Welch, West Virginia

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McDowell County Courthouse

Welch is a city in McDowell County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 2,683 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of McDowell County^GR6.

1 History
2 Firsts
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] History

Welch was incorporated in 1894 and named after Isaiah A. Welch, a captain in the Confederate Army.

On August 1, 1921 detectives from the Baldwin-Felts agency killed Matewan sheriff Sid Hatfield as well as Ed Chambers at the McDowell County Courthouse located in Welch. [1]

It was once a prosperous city during the coal mine boom of the early 20th century. Once the boom ended, the city fell on hard times.

When presidential candidate John F. Kennedy visited Welch by train in 1960, he saw a city that was seriously decaying and had a very high poverty rate caused by the declining coal mining industry. It was his visit here that was believed to be the basis of the aid brought to the Appalachian region by the Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administrations. The first recipients of food stamps were the Chloe and Alderson Muncy family of Welch. The family, which included fifteen children, received $95 worth of stamps from Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman on May 29, 1961 as a crowd of reporters watched.

In 2006, the city made national headlines. It was alleged that Police Chief Robert K. Bowman stopped CPR from being conducted on Claude Green Jr during a heart attack. Bowman recognized Green as a member of the local gay community, and insisted that he was HIV positive and should not receive CPR. Green later died at a local hospital, and was shown to not be HIV positive. The American Civil Liberties Union has a pending lawsuit against the city and Bowman.

[edit] Firsts

Welch is the location of the first memorial building erected in the United States to the memory of the veterans of World War I. It was dedicated on May 30, 1923.

In 1928, Welch resident Minnie Buckingham Harper became the first black woman legislator in the United States. Harper was appointed by the Governor to the West Virginia House of Delegates to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband.

Welch also built the first municipally owned parking building in the United States, which was opened September 1, 1941. It accommodated 232 cars and showed a profit its first year in operation.

[edit] Geography

Welch is located at 37°26′14″N, 81°34′44″W (37.437323, -81.579002)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.5 km² (3.3 mi²), all land.

Periodical flooding of the Elkhorn and Tug Fork rivers plagued future prosperity of the city. Most notably, the record flooding in 2001 and 2002 nearly destroyed Welch altogether. Flood reduction projects to prevent further destruction in the future are presently in progress.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,683 people, 1,195 households, and 714 families residing in the city. The population density was 316.8/km² (821.1/mi²). There were 1,453 housing units at an average density of 171.6/km² (444.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.20% White, 19.27% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.34% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.

There were 1,195 households out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.2% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 81.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $19,795, and the median income for a family was $30,833. Males had a median income of $30,104 versus $23,320 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,308. About 23.0% of families and 28.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 45.9% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.