Slab Fork is an unincorporated community in Raleigh County, West Virginia

Raleigh County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 79,220 people, 31,793 households, and 22,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 130 people per square mile . There were 35,678 housing units at an average density of 59 per square mile...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 with a population of 202. Slab Fork is located along a stream of the same name

Slab Fork

The Slab Fork is a tributary of the Guyandotte River, long, in southern West Virginia in the United States. Via the Guyandotte and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of in a mainly rural area on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau.The...

 and West Virginia Route 54. The ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 for Slab Fork is 25920.

Slab Fork is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 winning singer-songwriter Bill Withers

Bill Withers

William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...

, who gained international renown in the 1970s with songs such as "Ain't No Sunshine

Ain't No Sunshine

"Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just as I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums, as well as Withers on lead vocals and guitar. The song was released as a single in September...

", "Lean on Me

Lean on Me (song)

"Lean on Me" is a song written and released by Bill Withers in 1972.It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100. It is ranked number 205 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of...

", "Just the Two of Us", "Use Me" and "Lovely Day

Lovely Day (song)

"Lovely Day" is a song by American soul and R&B singer Bill Withers. Published in 1977 , the song was written by Withers and Skip Scarborough and appears on Withers' 1978 album Menagerie....

".

Doris Payne

Doris Payne

Doris Payne is one of the world's most notorious jewel thieves.Her modus operandi was to enter jewelry stores posing as a well-to-do woman, typically looking for a diamond ring. Using her natural grace and charm, she would engage the clerk, asking to see an assortment of items...

, a life-long jewel thief, was born in Slab Fork in 1930. She began her career as a teenager after her family moved to Cleveland, Ohio.

The community's percentage of married

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 households is lower than the national average,
but the percentage of families (households with children) is higher than the national average. The median income in Slab Fork is approximately $33,500, which is 20% lower than the national average. As of the 2000 United States Census

United States Census

The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...

, none of the residents had received a college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 degree. According to the 2000 census, 199 of the community's 202 residents were white

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

, two were of mixed race

Multiracial

The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...

, and one was an Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

n native or American Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

.