This Historic West Virginia Depot Witnessed the 1920s Gunfight That Sparked a Coal War

Building the Railroad Hub in 1893

Workers built the original Matewan Depot in 1893 as both a passenger and freight station so coal companies can move their black gold to eastern markets.

Railroad tracks ran down the town’s center like a steel spine.

Several commercial buildings sprouted up with double facades – one side faced the railroad tracks while the other faced Mate Street.

The Matewan Depot grew into one of the most important stations along the entire 673-mile Norfolk and Western main line.

Workers Start to Unite

Loaded coal cars rumbled through Matewan daily, carrying tons eastward toward Norfolk’s shipping ports.

To address demand, coal companies built worker housing throughout the area as jobs at nearby Williamson Coal Field mines attracted newcomers. However, the workers were deeply dissatisfied with their conditions.

By early May 1920, labor tensions had reached a breaking point. Out of 4,000 miners in Mingo County, 3,000 had joined the United Mine Workers union.

At Stone Mountain Coal Company near Matewan, every single worker had signed union cards.

The Strikebreakers Arrive by Train

Dawn broke gray and threatening on May 19, 1920. Twelve armed men in dark suits stepped off the No. 29 morning train at Matewan’s depot.

These Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency operatives worked as professional strikebreakers hired by coal companies to crush union activity.

The group included Albert and Lee Felts, brothers of Thomas Felts, who co-owned the detective agency.

Albert Felts had already tried bribing Mayor Cabell Testerman with $200 to place three machine guns on store rooftops throughout town.

Testerman refused the offer. The detectives marched to Stone Mountain Coal Camp and completed six brutal evictions, forcing families out at gunpoint.

Confrontation at the Depot Platform

After finishing evictions and eating dinner around 3:30 PM, the Baldwin-Felts men packed their rifles and headed toward the railroad station.

They planned to catch the 5:15 PM train back to Bluefield, but police Chief Sid Hatfield intercepted the detectives as they approached the depot platform.

Hatfield claimed to have arrest warrants from the Mingo County sheriff. Albert and Lee Felts responded by producing their own warrant for Hatfield’s arrest.

Mayor Cabell Cornelius Testerman, born April 18, 1882, examined the document carefully and declared the warrant fraudulent.

The Battle Erupts Near the Hardware Store

Armed union miners had quietly surrounded the Baldwin-Felts agents during the confrontation.

Supporters watched tensely from windows, doorways, and rooftops along Mate Street.

The final showdown occurred at the entrance to Chambers Hardware Store, just steps from the railroad tracks.

Hatfield stood in the doorway facing the street while Mayor Testerman joined the argument with Albert Felts.

Railroad station clerk Bessie Hamilton later testified that the sudden explosion of gunfire sounded like “one big roar.”

Albert Felts toppled backward onto the muddy street, blood from a fatal head wound spraying onto bystanders.

Mayor Testerman collapsed beside him, clutching his abdomen where a bullet had torn through his body.

Sid Hatfield Becomes a Folk Hero

William Sidney Hatfield earned his nickname “Smilin’ Sid” because of the gold caps covering several of his upper teeth.

The 27-year-old had a reputation for hard living and fighting.

Many respectable townspeople were surprised when Mayor Testerman appointed Hatfield as police chief in 1919.

After the battle, newspapers across the region celebrated Hatfield as a folk hero.

He appeared in a short promotional film called “Smilin’ Sid” produced by the United Mine Workers union.

Union miners throughout Appalachia saw Hatfield as proof that ordinary people could fight back against corporate violence.

The Widow’s Marriage Creates Scandal

Jessie Maynard Testerman found herself twice widowed by age 26.

Just eleven days after her husband’s death, she boarded a Norfolk & Western train to Huntington with Sid Hatfield to marry.

Tom Felts, seeking revenge for his dead brothers, tipped off Huntington police about their whereabouts.

Officers arrested Hatfield and Jessie at the Florentine Hotel for cohabiting while unmarried.

Judge Newman fined them $10 but dismissed the penalty. The couple married at Huntington’s First Presbyterian Church that same day.

The Trial That Shook West Virginia

Sid Hatfield and 22 other defendants faced murder charges for killing Albert Felts during the Matewan battle. The trial drew national attention to working conditions in West Virginia coalfields.

Defense attorneys turned the proceedings into a prosecution of the coal operators themselves.

They exposed the companies’ conspiracy to deny West Virginia citizens their constitutional rights through violence.

In March 1921, a jury acquitted Hatfield and 14 other defendants of all murder charges. Hatfield returned to Matewan as a hero, greeted by cheering crowds.

Assassination on the Courthouse Steps

Sid Hatfield’s triumph was short-lived.

On August 1, 1921, he and deputy Ed Chambers traveled to the McDowell County Courthouse in Welch for trial on charges of dynamiting a coal tipple.

The two men climbed the courthouse steps unarmed, accompanied by their wives. Baldwin-Felts agents waited at the top of the stone stairway.

Without warning, the agents opened fire in broad daylight. Hatfield was struck in the arm and three or four times in the chest, dying instantly.

Detective Charles Lively finished off Chambers with a point-blank shot to the head despite his wife’s protests.

The End of Passenger Service

For decades after the violence of 1920-1921, trains continued rolling through Matewan carrying passengers and freight.

The depot remained the town’s connection to the outside world through two world wars and the Great Depression.

The Norfolk and Western made its final passenger stop in Matewan in 1969, ending 77 years of continuous service.

After trains stopped running, the depot sat empty and began falling into disrepair. The original building was torn down a few years later.

Visiting Matewan Depot

Today’s Matewan Depot stands as a 24 x 110 foot reconstruction built in 2002 using original Norfolk and Western blueprints.

The Smithsonian-quality replica captures every detail of the steam-era station. You can find the museum at 100 Bridge Street.

Exhibits cover the Mine Wars, the Matewan Massacre, and the Hatfield & McCoy feud through artifacts, photographs, and displays.

The depot functions as both museum and welcome center where you can get information about other local attractions.

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