COAL COUNTRY: 1978_Barney_Pricie_Rowe_01.jpg

Barney and Pricie Rowe, Rowe’s Restaurant, Kyle, WVa, 1978. This combination restaurant/bar was like many in coal country, open early and late to accommodate miners working round-the-clock shifts. Men came in for beers after the graveyard shift ended, as others ate breakfast before starting work. The day I came by a fist fight broke out between two burly brothers in their late teens. A few punches were thrown, but it was quickly broken up. I was sitting with the woman pictured, whose husband was the owner. She got very teary and upset, despite no one getting hurt. When I asked why, she explained she hated to see brothers fight. She went on to relate how years earlier two brothers began fighting, and the place was getting torn up. Her husband told them to stop, to no avail. He raised his shotgun from behind the bar and repeated his demand. The two charged him, and he fired his gun. Seconds later, two brothers lay dead on the barroom floor. No charges were ever brought. That was justice in the back hills of West Virginia. Both Barney and Pricie, and their daughter Barbara, have passed away, and the restaurant no longer exists. Jon Chase photo
1978_Barney_Pricie_Rowe_01.jpg

Barney and Pricie Rowe, Rowe’s Restaurant, Kyle, WVa, 1978. This combination restaurant/bar was like many in coal country, open early and late to accommodate miners working round-the-clock shifts. Men came in for beers after the graveyard shift ended, as others ate breakfast before starting work. The day I came by a fist fight broke out between two burly brothers in their late teens. A few punches were thrown, but it was quickly broken up. I was sitting with the woman pictured, whose husband was the owner. She got very teary and upset, despite no one getting hurt. When I asked why, she explained she hated to see brothers fight. She went on to relate how years earlier two brothers began fighting, and the place was getting torn up. Her husband told them to stop, to no avail. He raised his shotgun from behind the bar and repeated his demand. The two charged him, and he fired his gun. Seconds later, two brothers lay dead on the barroom floor. No charges were ever brought. That was justice in the back hills of West Virginia. Both Barney and Pricie, and their daughter Barbara, have passed away, and the restaurant no longer exists. Jon Chase photo