The Matewan jail was built in 1908, twelve years before the 1920 Matewan Massacre.
Visitors will note that on the front of the building it says” MATEWAN LOCK-UP 1908 /J.B. Maynard Chief of Police”. Also engraved on the front of the building are The words “CITY HALL”.
This is the original Matewan Jail. Matewan was Incorporated in 1897. The inside of the building has been renovated for lodging. It contains two beds, a television, a bathroom with a shower, a couch, and is air-conditioned and heated. In short it has all the comforts of home but it is a true jail.
The building sits near the railroad near the exact spot where in 1920 the Matewan Massacre cost twelve men their lives. The site has easy access onto the Hatfield McCoy Trail, has on street parking for your vehicle and hauler and is located within the city limits of West Virginia’s most fabled town Matewan.
The building is very near the railroad track so you will occasionally hear a train go by. It is also within walking distance of the Matewan Methodist Church.
One of our goals is to keep alive the memory of coal miners’ struggles in the early 1900s. Visitors that stay at this jail will likely have lasting memories. In addition to being the building where the Matewan Mayor and Chief of Police made decisions that preceded the Massacre the jail is also at the mouth of Warm Hollow which is the Hollow where some of the coal miners involved in the Massacre worked.
Just across the railroad tracks is the famous Matewan Post Office. The Post Office is undergoing renovation but you can take a look at the bullet holes in its wall.
The Matewan Massacre ranks among the most famous ever in America. Ten men were shot to death in the Matewan Massacre and two more were shot to death on the courthouse steps at their trial. Thus was four times as deadly as was the Shootout at the Ok Corral thirty-nine years earlier (1881). Other famous Massacre’s such as the shootout at the OK Corral and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre were far less deadly (1929).
Matewan is also one of the sites of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud. The jail where you will be staying is only a short distance from where several of the McCoy’s were executed by the Hatfields.
Most important to a majority of the visitors to Matewan is that the Hatfield-McCoy Trails in this area are second to none.
There are three restaurants in Matewan for your convenience and many more renovations and expansion plans are in process.
Come and visit us. We promise not to keep you “locked up” for too long.
