in 1912 Dixon was forced out as the head of the New River Company.
In its session of 1921, the West Virginia State Legislature created Mount Hope as a city. The city's charter came well after the city's developed commercial core and the construction of the residential neighborhoods. By the time the charter was approved and signed, Mount Hope was already the headquarters of the New.River Company and the metropolis were fixed in the heart of the New River coal industry.
Built in 1918 by Ronald and Alicia Synder, this home would be later conveyed to Dr. W. E. Lawton and his wife Gladys on August 11, 1921. They lived here until he died in 1946. The Snyder family purchased the house back in 1946 and sold it to James W. Wade (of New River Coal Company fame) and his wife, Gladys. The home remained in their family until 1967 when Marvin and Myrl Beverley purchased it. The Beverley family resides in the house today.
The Depression affected the community just as it did the rest of the country. As the national economy contracted, the New River Company increased production. The New River Company built the City's most important structures between the Great Fire of 1910 and the late 1920s. With rail interests in Cleveland and Detroit, the New River Company would see a decline in coal production while still surviving through the Depression.
Okey L. Patteson, 23rd Governor of West Virginia, was responsible for developing the West Virginia Turnpike System. He began his political career as a city councilman. Patteson was an automobile dealer and later served a term as Fayette County Sherriff. He and J.A. Blackburn would go on to sell the dealership and focus more on their real estate business. Their firm was responsible for the development of Bradley in nearby Raleigh County.
Erected in 1891, the First Christian Church was one of the only buildings left standing after the Great Fire of 1910 ravaged the town. Many residents of Mount Hope felt the church was immune to fire until a defective flue caused the church to burn to the ground on the morning of November 25, 1928. Rebuilt with brick and stone two years later, the Christian Church still has an active church congregation, 2021.
TBA
L.C. Patteson moved his family from Dingess in Mingo County to start a furniture and hardware business before 1910. He experienced a loss of approximately $10,000 (2021, ~$283,363), with only $2,500 (2021, ~$70,841) covered with insurance during the Great Fire of 1910. Patteson would find the capacity to rebuild his hardware store where business prospered. He was also an automobile dealer. Okey Patteson would work for his father in the garage and the hardware store.
Designed to emphasize walkability, the engineering requirements for infrastructure such as water, sewer, and electricity made Mount Hope a desirable city to live and play in. With wide cross streets and narrow streets through town, the commercial core of this company town was ripe with activity. Besides a few exceptions, Mount Hope never lost its orientation toward people. Known as "The Little Town with a Big Welcome," the New River Company developed the town with planning and permanence in mind.
Remolded in 1930, George and Andrew Aide opened Aide's Department Store in 1931. They were the sons of a Syrian "pack peddler" who immigrated to the United States in 1890, Farris Bashara Aide. Andrew's daughters, Geneva and Frances, would go on to college, graduating with degrees in education. Andrew and George left the store for the sisters. Geneva would retire in 1996 but transitioned ownership to sisters Lynn and Susan, who operate Antiques at Aides. She was often found behind the counter until she died in 2018.
The Royal Theater was one of L.E. Gross' most notable theaters. Headquartered out of Bramwell, WV, he owned interests in towns throughout the coalfields. The theater was a success until tragedy struck on September 29, 1945. Fire would destroy the structure causing a total loss. The strange fire was determined to be an act of arson. The Mount Hope theater, rebuilt in 1946 with a design created by WV's top architect, Alex Mahood, would open its doors for generations of Mount Hope citizens.
As the smoke cleared on March 24, 1910, the ones who were found to have lost the most property from the tragedy of the Great Fire were Garret & McNabb. With a total loss of 16 buildings valued at $65,887 (2021, ~ $1,866,995) and insurance coverage of $21,000 (2021, ~ $595,063), they could rebuild with brick and stone in less than a year and a half. Many Main St businesses have been housed here as the primary structure downtown, including the Sweet Shop, the Masonic Lodge, and various barbershops and boutiques.
The New River Company developed a plan to decrease conflict between the Management and Working Classes while increasing their ability to maintain control over the emergence of unionization. Mount Hope had two different community cores: one white and one Black. The Downtown Commerical Core of Mount Hope was separated from the Company Core of McDonald's due to segregation. The placement is important because it created and underscored an additional separation between the White and Black communities.
An accredited High School was established in 1908. It was necessary to hire out-of-state teachers possessing college degrees to maintain such a rating. In the late 1920s, Robert L. Ripley's 'Believe it or Not' feature carried the statement that the percentage of the population with college degrees was higher in Mount Hope than in any other city of similar size in the United States.
Known as the Old Stone Bank, this building was one of the only structures which survived the Great Fire of 1910. Built by the Bradley Drug Company, the building was quickly rehabbed and put back into use after the great fire. A lump of metal, part of it formed into strings, and molten nickels welded together that had been $20 in 5-cent pieces were put on a display in the store's window. The building would later host the First National Bank. This location would host the local telephone company, Doc: Jones's office, and many other dentists and area physicians.
Referred to as 'Uptown,' the commercial core of Mount Hope extended from the Mount Hope Christian Church to the Y.M.C.A. building. This area brought together the European migrant, African-American, executive, and working-class families for daily business and entertainment. Social stratification, created to sway unionization, led to segregation in Mount Hope. Even after segregation ended in the United States, this profoundly rooted mindset would cause many to compare living situations similar to living in a bubble outside of the civil rights movement.
This Seth-Thomas clock, weighing 3 tons, was transported to Mount Hope, West Virginia, from its birth state in Connecticut. P.H. Garrett purchased the clock, which was prominently displayed in front of the First National Bank building. The clock was wound with a crank once a week and was known to gain 55 seconds daily, sold by Geraldine Garrett to Bill Tweed of Huntington, WV. It was restored and displayed there until Bill's death. His son Ted would donate it back to its home in Connecticut.
Lovingly known as "A Man of the People," Dr. G. G. Hodges erected the Mount Hope Medical office in 1942 at his wife's bequest. He had a record of delivering 50 times 100 and 1 babbies as the practicing physician of the New River Company. Later, this building would house a radio station, 105.9 WTNJ Country, and a beauty salon. It was revitalized as the new City Hall in the early 2000s after a flood destroyed the city's former facility.
This area was once the site of the Bailey Hotel, which burned down in 1910. After that, it was home to several other establishments, such as the Southern Hotel, Mar-San Beauty Shop, Kidd's Ten Cent Store, and Correy's Market. The Bank of Mount Hope acquired the property in October 1971 and demolished the remaining buildings. In their place, they constructed a drive-in motor bank and expanded the parking lot to accommodate up to 30 cars.
The Bank of Mount Hope was established on March 17, 1902, and was one of the oldest banks in West Virginia. The Bank of Danville acquired the bank in 1914 and kept its original name as the Bank of Mount Hope. They would formalize the name change 1990 to the Bank of Mount Hope, Inc. It would operate as one of the oldest banks in Fayette County until it merged with Pendleton Community Bank from Frankin, WV, in October 2019.
This building was completed in 1912 after the Great Fire with two interconnecting storefronts. The coal operator, the Mount Hope Coal and Coke Company, would house their offices here until 1920. Sold to Sam and Mary Bonifacio, the family would open a cobbler shop and confectionary store. Sam later gave up his trade as a cobbler, choosing instead to run a hardware store until 1968. The confectionery remained a hang-out spot for local teenagers until 2004.
With the Fayette County Board of Education's purchase of the Y.M.C.A., the county built a high school in the town's center. Bon-Bon's Confectionery became a hot spot for local teenagers. The community knew Bon-Bon's would be open early in the morning to accommodate miners' schedules and stay open until the afternoon to catch the kids coming home from school. Sam's children, Algisa Floyd, Floyd's wife, Phyllis, and sons Rock, Doug, and Dean, ran the store until Phyllis died in 2018.
The Masonic Lodge was founded in MacDonald by Colonel Samuel Dixon in 1895. After the Great Fire of 1910, and with a growing population, the lodge no longer had a suitable meeting space. Area businessmen collected donations to see the building of a lodge hall in Mount Hope that would suit their needs. The first fireproof building was erected in West Virginia and completed in 1925 at $75,000 (2021, ~$1,161,300).
The building's most famous commercial occupant was the Princess Theater, often called the Princess Playhouse. The 800-seat auditorium hosted both stage and film productions for decades. The structure's second floor housed coal mine company offices and offices for other types of businesses. The first floor held shops, including Kidd's barber shop, a piano store, a pet shop, a Mar-San Beauty shop, and various other companies throughout its time.
The New River Company and local citizens rallied to begin an initiative to bring the YMCA into the second-largest town in Fayette County. Together, these groups could solicit enough funds to begin construction, with West Virginia architect H. Rus Warne overseeing the completion of the building in late 1921. Dedicated on February 15, 1922, and constructed for approximately $110,000, the YMCA became a significant attraction in the Mount Hope community.
This is the home of Phillip M. Snyder, a man who played a significant role in Mount Hope's history. His father opened the town's third store in 1895, contributing to the city's commercial growth. Snyder was an avid golfer and married Mary Kent of Jerome, Pennsylvania, in 1933 after graduating from the College of Engineering. Governor H.G. Kump appointed him a member of the Interstate Cooperation Committee in 1936. Snyder owned the Koppers Coal Company by 1944 and served 50 years in the MacDonald Lodge 103 A.M. and A.F.
This was once the location of Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Brown's home, also known as the"Parents of Mount Hope." Here, they would raise two sons and five daughters. Martha Ann Blake, youngest of the Blake children, married Charles C. Brown on April 16, 1857. Truthful, public-spirited, uncompromising Christians donated the location for the Mount Hope High School, Mount Hope Cemetery, and the old Union church.
In 1869, Sue Warner started the first free school at the Warner kitchen in the old Blake Inn. The following year, the school moved to a tenant house on the Brown farm. In 1872, a one-room schoolhouse was built, and Hiram Warner became the first teacher in the new building. The increasing population required a two-room building in 1897, so the original building was moved to a nearby lot and used as the first store in Mount Hope. Later, a six-room building replaced the two-room structure.
The church has a rich history dating back to 1910 when several Protestant denominations attempted to form a coalition to eliminate rivalry. In 1914, contractor P.M. Snyder and local masons helped construct the church. Despite lacking a steeple, it boasts ornate stained glass windows that remain today. By January 1931, the church had 394 members and remained a central part of the community. Today, in 2023, the congregation is still active with a thriving youth program.
A new building was erected to meet the growing needs of the community. It featured 12 school rooms and an auditorium seating up to 500 people. The building also included a library, an office room, and a basement with a chemical library. The new location offered more space for extracurricular activities. It was a significant improvement over the previous building, providing a safer and more comfortable learning environment for students in Mount Hope.
The Sugar Creek Coal Company's office and store located in Mount Hope were destroyed in the fire of 1910, marking the extent of the fire's damage in the town. Despite this setback, the company rebuilt its facilities and continued to operate in the area. At its peak, the company employed 105 men who worked 105 days in only one coal mine. In total, 60 miners produced 97,588 tons of coal transported by 26 mules.
The National Guard Armory in Mount Hope was a multipurpose venue built in 1922 for events, dances, and as a backup location during bad weather. The Lions Club and military drills were frequently held there. In 1946, the armory was destroyed by a fire caused by the same person who had burned down the Royal Theater. The fire caused around $22,000 in damages, and the culprit was caught when he returned to watch the building burn.
This Tour is a Thematic Tour or Heritage Trail.
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Welcome to the Mount Hope Historic Walking Trail! Walk along the sidewalks of Mount Hope and take a step back in time as you make your way through the heart of downtown. Hear stories of how the New River Company not only shaped the town but the face of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields. Take a moment to stroll back in time as you tour,"The Little Town With A Big Welcome."
