Bartley, WV

Bartley is a tiny, quiet mountain community tucked into the rugged hills of McDowell County in southern West Virginia. Home to around 150 people, the settlement winds along the banks of Dry Fork in a narrow river valley. Like many small towns in the region, it grew up around the coal mining and railroad booms that shaped this corner of Appalachia, and today it offers a secluded, slow-paced rural setting far off the beaten path.

The town's deep mining roots remain an important part of its heritage, anchored by a local memorial honoring the miners lost in the 1940 Pond Creek disaster. Daily life in Bartley centers along the creek, the old rail line, and a handful of quiet mountain roads. It is an intimate, peaceful hollow where neighbors look out for one another and life moves at an easy, unhurried pace surrounded by Appalachian forest.