'Coal Town, USA' Is A West Virginia City In The Appalachian Mountains Quietly Reinventing Itself As Cool

"Coal Town, USA": Doesn't sound like the most appealing place to visit, right? What with all those miners trudging around, pickaxes over their shoulders, hard hats off-kilter, their bodies saturated with black dust. At least, that's the image that locals of Welch, West Virginia, are trying to change.

On the surface, Welch could sound like any number of former mining towns dotting Appalachia, a region sadly suffering from rampant opioid problems. The town, once home to a thriving coal mining community of about 6,000 back in the 1940s, has dwindled to 3,300. Current pictures of its downtown look derelict in comparison to the Welch's bustling heyday, when it truly looked like its old moniker, "Little New York." The U.S. Library of Congress even designates Welch as "distressed," an official economic term used by the Distressed Communities Index (DCI) indicating a high poverty rate and general economic troubles.

But this is not Welch's whole story — not if certain key residents have anything to say about it. Individuals like Welch Mayor Harold McBride, business developer Jason Grubb, artists like Tom Acosta, and doubtlessly countless more within the fabric of the town, are doing their best to revitalize Welch. They want Welch to be a vibrant place full of food, art, outdoor activities, and historical relevance for tourists and for themselves. After all, other mining towns like Nevada City in Montana have come alive again, so why not Welch? It's the kind of town that just might be worth dropping by if you've got the chance.

From a Google's-eye view, Welch contains some usual suspects: a McDonald's, a Pizza Hut, a dollar store, a couple grocery stores, etc. However, there's also the excellent-looking Sterling Drive-In diner, the hefty and spicy Rosco's Soul Food, and The Fortress, an indoor activity space for nerf gun fights, ax throwing, and general mayhem that sadly closed (hopefully temporarily) in February 2025 due to flooding. It's places like these that hint at Welch's comeback and indicate the desire of residents to rebuild "Coal Town, USA" into "Cool Town, USA."

On that note, standout Welch residents have been trying to transform Welch into a legitimate tourist destination. In 2021, Mayor Harold McBride made "Team Welch" to overhaul the town and bring back its magic. "Let's make it better, folks," Blue Ridge County quotes him. McBride even bought the aforementioned Sterling Drive-in to keep it in business, ensuring that visitors have some cozy grub when they visit. At minimum, the town wants to prevent itself from transforming into a legit ghost town along the lines of Burke, Idaho. 

Tom Acosta and his iconic Welch mural (seen above) have played a role in revitalizing Welch, too. The mural is visible from Welch's trolley, which serves as real public transportation, not just a gimmick. Also on the artistic front, the Jack Caffrey Arts & Cultural Center hosts events and exhibitions and seeks to "reawaken our heritage and re-imagine our future through arts and education," as the Welch city website says. There's even an annual town play called "Terror of the Tug" about the West Virginia Mine Wars (1912 to 1921). 

Looking at Welch on a map, you'll quickly see that it's the definition of "in the middle of nowhere." But for intrepid travelers and lovers of the outdoors, this is a strong selling point. Tucked away in southern West Virginia near to where West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky converge, the closest major city is West Virginia's capital, Charleston, one of the most affordable destinations in the U.S. At 2 hours away by car, this makes Charleston an ideal launching point for a Welch trip.

If you do drive to Welch to see what the town has to offer, you'd be seriously missing out if you didn't take advantage of the region's natural beauty. Welch is all but surrounded by loads of natures preserves, like the gigantic George Washington & Jefferson National Forest, a 1.8-million acre expanse of low, rolling mountains ready for hiking and camping about two hours from Welch. There's also the smaller New Rover Gorge National Park and Preserve, the Pisgah National Forest, Cherokee National Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Berwind Lake Wildlife Management Area, and on and on (all within a four-hour drive of Welch). The area is basically a forest of forests. 

And for ATV lovers — because yes, it's fun — there's the expansive Hatfield-McCoy trail system that threads through West Virginia. ATV rentals abound, and trails cover all levels of difficulty. Welch connects multiple trail networks via the Warrior Trail System, which is an apt name considering the town's fighting spirit.