Death of an American dream

Here in northeast Ohio

Back in eighteen-o-three
James and Dan heaton
Found the Ore that was linin' Yellow Creek
They built a blast Furnace
Here along the shore
And they made the cannonballs
That helped the union win the war

Well my Daddy worked the furnaces
kept them hotter than hell
I came home from 'nam worked my way to scarfer
A job that'd suit the Devil as well
Taconite, coke and Limestone
Fed my children and made my pay
Them smokestacks reachin' like the arms of god
into a Beautiful sky of soot and clay

Well my daddy come on the Ohio works
When he come home from World War Two
Now that yards just scrap and rubble
He said 'them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do'
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this countries wars
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam
Now we're wondering what they were dyin' for

From the Monongahela Valley
To the Mesabi iron Range
To the coal mines of Appalachia
The stories always the same
Seven hundred tones of metal a day
Now sir you tell me the worlds changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name

When I die I don't want no part of heaven
I would not do heavens work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me
To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell.

-Bruce Springsteen

Youngstown

home of an unemployed steel worker

Bessie mine, Jefferson County, Alabama

Monongahela Valley


Images From Photographer Ross Mantles series "In the wake of an American dream" depicting the death of an American town, The Monongahela Valley, find more here

Old Youngstown and Bessie mine photographs from the wonderful Shorpy.com

The L&N don't stop here anymore

I heard this incredible song on new years eve, sung by a wonderful singer, i had to find out more about it, here are the lyrics and a little about the history.
The Louisville & Nashville Railroad was born March 5, 1850. Between 1879 and 1881, through the purchase of track in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Illinois, the L&N gained access to the coal fields of western Kentucky. One of the L&N's most important expansions came early in the 1900s, when the railroad pushed its tracks deep into the coal fields surrounding Hazard and Harlan in eastern Kentucky. One of the coal mine served was the Hazard Hollow at Hazard, Kentucky near Viper where Jean grew up. This song marks the closing of the Hazard Hollow mine and the fact that the trains not longer stopped there to haul away coal. The L& N is still operating.
song by Jean Ritchie

When I was a curly headed baby
My daddy sat me down on his knee
He said, "son, go to school and get your letters,
Don't you be a dusty coal miner, boy, like me."

I was born and raised at the mouth of hazard hollow
The coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row all empty
Because the l & n don't stop here anymore

I used to think my daddy was a black man
With script enough to buy the company store
But now he goes to town with empty pockets
And his face is white as a February snow

I never thought I'd learn to love the coal dust
I never thought I'd pray to hear that whistle roar
Oh, god, I wish the grass would turn to money
And those green backs would fill my pockets once more

Last night I dreamed I went down to the office
To get my pay like a had done before
But them ol' kudzu vines were coverin' the door
And there were leaves and grass growin' right up through the floor

pictures of Coal towns