The nation’s thirst for energy after the Civil War resulted in a provocative and nationally significant period of history in the rugged hills of the Hocking River Valley in southeastern Ohio.

 Early surveyors of the nation’s Northwest Territory noted the mineral rich nature of the region, indicating coal outcroppings along the banks of the Hocking River in the late 1700’s prior to Ohio statehood in 1803.   Construction of the Hocking Canal began in 1836 and was in full operation by 1842.  The canal provided the first practical means for shipping goods to market, connecting Ohio’s Hill Country with the Ohio & Erie Canal to the north.   Small mine operations along the canal first shipped coal by the basket.  Plans to build railroads into the region soon followed but were delayed by the Civil War.  After the war, the investors quickly set their sites on the 14-foot thick vein of bituminous coal in the hills to the east of the Hocking River at the small country town of Straitsville.   The first boom town opened at New Stratisville when the Columbus & Hocking Valley Coal Company arrived in 1870, building a spur fifteen miles east from the town of Logan, situated on the banks of the Hocking River.     

By the 1880’s three rival railroads had pierced through the rugged hills to reach abundant deposits of coal, iron ore, clay and oil in the region.  “Little Cities” appeared overnight along the new rail lines as investors in the railroads, also built towns, sold lots and opened mines and iron ore furnaces as part of their venture. The rush to extract the mineral resources brought thousands of people here from all over the country and world in search of work and prosperity.  These cities quickly populated with a rich mix of American born citizens, European immigrants and African Americans.  For over 50 years the mineral resources were feverishly extracted to feed the fires of America’s Industrial revolution.   Not only were coal mines and iron furnaces established, clay mines, brick and tile plants, and oil field operations provided a rich mix of employment and money making opportunities for out of town investors who often paid little attention to the amenities of the newly arriving workers and their families. 

 The people who came during this period lived out provocative stories ranging from civic and social development of their new found communities to playing nationally significant roles in the emerging labor movement and struggle for racial equality.  The prosperity was relatively short lived and the “bust” that came by 1925 on the eve of the Depressionn led to a century of economic and population decline that has rendered these once proud mining communities to a remnant shadow of their original boom-town atmosphere.  Most of the dramatic stories faded from the collective consciousness of the people and historians.  However, a movement to understand the history of the region was started by Dr. Ivan Tribe who wrote his doctoral thesis on the region in 1976 and subsequently published two volumes of the region’s history entitled Little Cities of Black Diamonds and Sprinkled with Coal Dust.  From Tribe’s work, local citizens and historians have embarked on understanding the story that took place here.  In part what they discovered was three stories of national significance:

Agents of Change: Pioneers in the Nation’s Labor Movement
Breaking Barriers: Immigrants & African Americans
Environmental Legacy & Restoration