In the summer of 1922, tensions surrounding America’s coal mines were running dangerously high. Strikes, violence, arrests, and threats of retaliation had turned some mining communities into scenes of open unrest.
In Clarksburg, West Virginia, the situation became serious enough that authorities prepared the county jail for an armed attack. Machine guns were mounted inside the building, tear gas squads stood ready, and deputies were ordered to hunt down men suspected of organizing threats against the sheriff.
At the center of the crisis were 22 prisoners, 19 men and three women, arrested in connection with rioting at a Hudson Coal Company mine. According to a newspaper report published at the time, the sheriff had been warned that unless the prisoners were released, the jail itself would be stormed.
Machine Guns Mounted on Jail at Clarksburg
CLARKSBURG, West Virginia. — Machine guns were mounted within the Clarksburg Jail and tear bomb squads were prepared for action today following threats received by Sheriff Young that the jail would be stormed unless the 19 men and three women arrested in connection with the Hudson Coal Company coal mine riots were released.
The sheriff has ordered his deputies to round up a band of foreign-born agitators to whom he attributes the threats of lawlessness.
Source: The Indianapolis Times. Indianapolis, Ind. June 26, 1922.
