Editing Welch, West Virginia (section)

==History==
Welch was incorporated in 1893 and named after Isaiah A. Welch,<ref>{{cite book|last=Capace|first=Nancy|title=Encyclopedia of West Virginia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K30UKW0aewgC&pg=PA196|year=1999|publisher=North American Book Dist LLC|isbn=978-0-403-09843-9|page=196}}</ref> a former captain in the [[Confederate States Army]] who came to the region as a surveyor, and helped establish the plan for the beginning of a new town at the confluence of [[Tug Fork]] and [[Elkhorn Creek (Tug Fork)|Elkhorn Creek]].

Welch was made the county seat of McDowell County in an election by county citizens in 1892<ref>[http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/McDowell/mcdhistory.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906062645/http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/McDowell/mcdhistory.html|date=September 6, 2012}}</ref> even before Welch was incorporated as a city. The previous county seat was in Perryville (now [[English, West Virginia|English]]) on present day [[West Virginia Route 83]] along the Dry Fork. Results of the election were contested, so to avoid violence county records were secretly moved from Perryville to Welch at night in two wagons by [[James F. Strother (West Virginia politician)|James F. Strother]] and Trigg Tabor. {{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

On March 2, 1921, the Welch City Council met to discuss impeachment of then Mayor J. H. Whitt. Whitt showed up at the meeting and disrupted the proceedings. The Welch City Council then asked the McDowell Co. Sheriff's Dept. to investigate Whitt. Later that same day, Mayor Whitt shot and killed McDowell County Deputy Sheriff William Johnson Tabor who was investigating the matter. Mayor Whitt was arrested and charged with murder but won acquittal at his trial (allegedly based on [[perjury|perjured]] testimony). Whitt left the area for parts unknown on September 27, 1921.
[[File:Welch Mining Co., Welch, W. Va. Boy running "trip rope" at tipple. Overgrown, but looked 13 years old. Works 10 hours... - NARA - 523077.jpg|thumb|left|Child laborer at Welch Mining Company, 1908.  Photo by [[Lewis Hine]]]]
[[File:Saturday afternoon street scene. Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia. - NARA - 541004.jpg|thumb|right|Facing north on McDowell Street in Welch, on a Saturday afternoon in 1946]]

On August 1, 1921, detectives from the [[Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency]] assassinated Matewan Police Chief [[Sid Hatfield]] as well as Ed Chambers at the [[McDowell County Courthouse (West Virginia)|McDowell County Courthouse]] located in Welch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.matewan.com/History/battle2.htm |title=The Battle of Matewan |publisher=Matewan.com |access-date=December 27, 2013}}</ref>

In the first half of the 20th century during the opening of railroads and coal mines throughout the region, Welch became a prosperous city: the hub of retail business for a county approaching 100,000 in population, and the location for three hospitals. After the production boom of World War II, oil began to supplant coal in many areas of domestic fuel supply. Mechanization of coal mining reduced the number of laborers needed in coal production. McDowell County's population peaked in 1950, and began a decline over decades to follow. In 1960, however, McDowell County still ranked number one in the United States in total coal production. The City of Welch proudly proclaimed itself "The Heart of the Nation's Coal Bin".

When presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]] visited Welch by automobile caravan in 1960, he saw a city whose businesses were struggling due to a growing poverty rate throughout the county. What Kennedy learned here during his campaign for the 1960 West Virginia primary was believed to be the basis of the aid brought to the [[Appalachia]]n region by the Kennedy and [[Lyndon Johnson]] administrations. During a speech in [[Canton, Ohio]] on September 27, 1960, he stated "McDowell County mines more coal than it ever has in its history, probably more coal than any county in the United States and yet there are more people getting surplus food packages in McDowell County than any county in the United States. The reason is that machines are doing the jobs of men, and we have not been able to find jobs for those men."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=74231|title=John F. Kennedy: Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Municipal Auditorium, Canton, Ohio}}</ref>

The first recipients of modern era [[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program|food stamps]] were the Chloe and Alderson Muncy family of [[Paynesville, West Virginia|Paynesville]], McDowell County. Their household included fifteen persons. On May 29, 1961, in the City of Welch, as a crowd of reporters witnessed the proceedings, [[Secretary of Agriculture]] [[Orville Freeman]] delivered $95 of federal food stamps to Mr. and Mrs. Muncy. This was the first issuance of federal food stamps under the Kennedy Administration, and it was the beginning of a rapidly expanding program of federal assistance that would be legislated in the "[[War on poverty|War on Poverty]]".

In the 1960s and 1970s, McDowell County coal continued to be a major source of fuel for the steel and electric power generation industries. As United States steel production declined, however, McDowell County suffered further losses. In 1986, the closure of the US Steel mines in nearby [[Gary, West Virginia|Gary]] led to an immediate loss of more than 1,200 jobs. In the following year alone, personal income in McDowell County decreased dramatically by two-thirds. Real estate values also plummeted. Miners were forced to abandon their homes in search for new beginnings in other regions of the country.

In 2006, the city received national attention when it, along with Police Chief Robert K. Bowman were the defendants in a lawsuit brought by the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acluwv.org/Newsroom/PressReleases/03_02_06a.htm|title=ACLU-WV: press release 3/2/06a}}</ref> after Bowman allegedly prevented rescuers from providing [[Cardiopulmonary resuscitation|CPR]] to a gay man suffering cardiac arrest.  After the [[wrongful death claim]] was allowed to proceed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/estate-claude-green-v-robert-bowman-ruling-defendants-motion-dismiss|title=Estate of Claude Green v. Robert Bowman - Ruling on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss|work=American Civil Liberties Union}}</ref> the lawsuit was settled for an undetermined amount.

Welch has been the celebrated location of an annual Veterans Day Parade that, over the decades, has attracted a distinguished list of speakers, including Presidents [[Harry S. Truman]] and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The [[McDowell County Courthouse (West Virginia)|McDowell County Courthouse]] and [[Welch Commercial Historic District]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

===Firsts===
[[File:Municipal parking in Welch, West Virginia.jpg|thumb|Municipal parking building in Welch]]
The first public children's playground in West Virginia was built in Welch in 1913.  It was constructed using private donations and after 1918 was maintained by the Young Women's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church.  The playground sat across the street from the McDowell County Courthouse until 1930 when it became the site for the [[United States Postal Service|United States Post Office]].<ref>Progressive West Virginians, Wheeling Intelligencer, 1923, page 409.</ref>

Welch also built the first municipally owned [[Multi-storey car park|parking building]] in the United States, which was opened September 1, 1941.<ref>{{cite web|title=Welch Municipal Parking Building|publisher=McDowell County|url=http://www.mcdowellwv.com/articles/parking_building/|access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref> It accommodated 232 cars and showed a profit its first year in operation.