A Vision for West Virginia's Future: Tourism

By Patrick Fuller, Byrd Center Student Intern ​

From the end of World War II until the early 1970s, a period of great economic expansion swept across the United States. The American middle class experienced substantial growth and found themselves with extra spending money. With the advent of many time-saving home appliances, many Americans also found themselves with extra time for recreation. Naturally, the excess of time and money led to the desire for travel.

A scene along the main street of Stotesbury, a former company town in Raleigh County, West Virginia from "The Saturday Evening Post," 1960.

While most of the world was experiencing an economic boom, West Virginia was not sharing in the prosperity. As more factories and coal mines closed, many West Virginians were forced to leave Appalachia to find work in cities such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Senator Robert C. Byrd saw the level of poverty in parts of West Virginia and advocated heavily for federal spending in the state. Though the extractive industries in West Virginia and jobs that accompanied them were leaving, Byrd hoped to bring a new industry to West Virginia: tourism.

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