Mount Hope Landmarks

Many structures from Mount Hope’s coal boom remain across the town, reflecting the business and industrial center it once was. Among them are the stone bank building that survived the fire of 1910 and the New River Coal Company office. The New River Coal Company also built Hotel Mount Hope, later renamed the New River Hotel after the company hired a manager to attract customers when employees began moving into their own homes. Because the hotel could not meet the demand from travelers, it was expanded in 1931 and renamed The Mountainair Hotel. By the end of the 1920s, most of the business district had been rebuilt with electricity, including the Masonic Building, built in 1928, which housed the Princess Playhouse and was used for Civil Defense during WWII. It was the first fireproof building in the state built completely of metal and concrete. Structures built by Italian masons after the Great Depression also remain, including Municipal Stadium, built in 1938 as the home of Mount Hope and Dubois High School sporting events and other activities, as well as a WWI Monument, the water fountain, a coal seam exhibit, and stone walls throughout town. The graves of William Blake, Sr. and C. C. Brown, the first settlers in the area, are at the Blake-Brown cemetery, the only cemetery within city limits. Three other cemeteries are in the area, including the MacDonald and Rose Hill Cemeteries, established by the MacDonald Coal Company and separated by race, and the Kilsyth Cemetery, established by the McKell Coal Company.

Mount Hope, West Virginia · United States