History of Appalachia in Timeline

Appalachia is a geographic region situated within the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America. It extends from New Brunswick, Canada, southward through the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains, reaching into northern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. West Virginia is the only state located entirely within Appalachia. As of 2021, the region's population was approximately 26.3 million.

1900: Welsh Immigration

By 1900, over 100,000 Welsh immigrants were living in western Pennsylvania due to their mining and metallurgical expertise.

1900: Railroads connected most of the region

By 1900, railroads connected most of the Appalachian region with the rest of the nation, although the poor roads made travel beyond railroad hubs difficult.

1900: Industrial Growth

By 1900, the Chattanooga area and northern Alabama experienced manufacturing booms, similar to the earlier growth in Pittsburgh and Knoxville, especially regarding iron and steel production.

1901: U.S. Steel founded

In 1901, U.S. Steel, was founded in Pittsburgh and became the world's first corporation with over a billion dollars in capitalization.

1905: Publication of "The Spirit of the Mountains"

In 1905, Emma Bell Miles' book "The Spirit of the Mountains" marked a shift in the region's literature from local color to realism.

1911: Weeks Act Passed

In 1911, Congress passed the Weeks Act, granting the federal government the authority to create national forests east of the Mississippi River and control timber harvesting.

1911: Creation of national forests

In 1911, National Forests were created to manage timber resources, due to alarming scale of logging in Appalachia

1912: Publication of Christy

In 1912, Catherine Marshall's "Christy" marked a shift in the region's literature from local color to realism.

1913: Publication of Our Southern Highlanders

In 1913, Horace Kephart's "Our Southern Highlanders" marked a shift in the region's literature from local color to realism.

1920: Union Carbide built

In 1920, Union Carbide built the world's first petrochemical plant in Clendenin, West Virginia, leading to the Kanawha Valley becoming known as the "Chemical Capital of the World".

1921: John C. Campbell's Definition

In 1921, John C. Campbell published "The Southern Highlander and His Homeland", modifying Frost's map to include 254 counties in 9 states.

1925: The Scopes Trial

In 1925, The Scopes Trial, a famous debate over the teaching of the theory of evolution, took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in southern Appalachia.

1927: Bristol Sessions

In 1927, commercial recordings of Appalachian musicians occurred, known as the Bristol sessions, which significantly impacted the development of country music and bluegrass.

1927: Georgia Hardwood Lumber Company established

In 1927, the Georgia Hardwood Lumber Company was established.

1930: Manufacturing suffered

Manufacturing in the Appalachian region suffered a setback during the Great Depression.

1932: Publication of Call Home to the Heart

In 1932, Olive Tilford Dargan's novel, "Call Home to the Heart", captured the transition from an agrarian society to an industrial society and its effects on Appalachia.

1934: Comic Strips Caricatured Appalachia

In 1934, comic strips Li'l Abner by Al Capp and Barney Google by Billy DeBeck began, caricaturing the laziness and weakness for moonshine of "hillbillies".

1936: Publication of The Rolling Years

In 1936, Agnes Sligh Turnbull's "The Rolling Years" captured the transition from an agrarian society to an industrial society and its effects on Appalachia.

October 1, 1940: Opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike

Except the October 1, 1940, opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the region's mountainous terrain continuously thwarted major federal intervention attempts at major road construction until the 1970s.

1940: "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" published

In 1940, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by James Agee and Walker Evans documented Appalachian families during the Great Depression through words and photos.

1940: Publication of The River of Earth

In 1940, James Still's "The River of Earth" captured the transition from an agrarian society to an industrial society and its effects on Appalachia.

1945: Changes in Appalachia

After 1945, the region of Appalachia underwent many changes such that it scarcely resembles the comic images of the time.

1948: Georgia-Pacific Renamed

In 1948, the Georgia Hardwood Lumber Company was renamed Georgia-Pacific as it expanded nationally.

1954: Publication of The Dollmaker

In 1954, Harriette Simpson Arnow's "The Dollmaker" captured the transition from an agrarian society to an industrial society and its effects on Appalachia.

1962: Publication of Night Comes to the Cumberlands

In 1962, Harry Caudill's "Night Comes to the Cumberlands" captured the transition from an agrarian society to an industrial society and its effects on Appalachia.

1962: Thomas R. Ford's work

In 1982 a seven-volume study conducted by the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force was issued by the Appalachian Regional Commission which investigated the issue of absentee land ownership approximating the area designated "Southern Appalachia" as defined by Thomas R. Ford's 1962 work.

1963: President's Appalachian Regional Commission established

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Appalachian Regional Commission.

1964: Lyndon B. Johnson Speech

Martin County, Kentucky, the site of Johnson's 1964 speech, is one such county still ranked as "distressed" by the ARC.

1965: Publication of The Orchard Keeper

In 1965, Cormac McCarthy published "The Orchard Keeper" which is set in Appalachia.

1965: Appalachian Regional Commission passed into law

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson crystallized Kennedy's efforts in the form of the Appalachian Regional Commission, which passed into law.

1965: Creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission

In 1965, the Appalachian Regional Commission was created to address poverty and diversify the region's economies, prompted by attention brought by sociologists, folklorists, and authors.

1965: Appalachian Regional Commission Created

In 1965, the Appalachian Regional Commission was created to alleviate poverty by diversifying the economy and improving healthcare and education.

1965: Appalachian Regional Development Act

The Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 was enacted to address poverty and desolation in Appalachia while respecting the region's cultural sensitivity.

1965: ARC Road Construction

When the Appalachian Regional Commission was created in 1965, road construction was considered its most important initiative.

1968: Publication of Outer Dark

In 1968, Cormac McCarthy published "Outer Dark" which is set in Appalachia.

1969: Number of farms

In 1969, the Appalachian region had 354,748 farms on 47 million acres.

1970: Apparel workers decrease

Between 1970 and 2001, the number of apparel workers in the Appalachian region decreased from 250,000 to 83,000.

1970: Deliverance Perpetuated Stereotype

In 1970, James Dickey's novel Deliverance perpetuated the stereotype of Appalachia.

1973: Publication of Child of God

In 1973, Cormac McCarthy published "Child of God" which is set in Appalachia.

Child of God (Vintage International)

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1977: New River Gorge Bridge Completed

In 1977, the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia was completed, becoming the longest single-arch bridge in the world at the time.

1979: Publication of Suttree

In 1979, Cormac McCarthy's "Suttree" offered an intense vision of life along the Tennessee River in Appalachia.

1982: Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force Study

In 1982 a seven-volume study conducted by the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force was issued by the Appalachian Regional Commission which investigated the issue of absentee land ownership.

1984: Karl Raitz and Richard Ulack's Definition

In 1984, Karl Raitz and Richard Ulack expanded the ARC's definition to include 445 counties in 13 states, removing all counties in Mississippi and adding two in New Jersey.

1987: Lumber firms operating

In 1987, there were 4,810 lumber firms operating in the Appalachian region.

1990: Appalachia's Economic Status

By 1990, Appalachia had largely joined the economic mainstream, but still lagged behind the rest of the nation in most economic indicators.

1994: NAFTA Signed

The signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 led to a decline in the region's manufacturing operations.

1996: Cumberland Gap Tunnels Built

In 1996, large tunnels were built through mountain slopes at Cumberland Gap to speed up travel along U.S. Route 25E.

1997: Number of farms

In 1997, the number of farms in the Appalachian region dwindled to 230,050 farms on 35 million acres.

July 5, 1999: Bill Clinton's public statement

On July 5, 1999, President Bill Clinton made a public statement concerning the situation in Tyner, Kentucky.

1999: Deforestation

By 1999, 1.4 million acres were extinguished in Appalachia as a result of deforestation by natural resource industries.

2000: Per capita income in Martin County

As of 2000, the per capita income in Martin County was $10,650, and 37% of its residents lived below the poverty line.

2000: Tourism in Appalachia

In 2000-2001, tourism in Appalachia accounted for nearly $30 billion and over 600,000 jobs.

2001: Textile workers decrease

Between 1970 and 2001, the number of textile workers in the Appalachian region decreased from 275,000 to 193,000.

2001: Tourism in Appalachia

In 2000-2001, tourism in Appalachia accounted for nearly $30 billion and over 600,000 jobs.

2001: Public Schools Threatened

Since 2001, a number of public schools in the Appalachia region were threatened with loss of funding due to difficulties fulfilling the demands of No Child Left Behind.

2002: The Mothman Prophecies Film

In 2002, "The Mothman Prophecies" film was released, loosely retelling the legend of Mothman from Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

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2002: Quecreek Mine Rescue

In 2002, The Quecreek Mine rescue gained prominence as well as continuing mine subsidence problems in abandoned coal mines in western Pennsylvania

2002: John Alexander Williams' Definition

In 2002, historian John Alexander Williams distinguished between a "core" Appalachian region consisting of 164 counties and a greater region defined by the ARC in his book "Appalachia: A History".

2004: Appalachian coal mining employment

In 2004, Appalachian coal mining employed just under 50,000 workers with annual earnings of $55,000.

2006: Howard Dorgan's "Old Appalachia"

In 2006, Appalachian State University historian Howard Dorgan suggested the term "Old Appalachia" for the region's cultural boundaries in the "Encyclopedia of Appalachia".

2011: Colin Woodard's "Greater Appalachia"

In 2011, American journalist Colin Woodard introduced the term "Greater Appalachia" in his book, "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America".

2012: Sean Trende's Definition of "Greater Appalachia"

In 2012, Sean Trende defined "Greater Appalachia" in his book, "The Lost Majority", as including both the Appalachian Mountains region and the Upland South.

2013: American Factfinder Data

According to the American Factfinder's 2013 data, Southern Appalachia has a white majority, comprising 84% of the population, with other ethnic groups making up the remainder.

2013: Land ownership in West Virginia

In 2013, a study concentrating on West Virginia found that 25 private owners hold 17.6% of the state's private land.

2020: Census Definition

As defined by the 2020 census, certain metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas are sometimes included as part of Appalachia.

2020: ARC Listed Distressed Counties

In 2020, the ARC listed 80 counties as "distressed", with nearly half of them (38) located in Kentucky.

2021: Appalachia Population

In 2021, the Appalachia region was estimated to be home to 26.3 million people.

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