Keystone is a city in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States.

[5] Keystone is one of the few municipalities in West Virginia with an African-American majority, with 65 percent of the residents being black.

The term "Free State of McDowell" was coined by Matthew Thomas Whittico, a local newspaper editor and community leader from Keystone in the early 20th century.

[6] Keystone possessed a unique combination of political, social, and economic characteristics that made it an attractive place for African-Americans to migrate to in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

On May 1, 1895, 15,000 union miners (predominantly black) assembled in Keystone and armed themselves, planning to march across the state line to Virginia in order to force the Virginia miners in one bordering mine (also predominantly black) to unionize.

This was in response to the N&W Railroad lowering the minimum price guarantee on coal shipped to Tidewater ports.

The operators reduced wages by 20% in response and encouraged their miners to strike.

[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.32 square miles (0.83 km2), all land.

The racial makeup of the city was 34.4% White, 65.2% African American, and 0.4% Asian.