Monongah

Monongah is a town in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia in 2102.

Background
Nestled in a small low-lying part of the Savage Divide, the township of Monongah was a small mining town that was experiencing financial trouble. In fact, it was in dire financial straits, suffering a heavy recession because of a downturn in the mining economy. However, in April 2075, after the Hornwright Industrial Mining Company stepped in and offered financial relief in exchange for rights to the township's nearby coal mine, Monongah Mine, the town's fortunes improved. Many believed that it had been saved by Hornwright's mining operation.

Since the nearby mine had been in operation for centuries, the largely depleted coal deposits gave poor yields and were quickly exhausted by Hornwright's Auto-Miners. By January 2076, Hornwright Industrial was preparing to leave the mine, extracting the last coal and beginning to remove supplies still in the mine.

It was at this time that miners who were laid off when the mine was bought out, including Earle Williams and other Monongah townsfolk, drunkenly decided to steal what they could from the mine. Unfortunately for them, the mine's supervisor, Deke Sykes, blew up the entrance when everyone was still inside. Though Earle's daughter Maggie tried to dig them out with her bare hands, she was pulled away by others from Monongah and lied to that he and the others had simply skipped town. She didn't believe them and reasoned they were either paid off by the Hornwrights or were unwilling to pay for a rescue mission. The townspeople trapped inside turned to cannibalism to survive, with Earle Williams and the others trapped in the mine eventually forming into a wendigo colossus.

The town received continued financial payments until August 2077, when Hornwright Industrial stopped paying the mine royalties. Within a month, Monongah was sent into economic freefall, with the town council threatening legal action against Daniel Hornwright while also requesting government assistance from the state capitol.

Layout
Monongah is a small pre-War town near the Monongah power plant at the border of the Savage Divide and the Forest regions of Appalachia. The Scorched and radrats can roam the area, in addition to Liberators. The town has a rough circle shape, centered around the main street passing through the town and bisecting it into two halves. The northern half contains the local police station in the northwest, with residential buildings occupying the remainder of the area. The southern half includes the church in the western part, a house ruined by a giant boulder (the steamer trunk is right next to it), and the local stores on the southern edge.

The daily mission Someone to Talk To can be started in Dr. Eddie Harrison's house on the southwest side of town, as well as a chemistry station in the basement of the same house. There is a dead vault dweller behind the northeastern shop.

Notable loot

 * Martha's letter - Note, on the front porch of a house. The house is on the southern end of the town and has a For Rent sign in front of it.
 * Hornwright's proposal - Holotape, an elevated platform above a northeastern house, next to the skeleton.
 * Animal control report - Note, on top of a filing cabinet next to the armory on the second floor of the police station.
 * Forensics report and Missing: The Priblos - Notes, on the front desk of the police station.
 * Incident evaluation - Note, inside of a filing cabinet near two terminals on the second floor of the police station.
 * Potential Vault-Tec bobblehead - In the locked (Picklock 1) supply shed attached to one of the houses, on a shelf.
 * Potential magazine - On the northern edge of town, beyond the gray cottage on the lookout deck, on the upturned wooden Nuka-Cola crate.
 * Vox syringer - Obtained during the daily quest Someone to Talk To.
 * Plan: Chemistry workbench - On the left corner of the chemistry workbench, inside Dr. Harrison's house.
 * Package for Sheriff Darcy - Folder, on the front desk of the police station. Adds the notes Vigilant Citizen's note to Sheriff Darcy, Shanghai Sally: Berkeley Springs, Shanghai Sally: Casino Shootout, Shanghai Sally: Chapter Closed, Shanghai Sally: Conclusions to the player character's inventory.

Related quests

 * Someone to Talk To: A repeatable daily quest.

Appearances
Monongah appears only in Fallout 76.

Behind the scenes
Monongah is based on the real world location of Monongah, West Virginia, a former mining town north of the real world Clarksburg.