Up Next
Back to Show
American Experience
Coal Towns, from The Mine Wars
West Virginia coal operators built small, company-owned towns for their miners to live in. The coal towns were almost always unincorporated; there were no elected officials, no independent police forces. Owners hired private detective agencies to watch over their workforce. Company towns were also untethered from the free market competition owners usually championed.
Support Provided By
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:17
A biography from American Experience's collection of presidential portraits.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:24
Follow LBJ from rural Texas to his ascendancy to the presidency after the assassination of JFK.
