"Unincorporated"

Unincorporated townships litter the West Virginia landscape. These small groups of dwellings never gained municipal status; rather, they rose to accommodate the coal industry's need for workers on-site, and they fell out of use when the mines closed. A few residents remain, but the townships are sorely lacking in basic services like law enforcement, medical facilities, and fire departments. Their signs, however, still stand alongside the twisting roads through the mountains.

Marcus's grandfather, Alphonso Morrow, grew up in McAlpin, WV.