1873
The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad came through the gorge in 1873 and unlocked the New River coal field.
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FILE 730 / 28 August 2026 / 73 MIN / express
We're going to Victor, West Virginia ... it's kind of south central, kind of West Virginia, just in the middle of nowhere ... This is in Fayette County, area codes 304 and 681. about 0:04:29
The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad came through the gorge in 1873 and unlocked the New River coal field.
about 0:05:27Fayette County briefly became West Virginia's leading coal-producing county.
about 0:05:34Between 1930 and 1935 Union Carbide drove a three-mile diversion tunnel through high silica sandstone for a hydroelectric project feeding a metals plant.
about 0:05:54Most of the tunnel workers were recently arrived black workers from the South, hired during the Depression.
about 0:06:11The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad came through the gorge in 1873 and unlocked the New River coal field.
about 0:05:27Fayette County briefly became West Virginia's leading coal-producing county.
about 0:05:34Between 1930 and 1935 Union Carbide drove a three-mile diversion tunnel through high silica sandstone for a hydroelectric project feeding a metals plant.
about 0:05:54Most of the tunnel workers were recently arrived black workers from the South, hired during the Depression.
about 0:06:11There was no respiratory protection despite the silica, and acute silicosis killed hundreds very quickly.
about 0:06:31Estimates of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel death toll range from 476 to 764.
about 0:06:43Bodies were buried hastily or shipped away, and the company minimised the disaster.
about 0:07:00The condition was called tunnelitis.
about 0:07:30"1,328"
Comparison: "Zip code 25938". No direction stated.
As told in 2026 about 0:04:46
"$41,319"
Comparison: "well below the national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2026 about 0:04:54
"$181,600"
Comparison: "much lower than the national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2026 about 0:05:01
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Victor is a small community in Fayette County in south-central West Virginia, deep in the hills. Its zip code, 25938, had 1,328 people. Stephanie Ann Wilburn was born on 23 November 1985 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and went by Stephanie Waters after an earlier marriage. She had two sons and had lost a young daughter. The two began dating around 2012.
Stephanie owed him money, and a friend said there had been jealousy after the break-up. The three men called the plan the Clean Air Act: they meant to remove pollution from the hollow.
On Sunday 6 November 2016 fire crews found the house burning and recovered two sets of skeletal remains. The medical examiner established that both had been shot in the head with a shotgun and had been dead at least two days.
Stephen Skaggs is buried at Rest Lawn Memory Gardens in Victor.
November 2016 / their home at ch Road, near Victor, West Virginia
As told in the episode, on 28 August 2026.
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