Tucked away in the foothills of Southern Perry County is the Village of New Straitsville, a community long-marked by a spirit of tenacity and self-determination in the face of change. Like many small post-industrial towns across Southeast Ohio and Appalachia, New Straitsville has endured steep and persistent population decline since the 1880 peak of the Hocking Valley Coal Boom, one of the most productive coal fields in the world. Despite cycles of prosperity and devastation, a strong community remains in the town, reinventing its identity with each turn in the road.“New Straitsville has always been a surviving town,” said Village Clerk and lifelong resident Susan Miller. “No matter what the hard time might be—economic downfall, whatever it is—we managed to get through and then start building. New Straitsville is on the uprise.”
Sisters Danica and Charlotte Hafer sled with their neighbor, Alfredo Cruz, on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, in the Hafers' backyard. The family moved to New Straitsville from a neighboring city, Logan, three years ago. The median age in New Straitsville skews younger than state and national averages, with many families seeking to raise their children in the simple, slow-paced environment offered by the small town.
Coal mining tools adorn the walls of Steve Gill’s shed Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The belly auger, carbide lantern, helmet, are all relics of his great grandpa’s time working in the New Straitsville coal mines. Gill and his three brothers, Roger, John and Steve, have lived in New Straitsville all their lives, too. The brothers live next door to one another on a ridge that the community affectionately calls “Gill Hill.”
Left: In a small, dark room adjacent Dunkle Hall, “Miner Joeleen's" face is caked with coal dust. The room was built with low ceilings and filled with symbols of New Straitsville’s coal legacy. “It’s hard to find a male mannequin,” said Tom Craig, who helped put the exhibit together.
Right: Families who have remained in New Straitsville often live nestled between abandoned or repurposed buildings from the town's population decline over the decades.
Hayden Daubenmire, 8, Ava Daubenmire, 6, and Ellie Poling, 7, pray for the health of Ellie’s guinea pig Sunday, Feb. 27, during Sunday School at the New Straitsville United Pentecostal Church. Lifelong New Straitsville resident Cheryl Stickdown (out of frame) leads the Sunday School class and still remembers teaching the girls’ parents when they were kids.
Village councilwoman Sandy Bray, 74, studies a panoramic image of New Straitsville from 1912, searching for New Straitsville’s St. Augustine Catholic Church and the old brick plant, neither of which exist today. “It’s hard to believe there were all those oil derricks,” Bray said. When she graduated high school in the nearby Corning, Bray vowed she would "never live in the country again". “I want streetlights!” She remembers telling her sister. But after Bray's high school sweetheart convinced her to move to his hometown of New Straitsville, Bray felt a shift. “I just knew [Straitsville] was home,” she said.
Miss Moonshine Callee Rupe was crowned at New Straitsville’s annual Moonshine Festival, which celebrates the resourceful spirit of the coal mining community that was once considered the “Bootleg Capital of Ohio.” In the 1930s, when many coal miners found themselves out of work and mired in debt to the company store, smoke plumes from the mine fire served as the ultimate cover for wood-fired moonshine stills and helped conceal the illegal operation from government renewers.
American flags cover the windows of a former blacksmith shop, now an apartment complex, along Clark Street Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. New Straitsville played a crucial role in changing America's relationship with labor and is often referred to as the secret birthplace of the United Mine Workers of America.
Ohio University biology and anthropology students Riley Zielinski, Carly Wisner and Meghan Nelson preserve historic documents dating back to the 1800s Saturday, April 9, inside New Straitsville’s former Town Hall on Clark Street. Constructed in 1875, the building is believed to be one of the oldest-standing public or commercial structures in the village today. The group of student volunteers were led by OU Associate Professor of Anthropology Dr. Nancy Tatarek, who taught them techniques for restoring and preserving the mold-infested archives.
Alfredo Cruz, 10, looks out over New Straitsville from Inspiration Hill on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. “We take care of our little town,” said New Straitsville Facilities Manager Tom Craig.
From left: Evan, Anna and Richard Freitag, Jaycee Stivison, Payton Hiles, Brie Phipps and Kelsi Hammond hang out at the New Straitsville Veteran’s Memorial Park on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Payton describes New Straitsville as “flavorful” and hopes to one day move to Logan, a nearby city in neighboring Hocking County.
Jaycey Stivison, 14, kisses her cousin, 1-year-old Sylvia Carney, on Saturday, April 16, 2022, as 4-year-old Paisley Spicer walks in the background during an Easter celebration at the Spicer household in New Straitsville. Stivison plans to stay in New Straitsville and become a teacher at the nearby Miller Elementary School. Though many young people leave the town in search of greater economic opportunities, others choose to stay in the hopes of improving the town for future generations.
Dense fog settles in New Straitsville as Miller High School students make their way to the bus stop one morning in April. Although the community is still dealing with the lasting impacts of coal’s decline, many remain committed to reviving the community to provide stability for future generations. “These people around here are like family,” said New Straitsville resident Chloe Rine. “They’d be there [for you] in a heartbeat. I don’t ever want to leave that.”
Co-owner of Ed’s Carry Out Michelle Engle works the night shift while babysitting her granddaughter, Delilah Meadows, on Saturday, March 19, 2022. “When I was a kid, both my parents worked,” Engle said. “So I spent a lot of time with my grandparents too.” New Straitsville is known as the secret birthplace of the United Mine Workers of America, which helped workers achieve safer working conditions and improved independence between miners, mine owners and the company store.
New Straitsville Assistant Fire Chief Matthew Carney clears debris from Township Road 427 on Saturday night, Feb. 5, 2021, following a severe ice storm that impacted Ohio and parts of central, south and northeast U.S. on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2022. Over the four days the village lost power, volunteer firefighters worked around the clock clearing roads and even sleeping at the fire station to provide around-the-clock heating for community members in need. “That’s just the way we were raised,” said Carney, whose dad and brother were also New Straitsville firefighters. “I couldn’t care less if I get paid to be here; I do it from my heart.”
Left: A New Straitsville resident, who did not wish to be identified, covertly inspects inspects the quality of 140-proof moonshine on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, on Main Street. New Straitsville has been dubbed the “Moonshine Capital of the World” for its population of enterprising ex-coal-miners, who concealed illegal stills in the area’s hollows during Prohibition and beyond. “There are ‘shiners all through these hills,” said Doug Nutter, former owner of the Straitsville Special Moonshine Distillery, adding that New Straitsville’s spring water is the magic ingredient in the 100-year-old family recipe.
Right: Brake lights illuminate Thad and Jake as they cruise along State Route 93 in the bed of a truck during New Straitsville’s annual Moonshine Festival. Though the community is cut off from many resources, State Route 93 connects New Straitsville with cities Logan and New Lexington in Hocking and Perry County.
Lancaster, Ohio-based rapper Rich Regal performs “A Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams Jr. from the front porch of his friend’s home during New Straitsville’s annual Moonshine Festival. The festival celebrates the resourceful spirit of the coal mining community, which was considered the “Bootleg Capital of Ohio” in the 1930s. The town’s population swells during the weekend of the festival and unofficial celebrations stretch late into the night.
Young congregants observe as Jennifer Blosser, of Logan, is baptized by her son, Justin Wilkins, Sunday, Feb. 20. The pentecostal church will be celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2022 and attracts dozens of out-of-town churchgoers to New Straitsville every week.
On a forested hillside at the edge of town, Miss Jackson County Second Attendant Emillee Ross explores Robinson’s Cave, a former coal mine and historic landmark with roots in the labor-organizing movement. Beginning in the 1870s, the 1,000-square-foot natural cave offered a secluded location where groups of Hocking Valley coal miners met in secret. This series of meetings led to the formation of the United Mine Workers of America union, which achieved safer working conditions, improved pay and quality of life for miners. Today, the cave is owned by the New Straitsville History Group and often draws visitors from out of town.