Many victims of the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster were buried in a mass grave in Nicholas County. The graves were relocated in 1972, when U.S. 19 was widened. The site remained unmarked until this Memorial was dedicated in 2012.
Transcription of the Memorial:
Hawks Nest Workers Memorial and Grave Site
This Memorial honors an estimated 764 tunnel workers who died from mining a 3.8 mile tunnel through Gauley Mountain to divert water from the New River to a hydroelectric plant near Gauley Bridge in 1930-31. The tunnel cut through almost pure silica in some areas and exposed the unprotected workers to silica dust that quickly caused acute silicosis, a fatal lung disease.
This disaster is considered America's worst industrial accident. Workers in the tunnel were primarily migrant workers, mostly black, who were paid a few dollars a day. When they became sick, many were driven out of the camps to die elsewhere. Those African Americans who died in the camps could not be buried in local "white" cemeteries. A few were sent by rail back to their families. More were taken at night under the cover of darkness to Summersville and buried unceremoniously on a farm. Later these graves had to be moved to widen U.S. Route 19. The remains were disinterred in 1972 and transported several miles to the present site. The decomposed remains were placed in child size coffins and reburied here, resulting in about 48 small grave depressions see at this grave site.
