GET YOUR TRAVEL GUIDE
Search...

Welcome to the Black History of Mercer County, West Virginia

Last updated: February 3, 2025

Get ready to explore the hidden gems and powerful stories that shaped Mercer County’s African American heritage. From historic schools and churches to legendary hotels and community landmarks, this tour takes you through Bluefield, Bramwell, and Princeton to highlight the people and places that made history.

  1. Founding of Bluefield Colored Institute (Now Bluefield State University)
    • Date: February 28, 1895
    • Location: 219 Rock Street, Bluefield, WV
    • Highlight:
      The West Virginia Legislature established the Bluefield Colored Institute (now Bluefield State University) to provide educational opportunities for African Americans. The act became law without the governor’s approval, reflecting the determination to advance education for Black students despite systemic challenges.
    • Notable Figures:
      • Board of Regents: Virgil A. Lewis (State Superintendent), J. C. Bradey (Wheeling), G. M. Bowers (Martinsburg), W. M. Mahood (Princeton), and J. S. Marcum (Huntington).
      • Executive Committee: Judge D. E. Johnson (Bluefield), Dr. J. C. Hughes, and W. H. Straley (both of Princeton).
    • Significance:
      This institution later conferred some of the first college degrees to African Americans in West Virginia (1929) and remains a historic symbol of resilience and progress in education for African Americans in the state.
  2. Park Central High School Basketball Victory
    • Date: March 14, 1957
    • Location: 104 Park Street, Bluefield, WV
    • Highlight:
      Park Central High School defeated Byrd-Prillerman High School in the final West Virginia Athletic Union Basketball Tournament, marking a high point for African American athletics in Mercer County.
  3. Hotel Thelma
    • Address: 1074 Wayne Street, Bluefield, WV
    • Highlight:
      A refuge for African American travelers during segregation, hosting notable guests like Tina Turner and many others. Currently under plans for renovation, the hotel was built in 1949. It was featured in the Green Book, which featured safe places for black travelers.
  4. Davidson Cabin
    • Location: 1780 Stadium Drive, Bluefield, WV
    • Highlight:
      The cabin is tied to Olivia Davidson Washington, co-founder of Tuskegee Institute and wife of Booker T. Washington. Olivia was a descendant of Joseph Davidson, a slave owner and one of the first settlers of Bluefield. The cabin was orginially located on the grounds of Park Central High School/Greater Mt. Zoin Pentacostal Church.
  5. Scott Street Baptist Church
    • Address: 419 Scott Street, Bluefield, WV
    • Highlight:
      Established in the early 1900s, this church became a community hub for African Americans in Mercer County. It is a two-story Gothic Revival religious ediface, stone at the first level and brick at the second. This building replaced an 1890 church on the same site which, though of wood, had the same basic configuration.

Bramwell, WV

  1. Anne Spencer Memorial Bridge
    • Address: 101 Simmons Street (behind train depot), Bramwell, WV
    • Highlight:
      Named for Anne Spencer, a Harlem Renaissance poet and civil rights activist who was born in Henry County, VA, but whose legacy also connects with southern West Virginia. The bridge honors her contributions to literature and activism, inspiring generations.

Princeton, WV

  1. George M. Hall Memorial Bridge
    • Address: Willowbrook Drive, Willowbrook Bridge, Princeton, WV. Use coordinates 37.347766559250985, -81.10762816328722.
    • Highlight:
      Named for George M. Hall, a former slave, who was born in Dublin, Va., and lived in Princeton in 1862. Mr. Hall saved documents from the Mercer County Courthouse during a fire set by the Confederate Army during the Pigeon Roost battle in Princeton during the Civil War.

Additional Historical Context

  1. Educational Milestones
    • 1915: 78 African Americans from West Virginia attended colleges out-of-state because no West Virginia college would admit them.
    • 1929: Bluefield Colored Institute awarded its first college degrees to African Americans.
  2. Coaldale Mine Explosion
    • Date: May 12, 1927
    • Location: 11138 Coal Heritage Road, Bramwell.
    • Highlight:
      In a tragic mining accident, 18 African American miners lost their lives in an explosion at the Coaldale Mine. This disaster serves as a somber reminder of the harsh conditions faced by Black miners and their significant contributions to the coal industry in Mercer County.
    • Context:
      Though all nine counties in West Virginia’s southern coal-producing region saw large increases in their Black populations between 1880 and 1920, McDowell and Mercer Counties (in the Pocahontas Field) had the largest percentage of Blacks both in the county and employed in the coal industry. By 1917, one in every three miners working in the Pocahontas Field was Black, the majority of whom worked the hardest, worst-paying jobs of loader and laborer: digging, loading, and hauling coal in dangerous underground conditions. In the 1921 report from the West Virginia Bureau of Negro Welfare and Statistics, only 231 of the nearly 6,500 Blacks employed in the industry worked higher-paying skilled jobs, and only seven were foremen.
GET MERCER COUNTY UPDATES