Welch and Logan came into their own when rail lines reached settlements in McDowell County at the confluence of the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River and Elkhorn Creek and in Logan County at the "Islands of the Gyandotte." Inspired by geologist Isaiah Welch’s post-Civil War reports of immense timber and coal resources along the Elkhorn and Tug Fork, investors by 1891 had pushed a branch of the Norfolk and Western to the town named after the scientist.

In 1904, years of campaigning for industrial development by the Logan Banner bore fruit for the town of Logan when it was finally reached by a branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio. Workers and their families, including noticeable numbers of foreign immigrants and African Americans, flowed into McDowell and Logan Counties. By the 1940s Welch and Logan had become vibrant regional commercial centers with populations greater than 5,000.

Russell Lee's photographs record these communities at their height just after World War II. Soon after Lee took his photos, mechanization of the coal industry led to an exodus from the region. The last census put Welch's population is 2,683 and Logan's at 1,630. Results of this depopulation can be seen in Earl Dotter's photos, along with such tragedies as the Welch floods of 2001-2002. But the photographs also bear witness that the coalfield downtowns of yore can still show evidence of creative survival strategies.

Page 3: Russell Lee Downtowns