1932 Map of Eccles

About this map

Eccles and the surrounding coal country of Raleigh County are defined by deep mountain valleys and the dual rail lines of the Virginian and Chesapeake and Ohio railroads. This 1932 edition reflects a landscape shaped by early 20th-century extraction, where numerous small settlements like Ameagle, Dorothy, and Glen White are linked by the winding paths of the Marsh Fork and Clear Fork. The map reveals an incredible density of local institutions that supported these mining communities, including the Lick Fork School, Sandlick Caperton School, and Matville Church. Traversing the heights of Kayford Mountain and Chestnut Mountain, the survey documents a complex network of company towns and family-named landmarks such as Skinned Poplar Gap and Irish Lick Knob. This era represents the peak of rail-dependent transit before modern highway expansion altered the social geography of the southern West Virginia coalfields.