Regional Studies in Environmental Science, Industry - Macroeconomics, West Virginia - State & Local History, Economic Conditions in the United States, Regional Studies - Northeast & Middle Atlantic U.S.
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Overview
In 1880, ancient-growth forest still covered two-thirds of West Virginia, but by the 1920s lumbermen had denuded the entire region. Ronald Lewis explores the transformation in these mountain counties precipitated by deforestation. As the only state that lies entirely within the Appalachian region, West Virginia provides an ideal site for studying the broader social impact of deforestation in Appalachia, the South, and the eastern United States. Eventually, even ardent supporters of industrialization had reason to contemplate the consequences of unregulated exploitation. Once the timber was gone, the mills closed and the railroads pulled up their tracks leaving behind an environmental disaster and a new class of marginalized rural poor to confront the worst depression in American history.Editorials
From the Publisher
A very fine book that will be of enormous use to Appalachian historians in the future.Journal of Social History
[P]rovides the best account yet of how industrialization transformed the Appalachian forests at the turn of the century.
Journal of American History
Meticulously researched, well written, and enhanced by dozens of poignant photographs.
Journal of Southern History
A thorough and detailed account of the emergence, florescence, and decline of the timber industry in West Virginia.
Environmental History
A book that everyone interested in the process of development in the mountains should read—and read again.
Journal of Appalachian Studies
Book Details
Published
June 28, 1998
Publisher
Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1998.
Pages
368
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780807824054