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The Shack Neighborhood House is located in the Scott’s Run community-an area once rich in coal. Part of the Fairmont Coal Field, which is on the Pittsburgh coal seam, Scott’s Run experienced rapid industrialization with at least sixty mines operating in the area from 1917-1932. Development also brought about changes in the Scotts Run’s population. The industry’s rapid expansion resulted in a labor shortage, which was filled by a flood of workers moving into the area. Not only was the population steadily increasing, it was also becoming much more diverse.

Many of the people moving into the area were immigrants and African Americans. By 1930, thirteen percent of Cass District’s population were immigrants, while another thirteen percent were African American. The boom experienced in the early 20’s steadily declined as the industry became over-extended and the market crashed. The residents of Scott's Run not only suffered from unemployment, but also from ethnic and racial prejudice and limited educational opportunities.

When Mary Behner first opened the doors of her abandoned schoolhouse in November of 1928, nearly two-thirds of the area's residents were suffering in terrible poverty. Approximately 10,000 people and 22 different nationalities clustered on hills and near polluted creeks along the nine miles of eight communities making up Scott’s Run. 

She first offered Sunday school and recreation classes for local children but soon expanded into social services as children and families came to her without food or clothing. She started a library, charm school, choruses, sewing club, and the first integrated nursery school. 

 In 1932, one of the coal companies gave her an abandoned company store which she named The Shack. The Quakers and other agencies handled relief programs from The Shack and she started the Uhyscool Club to encourage the first students to finish high school and college. Later, the Shack became a mission sponsored by the the First Presbyterian Church in Morgantown and the church's National Board of Missions. In 1937 Mary Behner left the area to get married but her work and legacy continued. 

A new Shack building was finished in 1938 west of the original site and a third building was built shortly after that is the current building. Today the Shack continues to offer a safe and inclusive space for local children and family to learn and play. The Shack is no longer a Presbyterian affiliated mission, however it continues to operate with the support of the PC(USA) Church, the United Way, and generous donors.

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Collaborative relationships are the best way to tackle community-wide needs. In this spirit, since 2008 we have teamed up with the Monongalia County Family Resource Center (FRC) as their fiscal agent and partner. This partnership has increased our reach in the community particularly with children ages 0-3 and their families. It also means that alongside three full-time staff---the director, a program coordinator and a financial officer-- we house the FRC Coordinator and an FRC AmeriCorps VISTA. Full-time staff are supported by several AmeriCorps members, part-time staff and literally hundreds of volunteers. Together we serve an average of over 100 kids a day during the fall and winter months. During the summer months the number jumps to well over 200 kids a day.