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Head of the giant "Silver Spade" coal shovel owned by the Hanna Coal Company dwarfs some trees as the machine scoops coal from a trench. Cadiz, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
The suffering, now
unceasing. The sense of violation
unceasing. The sense of violation
passive and in the face
of extraction, unresisting
as can be seen in this general view.
as can be seen in this general view.
They came and cut out the parts
they wanted, and took them away.
What remained was changed
forever, as a waste of shame
lost in its own autism,
last refuge of the victim without
a name.
a name.
Tombstone marking a grave in a cemetery at Cadiz, Ohio. The Hanna Coal Company preparation plant is seen in background: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974 (US National Archives)
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A coal shovel works into a hillside of Route 9, near Cadiz, Ohio and Steubenville: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
Mary Workman of Steubenvile, Ohio holds a jar of undrinkable water that comes from her well. She has filed a damage suit against the Hanna Coal Company. She has to transport water from a well many miles away. Although the coal company owns all the land around her, and many roads are closed, she refuses to sell: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
Abandoned coal tipple surrounded by miles of stripped land. Stagnant water lies in the ditches in apparent violation of Ohio law. Off Route 519. New Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
This land was stripped 20 years ago (note scar in foreground). The land around it Is still farmed. Off Route 22. New Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
The land of Belmont and Harrison counties in southeastern Ohio has been scarred by more than twenty years of strip mining. Here a huge bank of coal slag has been left to erode and possibly pollute local water supplies. New Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
Previously strip mined land erodes if not recontoured by the coal companies. Near New Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
The "Silver Spade" coal shovel owned by the Hanna Coal Company dominates the barren landscape, off Route 9. Hanoverton, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
The "Silver Spade," one of the larger shovels owned by the Hanna Coal Company, dominates the horizon at Route 9, near Cadiz Ohio, and Steubenville: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
One of the small coal shovels, off Route 9, near Cadiz, Ohio, and Steubenville: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
The land of Belmont and Harrison counties in southeastern Ohio has been scarred by more than twenty years of strip mining. Here a huge bank of coal slag has been left to erode and possibly pollute local water supplies: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
Coal shovel and strip mining form the backdrop of this house at the intersection of Interstate 70 and Route #800 near Morristown, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
Soil leached and discolored by dumped coal slag near Cadiz, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
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Abandoned house near land strip mined by coal companies near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Route #800, near Morristown, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
Abandoned house near land strip mined by coal companies near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Route #800, near Morristown, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
This house stands above a stripped gorge off Route 250, near Cadiz, Ohio, and Steubenville: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
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This house off Route 250, near Cadiz, Ohio, has had its windows and doors knocked out, legally qualifying it as "derelict." Now the coal company is stripping around it: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, October 1973
Coal hauling truck on Route #519. Near New Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
Hazy atmosphere of early morning with strip mining being carried on by coal companies behind the power lines. Near New Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
Strip mining coal shovel abandoned in a field where it once had been used. Athens, Ohio: photo by Erik Calonius for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica Project, July 1974
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Abandoned "Silver Spade" coal dragline outfit, New Athens, Ohio: photo by Brian Powell (bitmapped), 4 February 2007
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A mural in the former boomtown of Glouster, Athens County, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 29 May 2008
A mural in the former boomtown of Glouster, Athens County, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 29 May 2008
A family crosses the tracks after work in the former coal boomtown of Glouster, Athens County, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 17 May 2008
Lisa Russel, 20, and other teens hang out on the street corners in Glouster, Ohio on Saturday. Glouster was once a thriving community in southeastern Ohio, but with the departure of extractive industries such as coal mining the town's economic sources dried up. The town youth have little to do and substance abuse runs rampant: photo by Matt Eich, 24 May 2008
Escalating horseplay, Glouster, Ohio, Saturday: photo by Matt Eich, 17 May 2008
A teenager smokes a joint while rolling down a country road in Glouster, Ohio on Saturday: photo by Matt Eich, 17 May 2008
Nicole Goins stands holding her daughter Jayden, 2, in Chauncey, Ohio on Thursday, as her friend Cheryl grabs her son Little Man, 2, who had run across Route 13 and headed towards the train tracks before his mother noticed he was gone: photo by Matt Eich, 15 April 2010
American Legion members prepare to sing the Pledge of Allegiance in Guysville, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 23 June 2012
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Jean Bullock (R) and her mother Madeline in Chauncey, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 24 June 2012
Trucks move loads of coal at Sands Hill strip mine in Vinton, Ohio on Wednesday: photo by Matt Eich, 15 May 2008
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A patron sits in Ali's bar in Glouster, Ohio. Glouster was once a thriving community in Southeastern Ohio, but with the departure of extractive industries such as coal mining the town's economic sources dried up. The town residents have little to do and substance abuse runs rampant: photo by Matt Eich
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The wind blows in an empty field in Glouster, Ohio on Saturday: photo by Matt Eich, 17 May 2008
The wind blows in an empty field in Glouster, Ohio on Saturday: photo by Matt Eich, 17 May 2008
Hotel, Glouster, Ohio: photo by oldohioschools, 29 March 2008
Moose, Glouster, Ohio: photo by oldohioschools, 29 March 2008
Two stray dogs stalk the streets of Glouster, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 17 May 2008
Clayton Ator riles up Shank and Money after getting stoned. Ator, an ex-con learned to "shoot ink" in prison and does prison style tattoos out of his living room in Carbondale, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich, 5 February 2007
A Grevy's zebra named "Elvis" stomps in the snow of his outdoor pen at The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio. Situated on 10,000 acres of reclaimed strip mine land, The Wilds is a research and conservation facility for rare and endangered animals. During the warmer months animals are allowed to roam freely but in the winter are kept in heated indoor pens: photo by Matt Eich, 27 February 2008
Viewed through a collection of medicine bottles lining the Sellers' window, Hercules crouches to watch the children playing in the snow. The Sellers family struggles with an assortment of health problems. Most of their children have asthma and twins Kacey and Lacey, 5, were both born profoundly deaf. Chauncey, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich
Kacey Sellers, 8, bathes the ferrets she and her identical twin sister Lacey keep as pets. The girls were both born deaf and only recently began attending a deaf school when their parents moved to the larger urban area of Columbus, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich
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Tylor Woodrum, 16, holds a box containing his father's ashes on January 30, 2007 in Carbondale, Ohio. Dave Woodrum was killed in August of 2006 in a high-impact 4-wheeler accident. Dave's family had his body cremated and his favorite cock-fighting rooster mounted on top of the box: photo by Matt Eich, 30 January 2007
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Richie Goins shows off his pet snake while his girlfriend Tracie folds clothes next to Richie's brother, Timmy, who has cerebral palsy and requires around the clock care.Chauncey, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich
Richie Goins shows off his pet snake while his girlfriend Tracie folds clothes next to Richie's brother, Timmy, who has cerebral palsy and requires around the clock care.Chauncey, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich
Troy Goins, 16, sucks his toe to console himself as he sits on his new bed in his mother’s trailer. His autism makes it difficult for him to deal with even the smallest changes and self-stimulation is his way of coping. Chauncey, Ohio: photo by Matt Eich
The Ridges: Lin Hall Underground. In the tunnels under the main building of "The Ridges", aka Athens Lunatic Asylum, Athens, Ohio: photo by stimply, 12 May 2009
The Ridges: Lin Hall Underground. Graffiti found in the tunnels under main building at "The Ridges", aka Athens Lunatic Asylum (formerly Athens State Hospital, in operation 1874-1993), Athens, OhioAthens, Ohio: photo by stimply, 12 May 2009
The "Ridges" cemetery, former Ohio State Asylum for the Insane, (operated 1874-1993), Athens, Ohio.This cemetery at the Ridges in Athens was used until 1913 as a final resting place for deceased patients of the Athens Lunatic Asylum whose families failed to claim their bodies. Grave sites were mostly numbered, though a few bear names.The "Ridges" cemetery gravestones were laid out in straight lines, with the exception of the northeast corner of the cemetery where you will find a circle of graves. The cemeteries were vulnerable to vandals for many years. Some believe witches created the circle to hold seances inside of it, others speculate that it was a prank by college students: photo by Todd Bender (holysniki), 9 November 2008
Full moon rising above "The Ridges" (former Athens Lunatic Asylum, Athens, Ohio): photo by Mdombroski, 18 January 2079
Full moon above "The Ridges" (former Athens Lunatic Asylum, Athens, Ohio): photo by Mdombroski, 18 January 2079