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Driven by Education The Beckley-Raleigh County area has become a center for higher education with access to a variety of colleges and universities. Community members are thrilled that Beckley has become the new home of WVU Tech, the campus of which is located along the same street as City Hall and adjacent to downtown. New River Community and Technical College also has a relatively new campus off I-64 beside the Erma Byrd Higher Education Center where Concord University and Bluefi eld State College classes are offered. The University of Charleston, Valley College and Appalachian Bible College offer specialized training here as well.
Exploring the Community With three hospitals— Raleigh General Hospital, Beckley Appalachian Regional Healthcare and Beckley VA Medical Center— and several clinics, the community is also a health care hub for the area. In addition to education and health care, tourism is important to the Beckley area. The city has its own coal mine, the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, which is a tourist attraction that brings in around 50,000 visitors each year and is an important stop on the Coal Heritage Trail. Veteran miner tour guides explain mining history as visitors travel 1,500 feet beneath the hillsides of New River Park on authentic mine cars along a track into the mine. Visitors can explore historic coal camp buildings along with the adjacent Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia, Mountain Homestead and New River Park. With additional local attractions such as Tamarack— The Best of West Virginia artisan center, Theatre West Virginia, Beckley Art Center, Beckley Concert Association, Wildwood House Museum and the Appalachian Festival, Smithsonian magazine honored Beckley as one of the Top 20 Small Towns for Cultural Enrichment.
A Season Pass to Fun Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy four seasons of activities in the region with attractions such as Winterplace Ski Resort, Lake Stephens, Little Beaver State Park, the YMCA sports complex, West Virginia Miners minor league baseball, Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park and Grandview. The city has a three-mile paved rail trail known as the Lewis McManus Memorial Honor Trail, which runs through the heart of the city for hiking and biking, and numerous hiking trails are being developed in the Piney Creek gorge and Beckley mill area.
The New River Gorge National River and Bechtel Summit Reserve scouting center and high adventure park are just minutes from Beckley. The summit hosted the past two National Boy Scout Jamborees and the Spartan Games in August, and the World Scout Jamboree is coming in 2019.
Numerous community events and festivals are held here each year, and Beckley’ s events committee plans annual events such as the Rhododendron Festival, Fridays in the Park concerts, Taste of Beckley, Beckley’ s Kids Classic Festival, Chili Night and several car and bike shows. The Rocket Boys Festival, Appalachian Coal Town Christmas and the new Beckley Honey Festival are special events hosted at the Exhibition Coal Mine.
A Business-Centric Community Beckley welcomes new businesses. The New River Gorge Development Authority, HIVE business incubator and the Beckley- Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce offer business assistance. In addition to easy highway access, the Raleigh County Memorial Airport has one of the longest runways in the state.
“ We want to make Beckley a cool college town with tasteful events and student safety at the forefront,” says Beckley Mayor Robert Rappold.“ The City of Beckley invites students, tourists, new businesses and residents to visit our friendly community.”
City of Beckley PO Box 2514 Beckley, WV 25802( 304) 256-1750 www. beckley. org
New River Gorge Development Authority 116 North Heber Street Beckley, WV 25801( 304) 254-8115
Visit Southern WV( 800) VISIT WV
Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine / Parks & Recreation( 304) 256-1747
VISIT SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA