Editing Alum Creek, West Virginia (section)

== History ==
The town of Rome was founded at the junction of the Little and Big Coal rivers in the 1890s by the Childress family. Soon the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] built a line along the [[Coal River (West Virginia)|Coal River]] to transport [[coal]] from the coal fields in [[Boone County, West Virginia|Boone]] and [[Logan County, West Virginia|Logan]] counties into the hub in nearby town of [[St. Albans, West Virginia|St. Albans]]. The town grew and a town council was formed. The town officially changed its name to "Alum Creek" in 1910. A constable policed the town, although without a vehicle he relied on the generosity of locals to transport him from place to place. In 1922 a set of bridges were constructed across the Big and Little Coal rivers. It was also at approximately this time [[Union Carbide]] built Cliffside, a summer camp on the banks of the Coal River. The town flourished for the next half century with most of its residents working in either the mining industries or in chemicals. Two elementary schools were founded in the town, Alum Creek Elementary on the [[Kanawha County, West Virginia|Kanawha County]] side and Midway Elementary on the [[Lincoln County, West Virginia|Lincoln County]] side. A high school was also built in the 1930s, named Washington District High School, after the tax district. WDHS was closed in 1980 due to school consolidation. In the mid-1980s [[U.S. Route 119]] was constructed through Alum Creek and brought a host of businesses into Alum Creek; however, this did not help the town out of poverty due to a decline in the coal mining and chemical industries. The town is seeing a comeback due to the expansion of business along Rt 119. Median income is on the rise, and the town has grown to encompass an area of over {{convert|17|mi}}.

[[Holley Hills Estate]] is a historic home near Alum Creek that was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1980.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2009a}}</ref>