Berwind, West Virginia - Once A Mighty Coal Company Town in McDowell County

I appreciate the tour through Berwind! My mother married the company doctor and we lived up stairs above the doctor’s office in that big house on the corner. Left Berwind in 1958 and drove through there just last week on my way from Logan back to where I now live, Greeneville TN on April 27, 2022! Thanks again for the memories!!

Good one you both. Shane, you picked the perfect person to ask about the town. Can you imagine all he has seen here? I bet he has lived his entire 78 years in this small town. These people are a big as treasure as the town is. It is so important to get as much information off of them while they are still with us.

Cute little town with big cabooses 😁 I like the older gentleman who was so friendly explaining the town.

Thank you so much for this. We lived in Berwind in 1956-1957. My father pastored the church you show at 2:26 & 4:11 At 4:25, that turnoff went back to another row of houses -- much less fancy -- where we lived. There was an alley between the houses on the paved road and our houses. The railroad tracks were up the embankment. I can still remember my mother running out to get the clothes off the line when the train was coming so they weren't dirtied again with the coal soot. We kids played in the coal bin on the ally and always needed a scrubbing in the 20-gallon tub. I once was dressed up to go somewhere and, instead of staying clean, ran around and fell. A small piece of black clinker got embedded in my side and was visible below the skin for decades. Our outhouse was one of the few that had a light in it. The switch was inside the house. Whenever we had company, my father liked to prank them by turning off the light while they were out there at night. He did it again when his cousin Roland was visiting and everyone had a good laugh when Roland came back in the house. But they had forgotten Roland was blind, so the joke was on them. Until she passed away last year, my mother always spoke of the people of Berwind with great affection. She would tell how she would make her grocery list and cut it up into individual pieces of paper for each item. The pieces of paper would be placed in the offering plate at church and passed around, with someone from each family reaching in and taking one of them. The groceries would appear sometime during the week. That's how the church provided for its pastor. At that turnoff at 4:25 is where I -- though only 5 at the time -- knew something was coming. The creek was higher than I had ever seen it before. In the morning there was water everywhere. Men -- perhaps from the National Guard -- lifted us out of our house through the window. I believe we stayed with the Wades who lived up the hill above the railroad tracks. Even though the houses on our row were built up on posts or blocks -- high enough that we as kids could play under there -- the flood waters rose and filled the interior with deep mud. We left Berwind after that. I last visited Berwind in 1976 while driving cross-country. Our old house was gone then. Thank you again for this. It stirred many memories.

Gotta love this community and its people! Wish you could've gotten their lake, such a beautiful and peaceful place. God Bless, (Glen) WV.

When I went to school in Davy, Wv we played Berwind in football and basketball, circa 1961-63. They had good teams, very competitive and well disciplined.🏈🏀

Seeing these coal towns die or in there way brings a tear to my eye to think of the families that have grown and moved on over time following where the work was. Most are to buddy to slow down to enjoy life. Thank y’all for this video

I was born in Berwind in my grandmother's house in 1946. The doctor's house was originally Mr. Berwind's house. His wife hated it here and made him move back north.

Many years before the GRMC was there, my granddad owned a small store in the lot beside where that GRMC is. Called it the R&M market. My aunt and uncle lived just next to the store and my grandparents next to that. It’s all gone now, and I can’t tell what’s behind that big fence, where their homes once stood. My brother and I used to fish off the bridge just up at the turn. Behind that were the railroad tracks, and on up the hill was a Pentecostal church. Went there once and between the talking in tongues and holy rolling, it scared me half to death. That was the late 70s. Simpler times and great fun spending summers in Berwind with my grandparents and aunt bet and uncle Jim.

Great tour! All my family was from McDowell county. My Mom went to Iaeger and my dad went to big creek. My great grandfather was the justice of the piece in War Wv after he retired from the mines. And Melody I like big ol cabooses too I cannot lie lol!

For 2 years I went to Berwind Elementary, my mama lives there in Cucumber; love that place!!!!! Thanks

Hey Molody! You went to school with my daughter Kayla Dye Reynolds! I came across your channel while watching cemetery videos and my Mommy & I watched this video on Berwind & she cried tears of joy when you showed the old pictures of Berwind in the 1900's because you had a picture of the house she grew up in!! Thank you for doing this video! I can tell you it brought joy to my Mommy!!

Awesome my family is from Canebrake, Berwind WVA, thanks for the video! ✌🏼

Another good one, guys. I grew up in Coalwood and went to high school with kids from Berwind. It's sad to go back there now. The towns were so pretty, and now I feel like a survivor from some ancient civilization looking at the ruins.

Awhh, That's " The White House" ❤️❤️ My grandparents lived there for many many years and we only just sold it about a year ago, after their passing. I teared up over what you guys said about living there.. That place holds so many amazing memories for me. (....Except when it came time to put the Christmas decorations up.. I don't think a year went by without my mother or I having a near death experience putting the wreaths on the attic windows.. 😆 ) Thank you for sharing this and for the kind words. 😊

Wow. The old feller with the dog seemed like a sweat gentleman and the comment from Jon is truly special. Loved the old photos you guys found. Another great video as always.

My dad worked in the mines in Berwind in the late 1920's through the 1930's. He and my mother ( originally from Fireco) lived in Newhall. All four of my siblings were born and the oldest died there. My family moved to Princewick (in Raleigh county) in 1940, where I was born in 1943. We moved to Odd in 1944, then Big Stick in 1950. In 1951 (Mom refused to stay in Big Stick any longer) , we moved to Fireco, where I spent the rest of my youth near my beloved maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins galore!

Thank you for the mention!!! I had a very happy childhood living in Berwind!

I had relatives in Berwind on my mother's side of the family. Spent some time there in the early 1970s. I think I remember a night when the creek flooded!

The beautiful White House use to be a doctor’s office. The Young’s owned it all my life until recently. My dad who recently passed was the Fire Chief at the Volunteer FD. I love Berwind!