, pop. 55,469).As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 1,839 people, 790 households, and 515 families residing in the town. The population density was 307.4/km² (797.3/mi²). There were 891 housing units at an average density of 148.9/km² (386.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.18% White, 4.57% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.
There were 790 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.95. h In the town the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $20,405, and the median income for a family was $25,221. Males had a median income of $26,842 versus $18,864 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,782. About 28.0% of families and 29.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.0% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.
Note: The information above is from Wikipedia.org.
Appalachia, with respect to population, is the third largest town in Wise County. It was for the most part a wilderness prior to 1891. At that time the entire tract of land upon which the town is located was owned by J. J. Kelly, T. A. Blondell, and Joseph Kilbourn. In 1895, what is now known as Main Street and some of the western part of the town was sold by Joseph Kilbourn to the Keystone Coal and Iron Company. This was the first sale of lots in Appalachia. George Brown and George Kilbourn, the first residents of the town, still reside there.
Appalachia received its first civic encouragement in about 1890 by the advent of the Louisville and Nashville and the Southern Railways into Wise County. These two railroads mad a Junction at Appalachia. At first there was not a phenomenal growth, for it was not until 1906 that a charter was granted. The first officers were A. L. Pruner, Mayor, J. E. Moss, Chief of Police, A. L. Sturn, Treasurer, Stuart Stover, Recorder and the members of the Council were George Brown, F. W. Blondell, G. C. Jeffers, G. B. Head, W. F. Lee, and J. W. Guntner. Since the organization of the town there have been remarkable forward strides in almost every phase of civic interest.
The town, which takes its name from the Appalachian Mountains in the center of which it is located, has junction of three railroads. The Southern comes into the town from Bristol, the Louisville and Nashville from Corbin, Kentucky, and the Interstate from Glamorgan and Miller Yard. This central location makes it the trading post for what is estimated to be about 25,000 people. The Southern terminal yards, which employ a large number of men, are located in Appalachia. There are two depots. One of these, the freight depot of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, is said to be one of the best depots of its kind on the system.
Appalachia is the possessor of a large number of streets constructed of the best grade asphalt, and what is estimated to be about three miles of concrete sidewalks. The Old Dominion Power Company, which furnishes lighting and power to most of the towns in the county, serves Appalachia. One of the finest water systems in the section, at a cost of half a million dollars, has been recently installed by the town. And excellent fire department for the protection of life and property is maintained.
Appalachia is proud of her school buildings. Together with a teacher's home, it was constructed at an expense of $350,000. The total enrollment is 1,100, and there are 32 teachers employed. The athletic teams are among the best in the region.
There are a number of churches in the town, most all of which have been able to amass a large membership. Quite a few of these churches have been able to erect fine brick churches. Some of the denominations represented are the Methodists, Christian, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Holiness. The Christian Church was the first to locate in the town.
The first merchants in the place were Head and Slone, H. M. Blair, R. N. Cornett, and C. S. Hale. The business of the retail merchant is one of the chief activities in Appalachia. There are three hardwares, a ladies shop, and a large number of department stores. Other business houses are Appalachia Grocery Company, Morley Brothers, two wholesale bakeries, Wisco Candy Company, Broadwater Feed Company, two builder's supply houses, an ice cream plant, and two coal dealers.
The Bank of Appalachia was the first institution of its type to locate in the town. This firm was established in 1904, with R. W. Holley as President, H. F. Whitehead, Vice-president, George B. Head, Cashier, and E. C. Mainous, Bookkeeper. The First National Bank, organized in 1909, succeeded the Bank of Appalachia. At the present time it is the largest bank in the county. The bank is located in a very beautiful building in the business section of town. While the Bank of Appalachia was being organized in 1909, another group of business men were busy laying plans for the Peoples Bank, a State institution. Unfortunately, we do not have at hand the names of its officers, but we are assured that it is doing a prosperous business. It occupies a beautiful three-story, marble and concrete building.
The town has recently constructed a modern, up-to-date city hall for the offices of the town officials. In addition to this, there is at present under construction, at a total cost of $250,000, a new hotel. It will have ninety rooms, all equipped in the latest and most accepted conveniences. There are also two other hotels of established reputation. Appalachia is to entertain the 10th Annual Convention of the American Legion for the State of Virginia in its new hotel in August 1928.
Appalachia, with her three railroads and her location on the Lynch Highway, has excellent means of communication with other towns in and outside of the county. By automobile the town is forty minutes from the county seat, and only two hours from Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee is also
relatively easy to reach either by motor or by train.
The town of Appalachia, which, though the expression has been somewhat worn during recent years by application to so many towns in the United States, might merit the name of "the magic city of Wise County," is one of the most promising places in the county. Its growth has not been so rapid as to be unsubstantial. Although it is now one of the most progressive towns in the section, we feel that its greatest history lies in the future.
Note: The above information is from www.rootsweb.com.
OTHER STATISTICS/FACTS:
Largest appraised house: In Woodland Acres
Largest building: The Appalachian Towers
For population 25 years and over in Appalachia
For population 15 years and over in Appalachia town
0.9% Foreign born
Population change in the 1990s: -220 (-10.7%).
Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Johnson City, TN (48.6 miles , pop. 55,469).
Nearest city with pop. 200,000+: Lexington-Fayette, KY (140.8 miles 
, pop. 260,512).
Nearest city with pop. 1,000,000+: Chicago, IL (479.1 miles 
, pop. 2,896,016).
Nearest cities: Big Stone Gap, VA (2.8 miles 
), Keokee, VA (9.1 miles 
), Lynch, KY (9.9 miles ), Norton, VA (11.2 miles 
), Benham, KY (12.3 miles ), Duffield, VA (12.9 miles) , Dryden, VA (14.2 miles 
), Cumberland, KY (14.7 miles ).
Latitude: 36.91 N, Longitude: 82.79 W
Area code: 276
Appalachia, Virginia History
Coal Camps History
In the 1880's, men
with high ambitions and money came to invest in the rich coal deposits of
Economic conditions,
both locally and nationally, attracted many people to jobs in the mines with
a steady paycheck. Coal production peaked at over three million tons in
1918. During the boom periods, the workforce was composed of native
Appalachians, African-Americans, and recent immigrants to
The building of company towns, or coal camps began in the 1880's and peaked in the early 1920's. Coal operations and their associated towns consisted of company-built houses, churches, schools, theatres, dance halls, and even graveyards.
The Stonega Coke and Coal Company, later called Westmoreland Coal Company, built its first coal camp, Pioneer. It's name was changed to Stonega in 1896. The name Stonega comes from the combination of Stone and Gap, by dropping the "p." Other coal camps were named for English villages and coal officials.
The company operated store, called the "Company Sore" was the center for all social and economic dealings for the company towns. None of the camps were without one. The same railroad cars that carried the coal out of the towns brought in the town's supplies. Groceries, furniture, clothing, shoes, windows, buckets, drugs, black powder, and many other household gadgets were just some of the variety of items available in the store.
The company store
was also the offices of each coal camp official. The administrative officers
occupied the upper floors. Many stores had payroll windows where miners
would line up on Friday afternoon to receive their two weeks wages, minus
any deductions for rent and utilities, the doctor's fee, and scrip advances.
Most company stores had a scrip system. Scrip was a form of currency issued
by the company. A miner's wages might be paid in scrip, and once paid in
that form, the scrip could not be converted back into
The company provided each camp with a doctor, nurse, and hospital. The company doctor was responsible for the miners and their families. He did routine examinations, coughs and colds, childhood diseases such as chicken pox, orthopedic corrections, as well as surgeries. In providing these necessities for the workers, the company was able to maintain the overall health of the residents of each camp.
Each camp had its
own schools. The company built the schools, and the Wise County School Board
hired the teachers, and provided a principal to oversee each school. There
were no cafeterias, so many of the school children either brought their
lunch, or went home to eat. Once the student was old enough to attend high
school, he or she rode a bus to the closest town,
The Methodist and Baptist faiths became the chief denominations in the coal towns. The company had an organization of Methodist ministers, who were employed by the company, then rotated between the camps. Many of the coal camps had both Lutheran and Catholic churches. When the Hungarians and Italians left the area, then the Baptist denomination came to the camps, using the churches left by the Catholics and Lutherans. The Baptist churches were more independent from the coal companies and their ministers were not employed by the company.
During the early years of the camps, leisure and relaxation were a big part of everyone's life. As families moved to the area, residents spent their spare time in theatres, billiard parlors, bowling alleys, or in more familiar activities like baseball, picnics, and visiting. Sports played a leading role in the area during the early development of the area. Baseball was the miner's sport. Between 1920 and 1950, each camp had their own baseball team. The Sunday afternoon baseball game was a major social event. Camp versus camp games were taken very seriously. Many rivalries sprang up. The company officials also became part of the competition and began recruiting workers who were good ball players in hopes of helping their camp's team.
Other popular forms of leisure for the coal camp residents were music, dances, church celebrations, and working bees. Men gathered to play guitars, banjos and fiddles. At Rhoda, thirty miners formed an active, uniformed band that gave concerts in homes and in different camps. Card parties in homes were occasions for gathering to sit around, drink coffee, play cards, and talk. Working bees included such things as apple-pickings, bean-stringings, and a host of other work-sharing sessions were held in manu camps. Men, and sometimes women, also found relaxation in hunting and fishing.
Sometimes, leisure
came to the coal towns. Stonega, for example,
sponsored an African-American gospel quartet that went from town to town and
sang at union and company get-togethers. Sometimes Vaudeville shows came out
of
Workers formed associations and unions to give them more rights, assure safety, and for the miners in the camps to have better living conditions. In the 1930's, miners began organizing such unions. The organization of unions did not come without conflict.
Despite the
companies' objections, unions were formed and many programs were developed.
These programs included: The Derby burial fund to help to pay for funeral
expenses of miners, strike funds to help miners when on strike, improved
safety which left to the formation of the
Occupation Safety and Health, equal paying jobs for all miners, and many
other benefits for belonging to the union. This area of
During the 1950's,
after the World Wars, life changed dramatically for the residents of the
coal camps. Economic troubles began and many of the company facilities were
dismantled. With more automobiles in use, the need to live closer to work
was not a big issue. As machinery increased, the number of workers needed
decreased, Many moved to
Statistics & Facts About Appalachia
The population of Appalachia is approximately 1994.
The approximate number of families is 887.
The amount of land area in Appalachia is 5.975 sq. kilometers.
The amount of surface water is 0 sq kilometers.
The distance from Appalachia to Washington DC is 355 miles. The distance to
the Virginia state capital is 304 miles. (as the crow flies)
Appalachia is positioned 36.90 degrees north of the equator and 82.78
degrees west of the prime meridian.
____________________________________________________________________
In the heart of the
Appalachian Mountains and deep in the mountains of Southwest
Virginia, in the County of Wise, lies a town called Appalachia,
(pronounced
apple-at-cha).
It is located on U.S. Business 23 and Alternate 58, between the
city of Norton and the town of Big Stone Gap. Once called the
"Magic City of Wise County", the town was mostly a wilderness
until the 1890s when the railroads made a junction here. During
the 1920s, over 25,000 people came to town to do business. It
was then a beehive of activity. Among the many railroads which
passed through were:
Along the southern part of Appalachia stands Bee Rock through which runs a branch on the L & N Railroad in what is called the, "Shortest Railway Tunnel In The World". South of Appalachia is Stone Mountain which geologists have called a fault caused by the upheaval of the earth when it was young. Between these great marvels of nature flows the North Fork of the Powell River and the space for the town of Appalachia. Northward is Black Mountain which skirts the Kentucky border. Mineralville, the name early historians gave to Appalachia, had rich veins of pure coking coal, cliffs of limestone, and water which ran like a mill race between. The railroads brought an influx of people into the area in the spring and summer of 1891. The SA & O and the L & N brought excitement and energy into the coal fields and thus Appalachia was settled. The town was incorporated on March 1, 1906. The influence of the railroads was such an important part of the town's history, there is an annual Railroad Day's Festival held there every August. |
| This
information was gathered from the historical marker at right
which is located at the Town Hall.
The town of Appalachia sprang up after the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Southern Railroad made a junction here in 1890. Named for the Appalachian Mountains, in the heart of which it stands, it was incorporated in 1906. The streets were laid out in 1907. Appalachia, in the Jefferson National Forest area, was the trading center of the Wise coal fields for about 50 years. The above information was pasted from: http://www.wise.k12.va.us/aes/local_history.htm |
Commonwealth Information:
State Beverage: Milk
State Bird: the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
State Boat: The Chesapeake Bay Deadrise
State Dance: The Square Dance
State Dog: The American Fox Hound
State Fish: Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).
State Flower: the American Dogwood (Cornus florida)
State Fossil: the Chesapecten jeffersonius
State Insect: The Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus linne)
State Language: English
State Shell: The Oyster (Crassostraea virginica)
State Tree: Flowering Dogwood
State Capital: Richmond
State Motto: "Sic Semper Tyrannis" ("Thus Always to Tyrants")
FACTS
Crime in Appalachia by Year |
|||||
| Type | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Murders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| per 100,000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Rapes | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| per 100,000 | 0.0 | 54.4 | 54.4 | 108.8 | 0.0 |
| Robberies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| per 100,000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Assaults | 7 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 0 |
| per 100,000 | 380.6 | 326.3 | 761.3 | 543.8 | 0.0 |
| Burglaries | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| per 100,000 | 435.0 | 489.4 | 54.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Thefts | 20 | 25 | 26 | 35 | 34 |
| per 100,000 | 1087.5 | 1359.4 | 1413.8 | 1903.2 | 1848.8 |
| Auto thefts | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| per 100,000 | 163.1 | 0.0 | 54.4 | 163.1 | 108.8 |
Appalachia-area historical tornado activity is significantly below Virginia state average. It is 75% smaller than the overall U.S. average.
On 3/5/1955, a category 2 (max. wind speeds 113-157 mph) tornado 28.1 miles away from the Appalachia city center injured 6 people and caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damages.
On 5/18/1995, a category 2 tornado 32.7 miles away from the city center caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damages.
Streams, rivers, and creeks: Pounding Mill Creek, Callahan Cree, Bens Branch.
Appalachia compared to Virginia state average:
Note: Some of the above information is from: www.city-data.com
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