Adamston, West Virginia
Encyclopedia
Adamston, West Virginia is a former town
in Harrison County
, West Virginia
, incorporated in 1903. It was the former site of a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad depot and a post office
. It is now a neighborhood of Clarksburg, West Virginia
.
It attained some national attention in 1912 when it elected a Socialist
mayor and city government, some of whom were re-elected in 1915. Among the contributing factors in the victory, according to later analysis, were the strong involvement of the window glass factory workers, and the commitment of a large portion of the Belgian-American
population of the town.
In 1917, Adamston, along with Broad Oaks, North View (where Progressives had had success) and Stealer Heights, was annexed to Clarksburg. It was generally understood that part of the reason for annexation was to diminish the political power of glassworker enclaves in these small municipalities.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Harrison County
Harrison County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 68,652 people, 27,867 households, and 19,088 families residing in the county. The population density was 165 people per square mile . There were 31,112 housing units at an average density of 75 per square mile...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, incorporated in 1903. It was the former site of a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad depot and a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
. It is now a neighborhood of Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
.
It attained some national attention in 1912 when it elected a Socialist
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
mayor and city government, some of whom were re-elected in 1915. Among the contributing factors in the victory, according to later analysis, were the strong involvement of the window glass factory workers, and the commitment of a large portion of the Belgian-American
Belgian-American
Belgian Americans are citizens of the United States who are of Belgian ancestry. 'Belgian' is not considered an ethnic term...
population of the town.
In 1917, Adamston, along with Broad Oaks, North View (where Progressives had had success) and Stealer Heights, was annexed to Clarksburg. It was generally understood that part of the reason for annexation was to diminish the political power of glassworker enclaves in these small municipalities.
Sources
- McClennen, Molly Ann and Stephen Edward Cresswell. Socialists in a Small Town: the Socialist Victory in Adamston, West Virginia Buckhannon, West Virginia: Ralston, 1992.