Delivery of the caboose. Restoration currently in progress.

More Info

The Coal Heritage Riverwalk is part public park and part history lesson. Alongside two picnic shelters, a stage, green space, and riverfront walking trail, are interpretive signs detailing the town's rich coal heritage. The focal point of the park is a restored caboose that serves as a walkthrough museum. The park is located 200 feet from the Upper Big Branch Miners Memorial. 

The Coal Heritage Riverwalk

This digital storymap includes pins for memorials and markers that share the history of coal mining, miners, and their experiences in coal camps as well as mining-related disasters. 

This monument represents the lives of the 29 miners that were killed in a mining explosion about 3 miles outside of Whitesville, West Virginia. The explosion occurred at about 3:27 PM on April 5, 2010. This mining accident was the worst the state of West Virginia has seen since 1970. In 2012, the state decided not to open the mine back up because of the tragic accident. People from Whitesville and many other communities around West Virginia came together and formed an Upper Big Branch Miner's Memorial Group. The group held candlelight vigils, gatherings, prayers, and ultimately built a memorial for the miners who tragically lost their lives. The memorial opened in July of 2012. At the center of the memorial plaza, the 50-foot long granite slab displays a life-size outline of the 29 miners who lost their lives in the disaster. The monument stands to honor not only the memory of the victims of the UBB disaster, but the memory of all of those lost in the coal mines throughout West Virginia's history. Every year, on the anniversary of the accident, the wreaths are placed around the memorial. In 2015 former CEO of Massey Energy Don Blankenship was found guilty of conspiracy to violate safety standards. Investigators stated that Massey allowed gases to build up in the mine and threatened the miners with their job if they were to do or say something about it. Blankenship served a one year federal sentence after his conviction. Upon release from prison, Don Blankenship ran as a Republican for the United States Senate in West Virginia, but switched to the Constitution Party after losing in the Republican primaries. <blockquote>The Miners lost that day-</blockquote><blockquote>1. CARL CALVIN "PEE WEE" ACORD</blockquote><blockquote>2. JASON ATKINS</blockquote><blockquote>3. CHRISTOPHER BELL</blockquote><blockquote>4. GREGORY STEVEN BROCK</blockquote><blockquote>5. KENNETH A. CHAPMAN</blockquote><blockquote>6. ROBERT E. CLARK</blockquote><blockquote>7. CORY THOMAS DAVIS</blockquote><blockquote>8. CHARLES TIMOTHY DAVIS</blockquote><blockquote>9. MICHAEL LEE "CUZ" ELSWICK</blockquote><blockquote>10. WILLIAM ILDON "BOB" GRIFFITH</blockquote><blockquote>11. STEVEN "SMILEY" HARRAH</blockquote><blockquote>12. EDWARD DEAN JONES</blockquote><blockquote>13. RICHARD K. LANE</blockquote><blockquote>14. WILLIAM ROOSEVELT LYNCH</blockquote><blockquote>15. JOE MARCUM</blockquote><blockquote>16. RONALD LEE MAYNOR</blockquote><blockquote>17. NICOLAS DARRELL MCCROSKEY</blockquote><blockquote>18. JAMES E. "EDDIE" MOONEY</blockquote><blockquote>19. ADAM KEITH MORGAN</blockquote><blockquote>20. REX L. MULLINS</blockquote><blockquote>21. JOSHUA SCOTT NAPPER</blockquote><blockquote>22. HOWARD D. "BOONE" PAYNE</blockquote><blockquote>23. DILLARD EARL “DEWEY” PERSINGER</blockquote><blockquote>24. JOEL R. "JODY" PRICE</blockquote><blockquote>25. GARY WAYNE QUARLES</blockquote><blockquote>26. DEWARD ALLAN SCOTT</blockquote><blockquote>27. GROVER DALE SKEENS</blockquote><blockquote>28. BENNY RAY WILLINGHAM</blockquote><blockquote>29. RICKY WORKMAN</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>A list with portraits and short biographies can be found on the memorial website linked below.</blockquote>

On April 5, 2010, the Upper Big Branch mine explosion rocked the small town of Whitesville West Virginia. With the loss of 29 miners, the UBB mine disaster was the worst mine disaster in the state in decades. To remember their lost loved ones, the community created a memorial in their honor. The Upper Big Branch Mining Memorial Group, Inc. ensures the continuing maintenance and upkeep of the memorial.


The Upper Big Branch Miners Memorial

<blockquote>“I used to rabbit hunt over there on the Martha White farm out in the fields before Rt. 19 came through here. I could see the graves. They were little soft mounds of dirt with grass over them. If you were not careful, you could step on one and it would cave in. They were in rows right up and down the fence line. They moved a lot of them when the highway came through. Dug up the graves and took what was left down by Hughes Bridge on the Gauley River to bury them again." -Owen Symes, local resident.</blockquote>In March of 1930, Union Carbide needed a way to power their metallurgic plant in Alloy, WV. It was decided that water power would be the best bet. There was to be a tunnel, dam, and powerplant built. &nbsp;The tunnel would be on Gauley Mountain. It was drilled straight through the mountain--not only would it provide power for the plant, it would provide a massive supply of silica for manufacturing purposes. The mountain is pure high grade silica. Lax safety standards led to workers getting sick very quickly. Miners would come out covered in silica dust-a fine white powder that covered everything and would scatter when they changed out of their work clothes. &nbsp;According to the American Lung Association, “silicosis affects the lungs by damaging the lining of the lung air sacs. Once this begins, it leads to scarring and, in some situations, to a condition called progressive massive fibrosis. This condition happens when there is severe scarring and stiffening of the lung, which makes it difficult to breathe.” This was a known condition in the 1930s.When miners first started getting sick, it was diagnosed as pneumonia--a determination soon proved false as more miners fell ill and rapidly began to die, suffocated in weeks by the concentrated silica dust saturating their lungs. It soon became a problem with what to do with the deceased. At first, the bodies were thrown in the river and covered by tunnel rock. As miners continued to die, however, this method became untenable. Union Carbide paid the family of a local undertaker in Summersville to bury the deceased on their property--at a rate of &nbsp;$50 a body. It was simply known as Martha White farm to the locals. The Great Depression provided a willing, able, and steady workforce who were taken advantage of. The cemetery is for the African American miners who were not allowed to be buried alongside whites at the time. There are 40 men buried in the cemetery.The gravesite laid almost forgotten until the Department of Highways decided to widen Highway 19 in 1972. This required that the graves be moved. The DOH moved the graves to a site close to Summersville Lake without much fanfare. It wasn’t given any thought by the public, sadly. It quickly became a spot for people to dump unwanted broken appliances and roadkill. It sat unmarked and without caretakers for 40 years--until local couple George and Charlotte Neilan stepped in.In 2009, the couple prepared a grant application to fund a workers’ memorial. Their first step was finding the site. This is where West Virginia State University professor Richard Hartman stepped in to study DOH maps and more clearly define the location. Once found, it took three years to clean up the site. Local high school students aided in the efforts, and soon the rest of the community began to contribute. A fence and steps were built, and applications were made for a &nbsp;historical marker for the long-forgotten memorial.On September 7, 2012, a dedication ceremony was held to recognize the miners and the community’s tireless restoration. Held at Old Main Auditorium in Summersville, the event was attended by politicians, historians, community members, and three noted reverends. &nbsp;The names of all known miners buried in the cemetery were read off, though many remain unidentified, and each of the three ministers consecrated the ground. A monument was also dedicated to memorialize the names of the deceased miners. Rev. Ron English of the First Baptist Church of Charleston eulogized the event by saying, “Four words pivot around the purpose of our gathering: celebration, commemoration, commendation and correction,” further elaborating that it is the duty of the present to celebrate the lives of those men lost, commemorate them through the new markers and memorials, commend the dead for their sacrifice, and correct the tragedy that they were buried in unmarked graves.<div> </div>

The tragedy at Hawks Nest Tunnel is considered one of the greatest industrial disasters in American history. When chemical-manufacturing giant Union Carbide commissioned a 3-mile long tunnel through silica-rich Gauley Mountain in 1930, basic respiratory safety procedures were ignored and hundreds of the mostly lower-class African American miners contracted fatal cases of silicosis. The death toll, which is still contested, ran into the hundreds, and space was needed quickly to bury them. Racial tensions at the time did not allow African Americans to be buried with whites, so Union Carbide paid a local farmer for use of his fields as a makeshift cemetery. When the highway came through forty years later, in 1972, the graveyard was relocated and the dead forgotten again--until a local couple stepped in. Through the help of the community and local high school students, the cemetery has been restored and received a dedicated a memorial site in 2012. 

Hawks Nest Workers Memorial and Grave Site

While conducting research on the history of railroads, William and Mary professor Scott Reynolds Nelson began investigating the fate of hundreds of African American convicts who were leased to the C &amp; O Railway. He believes that John Henry was one of these men, and found records that suggest that he was a Union veteran who was imprisoned on trumped-up charges of theft. Like many white and African American prisoners in the South at this time, Henry was leased to private companies who put convicts to work in dangerous professions such as blasting tunnels for the railroad. While the mythical version of John Henry died of a heart attack after choosing to race a crew using a newly-invented steam-powered drill, Nelson points out that this technology was still quite inefficient at the time of Henry's likely death in 1874. In an interview with the popular history podcast Backstory, Nelson suggested that any able-bodied man could outperform the steam-powered drills in 1874. Ten years later, when the Ballad of John Henry began to be popularized, steam powered equipment had become more efficient and many Americans likely saw Henry as a folk hero owing to their fears of displacement from new technology. &nbsp;&nbsp; Rather than a being a free man with a passion for building railroad tunnels, Nelson's research suggest that Henry was one of many Black men who were charged with crimes they did not commit or given extraordinarily-long sentences for minor crimes in the 19th century.&nbsp;States like Virginia made money by leasing convicts to private companies, and it is likely that Henry was forced to built the railroad tunnel next to the park. <blockquote>"White Southern millworkers, listening to country recordings of the ballads that never mentioned Henry’s race, assumed he was a white man whose plight resembled their own. Any worker facing the new world of mechanized labor understood the John Henry story. For coal miners he was a miner; for railroad workers he was a trackman; for Communist organizers he was “the hero of the greatest proletarian epic ever created.”- William Grimes explaining the reason why Henry became a folk hero among many workers who assumed he was a free laborer battling the forces of mechanization.&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote>The original ballad of John Henry states that Henry was buried in the sand next to the "white house" a likely reference to the white main building of the Virginia State Penitentiary where hundreds of skeletons were later discovered. John Henry disappears from the records of the penitentiary in 1874, making it likely that Henry was one of hundreds of African Americans who&nbsp;perished from injuries to their lungs-the result of&nbsp;inhaling rock fragments while blasting tunnels for the C &amp; O Railway.&nbsp; The development of the John Henry Historical Park was a grass roots effort by area residents prior to Nelson's research. In 2004, the Summers County Commission purchased 26-acres of land from CSX. This park stretches from the mouth of the Great Bend Tunnel to the CSX crossing at Dillion's Store (John Henry Museum). The commissioners appointed WVU Extension Agent Rick Moorefield and historian Bill Dillion as Co-Directors of the John Henry Historical Park Steering Committee. This committee was formed in 2005 and numerous volunteers from Summers County raised money and expressed ideas for the park. The John Henry Historical Park features both educational and recreational activities. There are a number of interpretive panels that interpret the history of John Henry, Talcott, Hilldale-Talcott Ruritan Club, and the Chesapeake &amp; Ohio Railroad. The park also has a picnic shelter with tables and walking trails that were built by local volunteers, AmeriCorps National Civilian Conservation Corps teams, and the Boy Scouts of America. John Henry Days, a 3-day festival, is held at the park the second weekend of July. The festival begins Friday night with a concert and concludes Sunday afternoon with a rubber duck race. &nbsp;A parade, 4 mile run, car show, concerts, and fireworks are also part of the festival. &nbsp;The John Henry Historical Park Grand Opening Ceremony took place on Friday, July 7, 2017. &nbsp; &nbsp;

John Henry Historical Park stretches from the mouth of the Great Bend Tunnel to the CSX crossing at the John Henry Museum (Dillion's Store) in Talcott, West Virginia. The monument is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the story of American Folk Hero, John Henry. The park features a stage, picnic shelter and tables, walking trails, and bronze statue of John Henry. Recent work by historian Scott Reynolds Nelson reveals the likelihood that John Henry was a real person who died as a result of the convict labor system. 

John Henry Historical Park

Thanks to the work of historians, the story of John Henry now considers the likelihood that Henry was a convict laborer who perished while being leased to the C &amp; O Railroad along with hundreds of other men who died from inhaling fragments of rock while drilling into the stone in order to place dynamite charges. The discovery of several hundred skeletons near the Virginia State Penitentiary, along with the original lyrics of the Ballad of John Henry, suggests that he did not die from exhaustion after "battling" a steam drill but rather from a the railroad's failure to offer basic protections for the lungs of their convict laborers. John Henry was a New Jersey native and made his way towards Appalachia as a grave digger for the Union Army at a very young age. At 19, John Henry was arrested for stealing from a grocery store, but in reality, his conviction and sentencing may have been at least partially motivated by racism and the profitable nature of the convict lease system. He was sent to the Virginia Penitentiary and the C&amp;O railroad company paid the Virginia Penitentiary to "lease" their convicts to help build the railroads. The system of convict labor became notorious for the death rate among many laborers, especially those involved in tunnel construction and mining. The cause of John Henry's death is unknown, but it was most likely a combination of factors. It is possible that he also perished from exhaustion from an event similar to the song that bears his name, but rather than "fighting the steam drill," voluntarily, he was likely the victim of overwork and poor working conditions. The aforementioned information comes from Steel Drivin' Man by Scott Reynolds Nelson. Steel Drivin' Man tells all about the workers of the early railroads and John Henry's life. Those who really want to understand Henry's life and death should read about the convict lease system that forced thousands of African Americans to work as captives without pay long after slavery was abolished. John was a part of this system and was worked to death because of it. John was convicted of theft, according to Nelson, and likely sentenced to a long term in prison after the amount of property he was accused of taking was wildly exaggerated to secure a felony conviction rather than a misdemeanor. After his conviction, Henry was sent to a prison in Virginia. Who then sent him to work for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The fabled story of John Henry in American history exemplifies a tale that bridges cultural gaps. As Nelson recounts in his book Steel Drivin’ Man, finding the real John Henry was difficult and led to many variations of Henry’s life. famous musicians ranging from genres such as blues, country, folk, and bluegrass have covered numerous variations of the song. Whether or not the real John Henry's identity surfaces, the story of his life represents many harsh realities in American history for African Americans and laborers in the railroad industry.John Henry the Legend began with his fellow convicts working on the railroad. They would chant the tale of John Henry, using the song to signal when to drive their hammers down. The tale originally centered on the tragedy of his life, how he worked and worked until he died. But along the way it changed. The tail became the story of a man who fought for others against the company, against taking humanity out of work in place of machines. From there, folk singers and country music stars like Johnny Cash made the story more widespread in the United States. In the year 2000, Disney made an animated short about John Henry along with other well known American tall tales.John Henry was the first Black superhero in a way. As his tale moved from being depressing to uplifting, he became someone for African American youth to look up to. John Henry was also an inspiration for Superman. So much so that after the Death of Superman storyline a successor for Superman was named John Henry Irons (the superhero Steel).Below is a short Q&amp;A with the author of Steel Drivin' Man, Scott Reynolds Nelson:Why do you think John's legend isn't that widespread today? I live in WV and many of the people of my generation have never heard of the tale. I think it's partly generational. Most students in my generation and earlier learned the class in chorus because it was a song free of copyright. Hundreds of thousands of GIs heard it during World War II because it was widely distributed by the US government as proof that the US wasn't a racial empire like the Nazis and the Japanese.Why is it that not many acknowledge his pop culture influence? Partly it's because he was Black, and partly because the Communist Party was important in spreading the story. As the anti-Communist wave came in the 1950s, the song of John Henry was somewhat suspect.Finally, do you think the story of the man will ever be able to rival that of the legend? I think the story is so much deeper and richer than the legend. The legend is beautiful, and I love the song. But when you see the tragedy of his real life it only deepens the beauty of the song.

A monument to African American folk hero John Henry was dedicated in 1972 and stood at this location for over forty years before it was relocated to the new John Henry Historical Park on the other side of the tunnel. According to legend, John Henry was born a slave in the 1840s but was freed after the war. The story has transformed over the years and many still cling to the mythical story of Henry defeating a steam-powered drill in a battle of man vs machine that continues to resonate with those fearing changes due to technology.

Great Bend Tunnel Overlook and John Henry Monument (1972-2012)

The 1905 style Dillon Superette, the former store that is now the museum, is located not even a mile from The Great Bend Tunnel where the heart of the John Henry legend took place in 1870. The legend is about how John Henry, with just his strength and manual items, defeated a machine when both tried to drill into a rock. The store had been owned by Ellery Wykle and Donna Dillon Wykle, who really admired the John Henry story. Before the store was transformed into the museum, the Wykles possessed a collection of John Henry artifacts and placed them in the store for people to see. The store used to be the biggest of 4 that were in business in Talcott and was made and ran by L.G. Rhodes.1 The store was transformed to resemble what it had looked like back in 1905 by the Wykles’ request. They gave the store over to the John Henry Historical Society to make the changes to the store. These changes include revealing the old tin ceiling, completing the wood floors, and taking away siding to reveal the old. The over-all point of the museum is to inform tourists on the legend of John Henry and to assist them in coming up with their own understanding of the story.2 The museum and the park that it is next to is on 26 acres of land connecting it to the John Henry statue and the Great Bend Tunnel.           There are several items to see at the museum. Of these are several books, motion pictures, films concerning John Henry, tools that have been given to the museum and resemble those used by tunnel workers and miners, other items from the former Talcott High School, and pictures of the location while the tunnel was being built. The gift shop provides items made by locals, t-shirts, and small statues. The museum also holds a collection of 1920s and 1930s interviews that were included in research done by the University of Kentucky.1 The people that keep the museum running are volunteers, and they are locals. The museum first opened in May 2014.3

The John Henry Museum is located in Talcott, West Virginia, and is dedicated to the legend of and real man John Henry himself. The museum has a gift shop and is placed next to the John Henry Park. The building that the museum is in used to be a very popular grocery store. It is open from Friday to Sunday.

John Henry Museum

The Fayetteville Post Office was constructed in 1938 using federal Treasury Department funds. The building is a simple rectangular structure made of brick. Large linteled windows define the front facade, which features a particularly expansive glass entry portal. A flat roof contributes to the inherent blockiness of the structure. Functionality, rather than aesthetics, was clearly the architectural goal of this Works Progress Administration (WPA) building. Despite the relative austerity of the exterior, the interior of the post office is adorned with a large oil on canvas mural by Nixford Baldwin. Baldwin was a Massachusetts based artist known for his inspiring painted and sculpted works. Though he completed several WPA commissions, “The Miners” in Fayetteville is his most famous work. The piece depicts a variety of scenes of life in a mining camp. On the left, men work in mines to extract coal and deliver it to the surface. On the right, a parent and their child walk through a busy industrial site. The color palette, well-outlined nature of the figures, and emphasis on labor suggests that Baldwin was strongly influenced by Mexican Muralism in creating this piece. Like most WPA sponsored works, the piece is calm and non-confrontational. The hardships found in coal towns are avoided, but so too is glorification of the work occurring eschewed.

Fayetteville Post Office & “The Miners”

This history of coal mining is deeply interwoven into the history of the Mountain State. In 1742, John Peter Salley explored the Allegheny Mountain region along the Kanawha River Valley with his team of surveyors. During his travels, he discovered an abundance of coal veins near the water way and referred to the body of water as the Coal River for this reason. In the early 1800s, coal would serve as a resource for working Blacksmiths and also heated homes while fueling the furnaces for the growing salt mines in the Kanawha River region. Significant mining operations began as early as the 1840s through the 1860s and the state of Virginia responded by passing laws regulating mine operations and investments in land and mineral rights.After the Civil War, some of the first major mining operations in the new state of West Virginia occurred in Fairmont Field near the present-day city of Fairmont. Its location on the Pittsburgh coal seam provided most of the eastern part of the country with a steady supply of coal. As the northern part of the state saw the expansion of significant coal operations, the southern coal fields also grew with the establishment of the Flat-Top Pocahontas fields of Mercer and McDowell Counties. These mines began shipping coal in 1883 and later grew into the Pocahontas Fuel Company in 1907. The arrival of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in the early 1900s made it possible to ship coal from Logan and Wyoming County, triggering a further coal mining boom in West Virginia.The methods of mining, and the laws surrounding the profession, have evolved over the generations. In the antebellum period, free and enslaved workers mined surface coal with shovels and pickaxes and carried the ore with baskets and sleds pulled by draft animals. By 1890, mechanized coal cutting, hauling, and loading had become a normal sight to see. After the 1930s, long trains, conveyor belts, and shuttle cars became as common as the miners themselves. With technological advancements, West Virginia was able to see two of the largest production booms in its history: 146,088,121 tons of coal in 1927, and 173,653,816 tons in 1947.As the coal industry grew, mines recruited workers from other states and even other nations. Coal companies would provide these workers with not only a job, but also a place for their families to stay known as “coal camps.” Many coal camps were centered around a company store that sold items to workers on credit using company-issued currency known as “scrip”. Each company would have its own printed scrip that signified to their workers that certain scrip could be only used for certain businesses. The system placed power in the hands of the company, leading to potential for abuse when management decided to raise prices for rent, food, and household goods at the company store but did not increase wages.Between 1910 and the early 1920s, several conflicts between miners and mine management led to calls for unionization. Some conflicts about this issue turned into small-scale wars between miners and hired guards known as Pinkertons. On May 20th, 1920, Agents of Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency evicted miners and their families out of their homes for attempting to join a union, leading to a gunfight in the town of Matewan that killed seven agents, two miners, and mayor Cabell Testerman, while also injuring pro-union sheriff Sid Hatfield. The following three months of conflict would be later known to Mountaineers as the “Mine Wars of West Virginia”.The  “The West Virginia Coal Miner” memorial, designed by sculptor Burl Jones, features a statue of a coal miner. The base of the memorial depicts the common duties men and women performed while working in the coal mines. The memorial's plaque reads, "In honor and in recognition of the men and women who have devoted a career, some a lifetime, towards providing the state, nation and world with low-cost, reliable household and industrial energy... Let it be said that “Coal” is the fuel that helped build the greatest country on earth, has protected and preserved our freedom and has enhanced our quality of life. God Bless the West Virginia Coal Miner! Dedicated this 4th day of December 2002."The memorial was commissioned by the West Virginia Coal Forum, and it commemorates the hard-working men and women who have toiled in the difficult work of mining coal. The memorial served as a gathering place during the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in 2010 and continues to be the location where people come to remember the 29 men who lost their lives in that explosion, as well as countless other sacrifices West Virginia miners have made over the years.

The WV Coal Miners Memorial is located on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol Complex in Charleston, West Virginia. Coal mining has deep roots in West Virginia and is a quintessential aspect of culture in the Mountain State. However, coal mining is difficult and dangerous work. The Coal Miners Memorial was designed by Burl Jones in 2002 to honor the men and women who have dedicated their lives to mining coal in West Virginia. To this day, the statue remains a gathering site for those wishing to honor coal miners for their hard work, historical contributions, and personal sacrifices.

West Virginia Coal Miners Memorial

The site of the memorial and interpretive signs are located at the former site of the coal company store. The company store, last operated by the Koppers Division of the Eastern Gas and Fuel Assosiates was&nbsp;originally constructed by the East Gulf Coal Company in 1919 was managed by George G. Burnette, a man from Kentucky, in the early 1920s. Although the store is no longer standing, it is remembered by some of the residents of Helen. John L. Lewis, former president of the Winding Gulf Restoration Organization remembers buying ice cream there as a child.&nbsp; <blockquote>"I even remember what kind it was — one of those orange ’sicles with the cream inside," </blockquote>Despite the store no longer standing, the memorial and signs help residents and visitors to remember the rich history of their town. Just as the company store was once a central location in Helen, the Miners Memorial and now the interpretive signs have become one as well. Some of the themes of the interpretive signs include, baseball, African Americans in the mines, and Helen's connection to Camp Lightfoot. <blockquote> </blockquote>

The miners memorial is a result of three years effort on the part of the Winding Gulf Restoration Organization, a local non-profit organization based out of Helen. With the help from nearby businesses and organizations, the memorial was finished in the summer of 2007 and honors those miners who lived or worked in Helen. Also located at the site of the memorial are interpretive signs installed in 2018 with the help of the National Coal Heritage Area Authority and the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia.

Miners Memorial and Interpretive Signs

Mining is a dangerous profession overall, but <a href="David., Corbin (1981). Life, work, and rebellion in the coal fields : the southern West Virginia miners, 1880-1922. Urbana: University of Illinois Press." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">between 1890 and 1912</a>, West Virginia mines had the highest miner death rates in the country. During World War I, West Virginia miners faced higher death rates than even soldiers in the American Expeditionary Force fighting in Europe. <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/history/archives/minewars.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Many West Virginians</a> soon became part of an economic system controlled by the coal industry. Miners worked in company mines with company tools and equipment, which they were required to lease. The rent for company housing and cost of items from the company store were deducted from their pay. The stores themselves charged over-inflated prices, since there was no alternative for purchasing goods. To ensure that miners spent their wages at the store, coal companies developed their own monetary system. Miners were paid by scrip, in the form of tokens, currency, or credit, which could be used only at the company store. Therefore, even when wages were increased, coal companies simply increased prices at the company store to balance what they lost in pay. Miners were also denied their proper pay through a system known as cribbing. Workers were paid based on tons of coal mined. Each car brought from the mines supposedly held a specific amount of coal, such as 2,000 pounds. However, cars were altered to hold more coal than the specified amount, so miners would be paid for 2,000 pounds when they actually had brought in 2,500. In addition, workers were docked pay for slate and rock mixed in with the coal. Since docking was a judgment on the part of the checkweighman, miners were frequently cheated. In addition to the poor economic conditions, safety in the mines was of great concern. West Virginia fell far behind other major coal-producing states in regulating mining conditions. Between 1890 and 1912, West Virginia had a higher mine death rate than any other state. West Virginia was the site of numerous deadly coal mining accidents, including the nation's worst coal disaster. On December 6, 1907, an explosion at a mine owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in Monongah, Marion County, killed 361. One historian has suggested that during World War I, a U.S. soldier had a better statistical chance of surviving in battle than did a West Virginian working in the coal mines. In response to poor conditions and low wages in the late 1800s, workers in most industries developed unions. Strikes generally focused on a specific problem, lasted short periods of time, and were confined to small areas.  The Mary Lou Retton Youth Park, located in Fairmont, WV off of Mary Lou Retton Drive and Old Monongah Road, is named after the 1984 Olympic gold medalist from Marion County. Included in its rolling 25-acre area are a wealth of facilities, such as five baseball fields, one football field, basketball court, picnicking areas, playground and swings, restroom facility, pavilion, and the North Central West Virginia Miner's Memorial. The park is also home to the Fairmont Senior High School baseball team, Fairmont Little League, and the American Youth Football Association.

The life size statue of a coal miner to honor coal miners in each county who lost their lives in West Virginia.  Stone structures of each county surround the statue of a “coal miner who lost his life in the mine.”



Statue of a Coal Miner at Mary Lou Retton Youth Park

<a href="https://news.lib.wvu.edu/2018/04/30/everettville-mine-disaster-in-their-own-words/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">On April 30, 1927</a>, there was an explosion at the Federal No. 3 mine owned by New England Fuel and Transportation Company, in Everettville, Monongalia County, WV. One hundred and eleven people were lost, and nine were saved. Below are the newspaper headlines for the following week–the disaster happened at around 3:30 PM so it didn’t make the evening edition of the Morgantown Post on April 30–the results of the Great Mississippi Flood took up a lot of front page space that day. The Everettville mine disaster was reported in a number of local newspapers and even made national news.  <a href="http://www.wveha.org/history/Disaster" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The spark and flames</a> alerted the nearby miners and foreman who tried to run but were overcome by the expanding fire ball. Approximately 4000 feet of methane gas and air mixture provided the initial fuel for the explosion. The mine had not been covered in rock dust in accordance with the mine-inspector’s direction in the month prior, so the explosion of gas found a new propellant in the coal dust covering nearly every surface of the mine. The explosion moved outward from the room, hurling mine cars down the passageways destroying men and machinery alike. The force of the explosion was strong enough to bend and disfigure the massive metal experimental loading machines. The “toppings,” or the foot of coal sitting above the lip of loaded mine cars, was sent flying through the shafts as lethal projectiles, accompanied by electric water pumps torn from their mounts and sent tumbling. The violence of the explosion sent debris from the mouth of the mine into the tipple and out to a distance of over 600 feet. At least eighty-six men died immediately within the mine, and another six died when the explosion ripped apart the tipple. In the minutes following the explosion, several groups of men found themselves trapped within the mine. A few barricaded themselves in a pump room in an attempt to protect themselves from fires started by the explosion, but they died from exposure to the “afterdamp.” Some of the trapped miners left messages written to their loved ones on whatever they could get their hands on, including a lunch pail and scraps of cement-bag paper. While several miners were able to walk out of the mine themselves, rescue operations were mounted immediately.

The memorial honors the 97 miners killed on April 30th, 1927.  The Federal No.3 Miners Memorial proudly displays the names of the 149 miners who bravely perished in the mine, including those who died in the fateful mine explosion in 1927. Both faces of the memorial lists the names of the miners and the year of their death. The Miner's Logo also displays above the memorial on both faces. The memorial now stands proudly near Federal No. 3, next to the Friendship Baptist Church in Everettville.  

Everettville Miners Memorial

On Saturday, July 23, 1966, disaster rocked the sleepy village of Mount Hope when an explosion occurred in Siltex Mine. Siltex (sometimes spelled Siltix) was operated on the edge of town by the New River Company, which was based in Mount Hope. A number of factors led to the explosion. Poor ventilation led to the accumulation of methane and other gases and standard space segmenting practices had not been followed. The foreman was the only person in the mine equipped with a flame safety lamp that should have been issued to every miner. Finally, all electric equipment in the area of the explosion was improperly contained and maintained. An errant spark from one of these electronics is what ultimately catalyzed the explosion. Seven miners in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were killed and two were severely injured. Thirty-nine other miners escaped relatively unharmed, though many of them were forced to barricade themselves in the mine until ventilation could be reestablished. According to state and federal reports, the accident was unequivocally the result of extreme negligence on the part of the New River Company, though the company refused to accept responsibility for the tragedy. The Siltex mine continued to operate until 1984, when the entrance was sealed. The memories of miners who lost their lives in the 1966 disasters still live on as surviving relatives and community members honor their lives at a yearly memorial service.  

Siltex Mine Portal and Memorial

The mine at Eccles was first opened in 1905 and was owned by
the Guggenheim family from New York. At the time, the Eccles Mine was believed
to be a relatively safe mine that was up to the ventilation standards. However,
around 2:10pm on April 28, 1914 the No. 5 mine exploded. The explosion is said
to have been caused by a miner blowing a hole through a coal barrier in order
to shorten his walk between his working areas. This caused a problem to the mine's
ventilation, leading to a buildup of methane in the air which was then ignited
by another miner’s open-flame lamp (1). The subsequent explosion killed all 174
workers in Eccles Mine No. 5 that day. Blackdamp, the deadly gas resulting from
coal mine explosions, traveled from No. 5 to the connecting No. 6 mine. Nine
men in the Eccles No. 6 mine died due to asphyxiation from the afterdamp. One
man from mine No. 6, William Derenge, survived both this explosion in 1914 and
a second explosion at the Layland Mine on March 2, 1915 in which 112 men died.
In both instances he survived by barricading himself from the deadly afterdamp.

It took recovery crews a total of four days to reach the
victims of the disaster. A temporary morgue was established on site to help
with body identification, however the explosion was so violent many bodies were
unable to be identified. Five of the dead miners were only fourteen years old and
many of the miners were immigrants. New workman’s compensation laws provided
assistance to widows of the miners. They received $20 every month until
remarriage or death and $5 a month for every child under fifteen, up to three
children (2). The state also provided coffins and burial boxes for the dead. This
was the deadliest coal mine explosion in the United States in the year 1914.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Mines a total of 2,451 miners died on the job
that year. This was 334 less than the casualties of 1913 (3). 

On March 8, 1926, Eccles experienced another explosion which
killed 19 miners. The mine at this point was operated by a subsidiary of the
Stonega Coal Company. Fine coal particles present in the air contributed to
this explosion. Similar to the 1914 disaster, both connecting mines No. 5 and
No. 6 were affected by the explosion. A total of 45 workers survived this second
explosion.&nbsp;Eccles Mine&nbsp;continued in operation until 1928, and the coal seam utilized by the mine continued to be extracted for many decades afterwards from other shafts. There are historical markers and memorials dedicated the the Eccles Mine Disasters.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The memorial commemorates the victims of two mining disaster, the first in 1914 and the second in 1926. The 1914 tragedy was the second-worst mine disaster in West Virginia coal mining history. On April 28, 1914 the No. 5 mine of the New River Collieries Company exploded in Raleigh County about four miles from present-day Beckley. The explosion carried over to the connecting No. 6 mine. A total of 183 men died in this mining disaster as a result of a faulty ventilation system. A second disaster occurred twelve years later when nineteen miners were killed on March 8, 1926. Both disasters were preventable as they were caused by the ignition of methane gas by mining equipment.

Eccles Mine Disaster Memorial Cemetery

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As news spread through
the small community of the mining explosion, people gathered outside the mines.
Many of these men had wives and children that were soon on the site to await
the news of their husbands and fathers. However, it took workers two days to
remove the bodies. So families waited in silence to hear who had survived and
who had been killed in this horrible explosion. &nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The community
banded together to create a monument to honor their loved ones that perished.
Situated outside the entrance to the mine, a gated stone monument with the story
of the disaster and those effected was built. A church has been turned into a
present day museum.&nbsp; It houses many
artifacts pulled from the mine that belonged to those that died in the
incident. That church stood witness to the explosion and was likely used for the
funeral location for many of the lost miners.

&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The local Nellis Elementary School helps
maintain the monument.&nbsp; The students
leave flowers for each holiday at the monument.&nbsp;
Members of the community, along with students from the nearby Nellis
Elementary school, still gather at the memorial on November 6, to commemorate
the anniversary of the tragedy. The service include songs from students at
Nellis Elementary and other tributes.&nbsp; The
community won’t let the memory of the lost miners be forgotten.

     November 6, 1943, 11 men were killed after a mining machine sparked and ignited gas causing an explosion in a mine shaft in Nellis, WV. At the entrance of the road to the mine, there is still a monument that remembers the miners that were victims in this horrible incident. The heartbreak of this disaster is still obvious all throughout the area. A museum in a local church is dedicated to the miners who lost their lives. The children of the men lost in the explosion still live in the area.

Number 3 Nellis explosion of 1943 Memorial 

At 10:57 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, 1963 an explosion at Clinchfield Coal Company's Compass No. 2 Mine in Dola, West Virginia took the lives of 22 miners. All the men were married and left behind combined of 59 children behind. Although mining in nature is a very dangerous job, we need to work hard to raise the safety standards for miners. Through the efforts of family members and friends a memorial has been constructed to honor them. On September 3, 2006 this memorial was dedicated on the site of the explosion. Officials of the Clinchfield Coal Co. <a href="https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/compass_news_only.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(242, 242, 242)">identified the men</a> killed by an explosion deep in the No. 2 mine here.  They and their dependents were:<ul><li>Adam Aldridge, 53, Smithfield, wife, two children</li><li>Gunther Bardarrek, 33, Clarksburg, wife, three children</li><li>William Bullough, 34, Clarksburg, wife</li><li>Kenneth Burnside, 35, Salem, wife, one child</li><li>Ralph Cabo, 46, Clarksburg, wife, two children</li><li>Delbert Chapman, 38, Clarksburg, wife, one child</li><li>Carsie Crayton, 47, Shinnston, wife</li><li>Dorsey Fincham, 56, Clarksburg, wife, four children</li><li>William Fowler, 40, of Flemington, wife, four children</li><li>George Grogg, 49, Lumberport, wife, two children</li><li>Roy R. Hanna, 51, Brown, wife, three children</li><li>Glenn Haught, 35, Lumberport, wife, two children</li><li>Harold Haught, 45, Lumberport, wife</li><li>Denzel Hawkenberry, 47, Mt. Clare, wife, two children</li><li>Roy Kerns, 45, Lumberport, wife</li><li>James Lester, 50, Owings, (foreman), wife, two children</li><li>Jim Maxwell, 55, Galloway, wife, two children</li><li>Ralph McCloy, 46, Rosemont, wife, two children</li><li>John Reed, 40, Wilsonburg, wife, four children</li><li>Ralph Smith, 59, Center Point, wife, one child</li><li>Raymond Swiger, 50, Wallace, wife, two children</li><li>Robert Welch, 47, Flemington, wife</li><li> </li></ul>The two Haughts were brothers and Chapman was the brother of mine superintendent Harry Chapman. For more information contact: info@dolaminememorial.com  Level paved parking lot provides handicapped accessibility. Free Admission. Hours: 8AM-Dusk Directions: From I 79 take exit 119, take US 50 West to the exit that says, West Pike St., US Rt. 19 North. Get on US19 North and go to Rt. 18 toward Lumberport. Then in Lumberport take WV 20 North approximately 5 miles and the Dola Memorial should be on the left side of the <a href="https://wvtourism.com/company/dola-mine-memorial/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">road.</a>

The memorial honors the 22 coal miners killed in an explosion at the Compass No.2 Mine on April 25, 1963.  

Dola Mine Memorial

On Thursday, January 21, 1886, the first big mine shaft explosion occurred in the state of West Virginia, at the Mountain Brook Shaft Mine of the Newburg Orrel Coal Company. According to the Preston County Journal, it was around 2:45 p.m. when there was an explosion of gas accompanied by "a rumbling sound like low, rolling heavy thunder, followed by a slight shaking of the ground."1 The townspeople gathered to witness the horrific event; the process of recovering the 39 human bodies and four mules lasted an entire week. The first body to be identified was Isaiah Timmons, who was the pit and fire boss. His son, William (age 14), who was the door keeper in the shaft, was also killed. Many family members worked together in the mine. The cause of the disaster was ruled as neglect of orders and disobedience of the law.1 Although the actual site of the disaster is not accessible, a memorial, dedicated by the Rotary Club of Newburg in 1989, is located outside of the Newburg Post Office. It reads: <blockquote>   THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO THE 39 MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE GAS EXPLOSION OF THE MOUNTAIN BROOK SHAFT OF THE NEWBURG ORREL COAL CO., JAN. 21, 1886</blockquote><blockquote>   THE SHAFT WAS LOCATED IN THE WEST END OF NEWBURG ALONG THE B.&amp;O. RAILROAD TRACKS. IT WAS BEGUN IN JAN. 1882, AND REACHED A DEPTH OF 335 FT. THE MINE WAS THE DEEPEST OF THE 6 COAL SHAFTS IN THE STATE AT THAT TIME. THIS WAS THE FIRST BIG SHAFT MINE EXPLOSION IN W.VA.2</blockquote>The names of the men and boy who were killed are also listed - Clinton Albright, Nicholas Birtley, Richard Birtley, John Byer, Jr., John Carroll, Michael Clark, John Conoway, John Edwards, E. Fortney, Morgan Freeman, Harry Guy, Joseph Guy, Thomas Guy, Peter Hanley, John Hornsby, Joseph Johnson, Joseph Ross Kelly, Michael J. Kenny, Henry Lambert, John Lambert, Frank Laymire, William Laymire, James McGowan, Albert McWilliams, Daniel Miller, J. B. Miller, Frank Moon, Newton Moore, Arthur Ogden, George Riggins, Williams Sansbury, Andrew Scott, Wilbur G. Spencer, Isaiah Timmons, William Timmons, Charles Tunley, Jacob H. Weaver, John A. Weaver, Adolph Wein.2 Union Cemetery is located near the old Newburg School and is the final resting place for 21 out of the 39 miners.3 The other men, except for a few who were from out of town, were laid to rest in a nearby cemetery on Scotch Hill.4 History of Newburg Newburg, West Virginia, a town in Preston County, was incorporated in 1868. It was presumably named because it was the most recently established town on the Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad (B&amp;O). Newburg was formerly known as "Stop 88" as it was located 88 miles west of the B&amp;O station at Cumberland, Maryland. 5

The Newburg Mine Disaster Memorial honors the 39 men and boys were killed in the gas explosion at the Mountain Brook Shaft of the Newburg Orrel Coal Company in 1886. The Newburg Mine Disaster was the first big shaft mine explosion in the state of West Virginia. The bronze plaque was dedicated by the Newburg Rotary Club in 1989, and is located in front of the Newburg Post Office. 

Newburg Mine Disaster Memorial

On December 6th, at 10:20 in the morning, there occurred at Monongah, six miles from Fairmont, the worst catastrophe in The history of coal mining in West Virginia or in any other section of the world. It was an explosion in mines Nos. 6 and 8 of the Fairmont Coal Company, which completely wrecked the mines and snuffed out the lives of almost four hundred men. The worst of the explosion occurred in the No. 8 mine and so great was its force that the concrete roof of the engine house was torn into fragments and one piece, weighing more than 100 pounds, was blown more than 500 yards. The victims came to their deaths suddenly. Many were found sitting upright in the positions they were in when the explosion came with its spread of deadly gases. The scenes at the mines during the work of rescue were pitiful in the extreme. For several days frantic women grouped about the opening of the mines and their shrieks of agony were enough to move the hardest heart to pity. Grief-stricken mothers, wives, sweethearts and sisters waited and watched and wept. Some prayed, some sung, and some, in their very ecstasy of sorrow, became hysterical and<a href="http://www.wvculture.org/history/disasters/monongah03.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255)"> laughed.</a>﻿

The life size statue of a widowed mother and children in honor of the 361 miners killed in the Monongah Mines disaster on Dec. 6, 1907. The Monongah Mining Disaster of 1907 is the worst industrial disaster in U.S. History. The working memorial bell was donated by the Italian government. 

The Monongah Heroine Statue makes up part of the memorial to the victims of the Monongah Mine Disaster at the corner of Main Avenue and Bridge Street in downtown Monongah, West Virginia.


Monongah Heroine Statue

<blockquote>“There’s not a whole lot of emphasis on the history of what coal miners did and the struggles they went through and the tumultuous time. The Battle of Matewan has all the elements of a classic Western shootout, yet while something like the Gunfight at O.K. Corral has become a part of American lore, Matewan has languished in obscurity for a number of generations.”1</blockquote>The West Virginia Mine Wars began in 1912 when unionized coal miners went on strike along Paint Creek and Cabin Creek in Kanawha County. Organized by the United Mine Workers of America, one of the largest workers' rights organization in the country which at that time was only twenty-two years old, the strike was intended to win higher compensation for the miners' dangerous work. Coal companies cried foul and brought in strikebreakers and deputized private detectives armed with machine guns to quash the dissidents. The miners responded by arming themselves and fighting back, and though martial law was declared in the district several times, by the time the strike ended the following year, it was well known around the nation as one of the bloodiest labor conflicts in American history. The UMWA’s most famous organizer, Mary “Mother” Jones, was among the leaders of the strike and witnessed the violence. Speaking around the country, she would recall snow stained with blood and miners’ families shivering in tent colonies through the winter. She told audiences, “When I get to the other side, I shall tell God Almighty about West Virginia!”2But these union victories in West Virginia during the 1910s led the coal operators to fight back. By the 1920s, coal fields in Mingo and Logan counties had unionized--so coal operators in Mingo county hired the Baldwin-Felts agency to evict union coal miners and their families from their camps. Since miners were paid in company scrip which had no value outside their own coal camps, this would have rendered the affected families penniless and homeless.The evictions climaxed in a shootout between Mingo County Sheriff Sid Hatfield and his deputies--backed by miners--and the evicting Baldwin-Felts detective agents on the railroad tracks in Mingo county on May 19, 1920. Though murder charges against Sheriff Hatfield were dismissed,he was later killed by Baldwin-Felts agents as he climbed the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse. Galvanized by this injustice, miners gathered to fight back.<blockquote>"It was a literal war that was being fought and many of the miners stuck to a code of silence about their goings on, about the specifics of what happened, largely because they could have all been prosecuted for various crimes, everything from insurrection to murder to treason. There’s not as an extensive written record of the events that you might have, say, for the Battle of Gettysburg, where one can look at letters, diaries and official communications back and forth.”1</blockquote>A year after the Matewan shootout, tensions between miners and coal companies climaxed at the Battle of Blair Mountain took place between August 25, 1921 and September 2, 1921. Fought between unionized miners and some three thousand deputies, National Guardsmen, and Baldwin-Felts agents, this battle was the largest labor uprising in United States history and one of the largest, best-organized, and well-armed uprisings since the American Civil War. Over a million rounds of ammunition were fired, and coal company forces hired private planes to drop bombs on the miners.The battle ended when the U.S. Army arrived and the laborers surrendered. Dozens of people died in these conflicts over basic civil liberties, the right to form unions, and the right to a decent wage and a life of dignity.2The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum gives the spotlight to the laborers and tells history through their perspective. The museum also has Matewan Massacre Drama performances on certain days of the year. By exhibiting these events within the historic Chambers Hardware Store on the streets of Matewan, where some of the pivotal moments of the Mine Wars took place, the museum vividly depicts the struggle experienced by so many thousands of miners during this tumultuous era. The Museum has also designed traveling exhibits to better share this uniquely important history wherever possible.The site of the Blair Mountain Battlefield was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, but its preservation is still threatened by current mining operations.6

Located in the former Chambers Hardware store in Matewan, the back wall of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum still bears bullet holes from the legendary conflict it represents. While the Matewan Massacre shootout itself was only one occurrence in a massive chain of labor strikes, killings and political machinations, it helped touch off a catastrophic series of events that culminated in the assassination of Sheriff Sid Hatfield (of Hatfield and McCoy fame) and the infamous Battle of Blair Mountain--where 10,000 armed miners fought for several days against several thousand deputies and private coal company militiamen. The museum commemorates these events and explores them from the perspective of the common coal miner.

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

The geographic focus is the "Fairmont Field" which includes the 6 counties of Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston and Taylor. NACMHA has, over its short life, established a museum, hosted with local communities a state traveling coal mining exhibit for 2 1/2 years and enlisted public sentiment to preserve this historical display. We have also loaned artifacts and library materials to speakers, researched and developed a listing of coal mine fatalities and supported other local groups in efforts to build miners' memorials commemorating coal mine disasters. We display a regional road map at our museum showing regional coal mining heritage attractions in the area.

Founded in March 2000, The Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association (NACMHA) is dedicated to educating the public on our regional coal mining heritage. NACMHA operates a seasonal interactive coal mining museum in Fairmont, West Virginia adjacent to Coal Country Miniature Golf course along Interstate 79.

Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association

At 3:20 p.m. on Saturday April 30, 1927, a powerful explosion occurred at Federal No. 3 mine in Everettville, Monongalia County, West Virginia. The coal mine was owned by New England Fuel and Transportation Company. At the time of the explosion, about one hundred miners were underground. Eighty-six of them were killed instantly, while two initially survived the blast and managed to walk 500 feet before being overcome by the afterdamp, the toxic mixture of gases that lingers in a coal mine after an ignition of firedamp. Three miners barricaded themselves in a pump room and survived for three or more hours before being overcome by the afterdamp. Aware of their fates, the trapped men scribbled notes to their loved ones, which were later recovered by rescue teams alongside their bodies. One of those men was Scottish immigrant Henry Russell, who wrote a short message to his wife on a piece of cement bag paper. The force of the explosion also sent debris and flames out of the mine, causing the tipple (a large structure where extracted product was temporarily stored and then loaded for transportation) to collapse. The structure’s failure claimed the lives of six workers and injured several others. Nine miners who were working in a different section of the mine, far from the site of the explosion, barricaded themselves in a room. One managed to find his way out of the mine and return with others wearing self-rescuers (portable emergency oxygen devices) to save the lives of his eight co-workers.  News of the tragedy spread quickly. Families of the miners quickly raced to the site, hoping to hear good news concerning the fate of their loved ones. Additionally, thousands of spectators converged on the scene. Soon after, state police arrived and cordoned off area. Rescue teams quickly assembled to search for survivors. The still raging fire, coupled with the fear of another larger explosion caused by the afterdamp, however, severely impeded rescue efforts. Weeks passed before rescue crews could recover all of the miners’ bodies.  In the wake of the tragedy, the West Virginia Department of Mines conducted an investigation into the cause of the explosion. It concluded that a spark from a storage battery locomotive (an electric vehicle used to haul coal to the surface) operating at the farthest working face from the entrance ignited built-up methane (or firedamp) and coal dust in the mine, causing the devastating and deadly explosion. The agency claimed that rock dusting (the application of pulverized limestone to the inside walls of a coal mine) could have significantly reduced the magnitude of the explosion. Despite the insistence of safety officials to properly rock dust the mine, mine executives at Everettville refused to do so, believing that it was simply too wet for coal dust to propagate a methane ignition.   In 2014, the West Virginia Highway Historical Marker Program of the West Virginia Archives and History installed a marker to commemorate the Everettville mine explosion. Sponsored by the Everettville Historical Association, the marker stands at the intersection of U.S. 19 and County Route 45 (River Road), south of Arnettsville in Monongalia County.

On April 30, 1927, a powerful explosion occurred at Federal No. 3 mine in Everettville, Monongalia County, West Virginia. At least ninety-seven miners lost their lives. In the wake of the tragedy, the West Virginia Department of Mines conducted an investigation into the cause of the explosion. It concluded that a spark from a storage battery locomotive ignited built-up methane and coal dust in the mine, causing the deadly explosion. The agency claimed that rock dusting could have significantly reduced the magnitude of the explosion. Mine executives at Everettville, however, refused to do so prior to the tragedy, believing that the mine was too wet for coal dust to propagate a methane ignition. 

Everett Mine Disaster Highway Historical Marker 

The Great Depression that followed the great stock market crash of 1929 was a devastating economic climate for most Americans. When the prospect of work came along, thousands of unemployed workers usually jumped at the chance. Growing chemical giant Union Carbide &nbsp;then in the process of building a metallurgical plant in Alloy, West Virginia needed both a way to power the new factory and a massive supply of silica for the manufacturing process. The company devised a way to provide both with a new project: the Hawks Nest Tunnel.With the mountainous terrain and falling waters of the area, near where the confluence of the New and Gauley Rivers become the Kanawha, hydroelectric power had been in use since the early 1900s. Union Carbide awarded Rinehart and Dennis Corporation of Charlottesville, Virginia the contract to build a three mile long tunnel through Gauley Mountain which was very rich in silica. The water would be diverted through the tunnel to a new dam for power. The contract was awarded on March 13, 1930 and the company had exactly two years from that date to have the tunnel, dam, and powerhouse completed.There was no shortage of available men to work. The Great Depression provided the opportunity to find an available and easy workforce. &nbsp;Approximately 5000 men were recruited to work on the tunnel over the course of the two years-with ⅔ of them being African American. Of these 5000, 2982 were underground drilling and blasting while most of the skilled positions were filled by men from Union Carbide. Workers lived on site, in shacks, sometimes 8 men to a room. Workers were paid 35 cents an hour and worked up to 60 hours a week--however, they paid $1 a week for shack rent and electricity plus 50 cents a week for the use of a company doctor and local hospital.The tunnel was dug through Gauley Mountain between Anstead and Gauley Bridge. Core ground samples revealed most of the rock to be high-grade silica bearing sandstone. Normally with this type of rock, a “wet drilling” technique would be used, where water is applied to the drill bits to reduce dust. However, with so little time to complete the project a dry drilling technique was used. Workers would often come home covered in a white dust from head to toe. &nbsp;Because this was a civil engineering project, safety measures were reduced. The tunnel had poor ventilation. There was a lack of dust control and only a limited use of personal breathing protection.Within months of starting the project, workers started to get sick. At first, company doctors diagnosed them with pneumonia, but as more men fell ill, their families were less satisfied with the company’s explanation. A Fayetteville law firm took on the case and consulted an independent professional, Dr. Leonidas Ryan Harless, to conduct chest x-rays of affected workers. &nbsp;Harless confirmed that it was not pneumonia, but silicosis: a progressive fibrosis of the lungs caused by inhaling pulverized silica dioxide. The law firm went on to sue for compensation for the workers and their families against Rinehart and Dennis Corporation, aided by an agreement from Dr. Harless that he would examine any worker they represented. The Corporation’s defense stated that tunnel had the best ventilation possible while the machinery and the working conditions at Hawks Nest were the best ever known. A settlement was eventually reached--a mere $200,000. &nbsp;This settlement was split between 538 families and some settlements ranged from $30 upwards to $1,600.The complete death toll from the disaster is not known. The United States House of Representatives held a congressional hearing in 1936, eventually attributing 476 deaths to the disaster. In an award-winning study conducted in 1986 by epidemiologist Martin Cherniack, however, Dr. Cherniak asserts that upward of 764 actually died of silicosis and exposure to the silica dust. Congress did not pursue any punitive actions against Union Carbide or Rinehart and Dennis.While the death toll was still climbing, victims were dying so quickly that it became an issue as to where the dead should be buried. Only 40% of men lasted more than 2 months on the job--a mere 20% made past 6 months. The greatest hardships often fell to the African American workers--who in this segregated era were often not allowed burials in “white” cemeteries. At first, the recently deceased were dumped in the river bed and covered with tunnel rock. When public suspicions were aroused, Union Carbide paid a nearby farmer to bury African-Americans in unmarked graves in a field on Martha White’s farm in Nicholas County, near Summersville.Today, the tunnel continues to divert water and produce electricity for the metallurgical plant in Alloy. Though Union Carbide was dismantled and sold in portions throughout the 1980s and 1990s, their persistent destruction of records coupled with a campaign to silence workers in the 1930s has prevented a meaningful body of scholarship on the disaster since--though in 2016 West Virginia University Press re-published famed New York poet Muriel Rukheyser’s “The Book of the Dead,” written in 1936, which revolves around her interactions with Hawks Nest survivors.Silicosis has since been diagnosed as an occupational disease with compensation for workers. But while the tragedy at Hawks Nest informed this legislation, the tunnel workers of 1930-1932 were not protected by these laws, and their legacy remains largely unrecognized.

Despite being considered one of the greatest industrial disasters in United States history, the events at Hawks Nest Tunnel remain remarkably unacknowledged in the development of American labor. As the country sank into the Great Depression, in 1930-1932 a three-mile long tunnel from was dug through the heart of Gauley Mountain in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia by Union Carbide corporation to divert water to a hydroelectric plant, and at the time the project was considered an engineering marvel. Lax safety standards and a disregard for worker welfare, however, caused the death of hundreds of workers from silicosis. Despite later legislation that set precedents in mining and safety standards, Union Carbide avoided any real consequences in the investigation that followed.


Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster 

The New River &amp; Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company owned and operated a series of mines in Layland, Fayette County. On the morning of March 2nd, 1915, a massive explosion swept through Layland No. 3 mine. The blast killed 112 men inside of the mine. The explosion was so powerful that a grocery delivery man walking nearby was killed outside of the mine. Shortly after the blast, the first 7 survivors walked out of the mine. This gave hope to the crowds surrounding the mine, which was quickly lost as several bodies were recovered during the following days.One of the greatest dangers to the rescue workers were the deadly gasses, called after-damp, which filled the mine after the explosion. In fact, many of the bodies recovered from the mine were found to have died of suffocation, not from impact of the explosion. Two groups of men inside of the mine barricaded themselves from the after-damp and survived for three days until the mine fan was turned on, allowing enough clean air for the men to escape. On March 6th, the first group of five men walked out of the mine. On their way out they found a note from a group of 41 men who also barricaded themselves in the mine, and rescuers soon helped the second group out. These men survived by chewing on their shoe laces and eating bark from the mine props. Many of the survivors, fearing the worst, had written death notes to their loved ones during the time they were trapped. Their survival surprised the Layland community, who had prepared coffins and dug graves for the survivors, expecting the men to be found dead.The explosion was found to be the result of ignition of methane spread by coal dust. Controversy surrounds the disaster. When the secretary of the interior wanted to recognize the efforts of the federal rescuers, many in the community argued that it was not the rescuers but the surviving miners’ ingenuity that saved them. Coal continued to be mined in Layland until the 1980s. The closure of the mines and the removal of the railroad caused the prosperity of Layland to diminish.In 2014 a memorial was erected remembering the miners who lost their lives in the Layland Mine explosion and recognizing the 53 men who survived the disaster. The memorial was funded in part by the National Coal Heritage Area Authority and through funds raised by the Layland community. The organizers of the memorial said that the Layland mine incident had been forgotten. This memorial now remembers the sometimes forgotten and tragic history of West Virginia coal mining.

The Layland Mine Explosion on March 2, 1915 is recorded as the worst mining disaster in Fayette County history. A total of 112 men died from the explosion. During the first few days after the incident, 53 men were found to have survived the blast. The explosion of the mine shocked many in the area as it was believed that the Layland Mine was one of the safest in West Virginia at the time. Coal continued to be gathered from the Layland Mine until the 1980s, when the mine closed and as a result, Layland’s economy suffered. A 2014 memorial was erected in Layland to remember the miners who lost their lives. Organizers and fundraisers for the memorial believed that the Layland disaster was being forgotten and commemoration was necessary, so that the tragic history would not be lost. 

Layland Mine Disaster (1915)

Holden Island Creek No. 22 Mine opened In 1943. &nbsp;Twenty men went into the Holden Mine on a snowy March morning, and not long after work a slate fall occurred in the tunnels between the men and the shaft bottom. Officials blamed the fire on a cable or trolley line which was suspected to have been knocked down near a wooden timber that arced until the wood caught fire. The coal then caught on fire causing a raging inferno to roar through the tunnels inside the mine. The men were sealed off from the fire by the slate fall. Rescue workers poured water into the mine using as many as twelve different water-hose, but freezing temperatures soon froze the lines on the surface. Finally, when the fire was contained, teams of 40 men working around the clock slogged though knee-deep water in the smoke and steam hoping to rescue the men. Veteran rescue workers called it "hell's fire." Ventilation expert, Willis Carter who was one of the trapped miners, volunteered to crawl through a narrow passageway to try an find a way out. A young miner, Kyle Blair agreed to follow him. The others decided to wait for fire fighters and the rescue team. Carter said Blair Blacked out for about twenty-five minutes as they crawled toward the surface. After that, Carter's repeated remarks of encouragement kept Blair moving with him through a circular route in old mine workings. When they finally reached safety, Blair said he remembered little of their four hour ordeal except that Willis kept talking. Blair said, "I just grabbed the right man." Carter was asked if there was panic among the men. He said, "No, I don't think so, except for a time right at the first. I thought Donaldson was in some sort of shock. He wouldn't even answer me when I told him the men could not get out through the Elk Creek Slope. He kept telling Josh Chafin, a section foreman, to take his men and head for the Elk Creek Slope." Donaldson was a safety inspector who just happened to be with them when the fire broke out. Company officials hoped he could direct survival tactics by putting up brattices (canvas walls) to block off heat and fumes. Carter said he thought all of the men could have escaped if they had followed him. Eight days after the fire began rescue workers came upon 13 bodies. All had died within hours after the accident of carbon monoxide gas. None of the bodies were burned, and the men appeared to have been relaxed when death made its silent approach. Two men were eating from their lunch buckets. One man was found in a kneeling position with his arms encircling a timber, and was apparently praying when he was over-come with the deadly gas. Freda Enyart Horvath, wife of Berti, believed this to be her husband, and wrote him a goodbye letter after she heard the news.Josh Chafin, Jr. of Pine Creek was found still clutching the note he had written to his wife. The note was delivered to his wife twelve hours before the first body was brought to the surface. The note read: Mable, I love you more than you will ever know. Take care of the kids and raise them to serve the Lord.” It was signed, “Jr.” . . . the name he went by. Josh and his wife were members of the Central Baptist Church on Holden Road.The bodies were wrapped in blankets and plastic bags, and carried to the base of a 485-foot elevator shaft. They were lined up neatly to await their return to the surface. A heavy wet snow fell covering the ground. The men were taken to the Harris Funeral Home which was chosen as a central station where families could claim the remains and make funeral arrangements. The last two miners to be recovered were Charles Adams and Louis Workman.It took nine days to recover the bodies. Seventy-two children were left fatherless and sixteen wives were made widows by the mine disaster.&nbsp;The following is the list of miners who perished at 22 Holden:Charles Adams, 46; Frank Ardis, 63; Ernest Bevins, 35; Okey Bryant, 49; James Carter, 30; Josh Chafin Jr., 37; Roy Lee Dempsey, 52; William Donaldson, 53; Garfield Hensley, 43; Berti Horvath, 32; Flint Lock Jarrells, 39; Albert Marcum, Jr.; Melvin Newsom, 46; Isom Ooten, 43; James V. Lundell, 26; Orville Sargent, 32; Carl White, 39; and Louis Workman, 32.Ironically, Kyle Blair who escaped death at the Island Creek No.&nbsp;22 mine disaster, died tragically in another mining accident about 1974. He was a mine foreman on the tipple at a Boone County mine, and fell into a coal crusher.

On Tuesday, March 8, 1960, the Holden Mine at Island Creek No. 22 caught fire in the coal seam, and it created a carbon monoxide gas which killed eighteen men by asphyxiation. The men were trapped shortly after entering the mine at seven in the morning. The last word from them came about 8:30 that morning shortly before the telephone lines burned.Officials blamed the fire on a cable or trolley line which was suspected to have been knocked down near a wooden timber that arced until the wood caught fire. 

Island Creek No. 22 Mine Disaster

The explosion occurred on the morning of December 6th,
1907 after a train cart exiting mine No. 6, fully loaded with almost 38
thousand lbs. of coal broke lose near the top of a trestle and slid back into
the mine. As the train slid down the shaft it caused extensive damage to the
electrical system and destroyed support struts and beams. The ventilation
disruption and air gusts caused massive amounts of dust and gas to be mixed
into the air throughout the mine. A series of massive explosion erupted within
the mine, blowing as much as 100 feet of earth from around one entrance, and
the sound and shockwave caused damage to the town of Monongah over half a mile
away. (McAteer, 110-117)

Rescue

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Workers
on the surface of the mine were quickly taken to nearby towns via the still
functioning cable car, and volunteer rescue workers were entering the tunnels
within 20 minutes in an effort to find and free the 330+ workers trapped in the
mine. Rescuers quickly worked to rebuild ventilating systems for the mine in
hopes of preventing suffocation of the trapped miners. Hundreds of volunteers
came in from Fairmont to help, driven by the emergence of some miners shortly
after the explosion. Rescue was limited by gas and dust stirred up by the
explosion (McAteer, 125-130). After over a day of searching and clearing all
collapsed tunnels the only survivor that was pulled from within the mine was
John Tomko, a Hungarian immigrant found with his deceased brother (McAteer,
137). &nbsp;

Investigation and Response

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; News of
the explosions at the mine quickly went international due to the massive loss
of life and international makeup of the workers. The immediate aftermath of the
disaster saw efforts by Fairmont Coal managers and stockholders to deflect
blame for the explosion, with President C.W. Watson claiming the day after the
explosion that it could only have been caused by the careless use of a mining
lamp (New York Times, December 8,
1907). &nbsp;An official report by the Bureau
of Mines published after the explosion listed the official death toll at 362.
Experts disagreed on the cause, citing everything from torn electrical wires to
improperly used head lamps (Humphry, 28-29). The poor safety standards and the
poorly planned and equipped rescue efforts at Monongah helped set the stage for
the creation of the Bureau of Mines in 1910, which was established to
investigate and help prevent mine explosions as well as to prepare properly
trained and equipped rescue crews (Humphry, 34-35). The final death toll is
still disputed mines were known to employee more workers than officially listed
and often didn’t include children in employee listings.

Legacy

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The makeup
of the workers at Monongah resulted in swift international attention, and
support came from many areas wishing to help their family in America. Many Italian
workers at the mine came from Molise and nearby areas, today there are ongoing
efforts to recognize the sacrifices and struggles of the immigrants at Monongah
and monuments to the disaster are present in several regions of Italy today. (<a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2007/12/05/Italians-arrive-to-honor-immigrants-killed-in-1907-Monongah-mine-blast/stories/200712050217" title="Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2007/12/05/Italians-arrive-to-honor-immigrants-killed-in-1907-Monongah-mine-blast/stories/200712050217">http://www.post-gazette.com/life/lifestyle/2007/12/05/Italians-arrive-to-honor-immigrants-killed-in-...</a>)

On December 6th, 1907, Fairmont Coal Company mines No. 6 and No. 8 exploded near Monongah, West Virginia. Officially 362 people were killed in the explosion, though later historians and researchers place that number much higher. The resulting outcry over the disaster led to the enactment of numerous safety regulations and was a factor in the creation of the United States Bureau of Mines. The aftermath of the disaster was trying for the town’s residents and the surviving family of workers and left a powerful legacy that is still felt today.

Monongah Mine Disaster

Disaster               On November 20th, 1968 at 5:30 am an explosion shook the mine, producing shockwaves that were felt several miles away. Miners living in the immediate area flocked to the scene in hopes of attempting rescue, where they reported flames shooting several hundred feet into the sky. Within hours over 20 miners had escaped to the surface but 78 remained trapped within. The fires continued to rage underground until the mine was sealed with concrete. Efforts to recover the bodies resumed a year later but over 19 bodies were never recovered. (Stewart, 120-140)Investigation               As early as 1909 officials expressed concern at the high amounts of flammable gasses released from within the mine. The mine had also been the site of several smaller incidents over the previous decade, including an explosion in 1954 which killed 15 miners. State and federal investigators at the time couldn’t determine any singular cause for the explosion. Instead investigators blamed a series of contributing factors such as: inadequate ventilation, poor testing procedures for methane gas, and a lack of control over both coal dust and the release of methane gas. (Stewart, 82-100)Legal response       There was pronounced public and political outrage over the explosion in Farmington. Then Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall decried the incident in a speech and promised substantial change, bemoaning the “disgraceful health and safety record that has characterized this major industry” (Lockard, 71). The deaths at Farmington helped spur the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, which mandated four mandatory inspections per year at all underground mines in the US, strict regulations on air quality within mines, and more supportive health policies for miners. While enforcement was lax at first due to understaffing, the necessary organizations were soon expanded.Current Law Suit      New evidence discovered in regards to the accident in 2008 suggested that the chief electrician at the site knowingly disabled part of the ventilation system responsible for removing methane from the mine. This has caused new law suits to be drawn up by the families of the victims against the estate of deceased electrician Alex Kovarbasich and Murray Energy Group which now owns Consol. The law suit alleges that the mining company intentionally hid the role of Kovarbasich from investigators. The suit is ongoing. (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/11/07/decades-after-deadly-w-va-mine-disaster-new-lawsuit-assigns-blam...)The MemorialThe list of those who died are as follows (an asterisk ( * ) indicates the unrecovered):Arthur A. Anderson Jr.Jack O. Armstrong*Thomas D. AshcraftJimmy BarrOrval D. Beam*John Joseph Bingamon*Thomas BoggessLouis S. Boros*Harold W. ButtLee E. CarpenterDavid V. CartwrightWilliam E. Currence*Dale E. DavisAlbert R. DeBerryGeorge O. DeckerHoward A. Deel*James E. EfawJoe FerrisVirgil "Pete" Forte*H. Wade Foster*Aulda G. Freeman Jr.*Robert L. GloverForrest B. GoffJohn F. GouzdCharles F. HardmanEbert E. HartzellSimon P. HayesPaul F. Henderson*Roy F Henderson Sr.Steve HorvathJunior M. Jenkins*James JonesPete J. Kaznoski Sr.*Robert D. KernsCharles E. KingJames Ray KniceleyCharles Korsh Jr.George R. KovarDavid Mainella Sr.Walter R. MartinFrank Matish*Hartsel L. MayleDennis N. McDonaldEmilio D. Megna*Jack D. Michael*Wayne R. MinorCharles E. MoodyPaul O. MoranAdron W. MorrisJoseph MutoRandall R. ParsonsRaymond R. ParsonsNicholas PetroFred Burt RogersWilliam D. ShemeRobert J. SigleyHenry J. SkarzinskiRussell D. SnyderJohn Sopuch*Jerry L. StonekingHarry L. StraitAlbert TakacsWilliam L. Takacs*Dewey TarleyFrank Tate, Jr.Goy A. TaylorHoy B. TaylorEdwin A. Tennant*Homer E. TichenorDennis L. TolerJohn W. ToothmanGorman H. TrimbleRoscoe M. TriplettWilliam T. WalkerJames H. WalterLester B. WillardEdward A. Williams*Lloyd William WilsonJerry R. YaneroPete Zogel, Jr.

The Farmington Mine disaster occurred on November 20th, 1968 the community of Farmington in Marion county West Virginia when the Consol No. 9 mine erupted in flames. The cause was never officially announced at the time but the incident helped inspire the passage of several laws designed to protect miners. Recently new evidence has come to light in regards to the incident, with investigations alleging that the incident was caused by negligence. Legal action in regards to the accident is ongoing. The memorial honors the 78 miners killed in an explosion on November 20, 1968.

Farmington Mine Disaster

The Wheeling Steel Corporation opened their mines in 1866. The Benwood mine supplied coal to the steel mill. The Wheeling Steel Corporation was actually formed in in 1920 when three companies consolidated-La Belle Iron Works, Wheeling Steel &amp; Iron Works, and Whitaker-Glessner Company. In the 1920, the Wheeling Steel Corporation employed over 17,000 employees and was the third largest steelmaker in the United States. &nbsp;In the 1880s, the first steel pipe produced in the United States was made at the Benwood works of Wheeling Steel. On a typical work day, miners would clock in at 6:30 am and make their way into the mine. They have to enter into the mine in teams. The first two teams had made their entry by 7:05am when the explosion happened. An explosion was believed to happened in the 8-north section of the mine. All checks and inspections had been done that morning and no gases were reported. Deliveries were made by the night crew which was supervised by one of the fire bosses. However, after the inspections were done, a roof fall happened and there was a release of gases. A miner came upon it thinking that the fire bosses had inspected it and cleared the area. He lit a flame, thinking he was safe--little did he know, it would cause the whole mine to go up in an explosion. Of the 119 men who died, most were found at the spot were they worked. They died almost instantly from the explosion. If they survived the explosion, they were unable to survive the damp or the crushing roof falls after. At least, 35 of the men died from suffocation because they did not have gas masks. The majority of the miners were of Eastern or Southern European descent including Italian and Polish. It took the Wheeling Steel Corporation nearly 17 hours before they started releasing information about the disaster. It was midnight on April 29 before the first news bulletin went out. No official report was being made as to what caused the explosion. It is still not completely known. It is believed to been caused by a pocket of gas that ignited. It was propagated by coal dust, swept all the inner workings and galleries of the mine. The families of the miners started to appear at the mine not long after it happened. However, because most of the miners were from all over Europe and spoke many different languages, it was hard to communicate with victim’s families. The roof falls caused the explosion made it hard for miners who survived the explosion to get out. However, it also made it hard for rescuers to get in. The rescuers had to make short trips in simply because of the after-damp and the gases that remained. It was a long and treacherous recovery effort. The disaster led to efforts in reduction of coal dust and the passage of laws to make mines safer.

On April 28, 1924, 125 men went into work at the mines of Wheeling Steel Corporation in Benwood, WV. Minutes after walking into the mine, 119 men were dead after an explosion happened at 7:05 am. Every miner who had made it into the mine failed to make it out. If they survived the explosion, they died of suffocation or were crushed to death by roof falls. This was the second worst mining disaster to date.

Benwood Mine Disaster

&nbsp; &nbsp; In January of 1880, one of West Virginia's first coal miners strikes began in Coal Valley, what is now Montgomery. Strikers worked for the Hawks Nest Coal Company in Coal Valley and argued that the work of the mine unions was being undercut by the company's nonunionized workers from the nearby Hawks Nest mines. The Coal Valley workers tried to negotiate better conditions and pay. The strikers were pressured by the coal operators who were striking in Kanawha County mines around the same time for better pay. The coal operators in Kanawha County hoped to persuade the C&amp;O Railway Company to build more liens and run more cars through the Kanawha Valley by slowing work in the mines of Fayette County.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Then Governor Henry Mathews feared that violence would erupt as a result of the strike. Matthews was wary of strike violence because of a violent railroad strike in the Martinsburg area not long before. After&nbsp;several Coal Valley miners traveled to Hawks Nest mines to threaten other miners, the state felt that action was needed. In an effort to halt the strike and prevent violence, Governor Matthews attempted to convince Sheriff C.H. McClung of Fayette County to intervene. McClung feared a backlash from voters and refused to get involved in the conflict. Instead, Matthews sent in a militia group from Charleston and Lewisburg on McClung's recommendation. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;A total of 25 miners were arrested by the militia and held by Sheriff McClung, each of whom was charged with unlawful interference. The success of militia's efforts to halt the strike was&nbsp;felt by many of those involved. This strategy was repeated by officials for strikes in many subsequent years, including the 1894, 1902, and 1912 strikes. During WWI, the militia was sent abroad to fight and the state formed a police division in 1919 specifically to quell mine related violence.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Several participants in the events rose to prominence after the strike. Emanual Willis Wilson defended the strikers in the Fayette County Circuit Court and went on to become a governor. Militia commander John W.M. Appleton would rise to the rank of adjutant general in West Virginia. Most famously, William Nelson Page, a Kanawha County coal operator, formed the Company C of the West Virginia National Gaurd's 2nd Regiment and served for 20 years as a militia leader.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; One entrance to the Hawks Nest Rail Trail begins at this location. Along the trail, hikers can view the entrance to the abandoned Mill Creek Colliery mine which was involved in the strike.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 1880 the West Virginia militia was used for the first time to stop a coal mine strike. The clashing of union and nonunion workers in the Coal Valley and Hawks Nest mines led the unionized works to halt work. After the strikers threatened violence to workers in neighboring mines, Governor Henry Matthews called in the state militia to arrest miners and break up the strike. The events at Hawks Nest and Coal Valley set a president for the handling of future mine strikes. The Hawks Nest Rail Trail offers a view of the Mill Creek Colliery Mine which was involved in the strike. 

Hawks Nest Coal Strike

The coal conveyor and tipple were the focal points of Nuttallburg. They were instrumental in the production of coal by eliminating the need to transport loads of material down the mountain by hand. The first conveyor and tipple were constructed from wood. When the Fordson Coal Company took over Nuttallburg Mine, they upgraded several pieces of mining equipment, including the tipple and conveyor. The mine entrance was located halfway up the mountain; in order to transfer coal without breakage, the Fairmont Mining Machinery Company engineered a 1,385ft. long conveyor featuring button and rope technology. This technology consisted of a heavy wire (rope) with iron discs (buttons) spaced at four ft. intervals to move coal safely down the sharp incline. The conveyor additionally provided most of its own power. Though an electric engine was used to start it, once in motion, the movement of coal sustained the conveyor belt. At the time of its construction, the conveyor was the largest in the world. The tipple was built to store the coal, load it into rail cars, and transfer it to coke ovens. Nuttallburg had three tracks that passed underneath the tipple, allowing for optimal coal production. Though the conveyor and tipple have deteriorated some over the past century, they have been stabilized by the National Park Service and remain in sturdy condition. 

Nuttallburg Coal Conveyor and Tipple

The Chesapeake and Ohio Coaling Tower was used to refill the coal reserves of steam engines passing through Thurmond. Trains could pull directly under the structure, at which point a series of gates opened and coal poured into the train via redirectable chutes. In addition to a five hundred ton coal capacity, the coaling tower was also equipped to unload wet sand and replace it with dry sand. The sand was used in the engine along with the coal to keep everything running smoothly. The Fairbanks, Morse, and Company from Chicago designed the structure. An unrecorded New York construction firm built the tower in 1922. The total cost of the coaling station was about $85,000. At seventy feet tall, it would have likely been the tallest building in Thurmond. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) continued using the cooling tower well towards the middle of the twentieth century, even after other railroads had quit coal entirely. C&O’s continued reliance on coal was due in part to how much of the product the railroad transported. However, the coaling tower was eventually abandoned in 1960. Though the physical appearance of the tower has deteriorated, it remains in stable condition, and is one of the most iconic extant structure from Thurmond’s heyday.

Chesapeake and Ohio Coaling Tower

This two-story vernacular commercial building was built in 1920. It was originally operated as the Patteson Garage Co., which was owned by L.C. Patteson. Patteson was the father of former West Virginia Governor Okey Patteson. Governor Patteson worked at the garage as a young man. The business later closed and the building sat idle during Mount Hope’s economic downturn from the departure of the coal industry. The site is now owned by the Coal Heritage Authority; this building will be the location of their office and a welcome center for the Mount Hope rails-to-trails system. The building is also currently being restored for use by the Coal Heritage Discovery Center, a visitor center featuring coal heritage interpretive exhibits.  

Coal Heritage Discovery Center

Coal Heritage Park educates visitors on the history of Mt. Hope. The area that is now Mt. Hope, WV was sparsely populated until the discovery of a coal seam by settlers at Turkey Knob and another at Glen Jean. Coal companies and their employees flooded the town and by 1894, there were several companies in Mt. Hope. The industry’s growth in the area was aided by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway line that was built through the town in 1873. Mt. Hope steadily gained population and was incorporated in 1895. The town was unique as it was not a company owned mining town, as many others in the region were. Because of this independence, Mt. Hope had a much wider variety of businesses and was not limited to a single company owned store. Like many other coal towns, the population and commercial growth of the city has been in decline as the coal industry has become less profitable.
The park was created in 1930, just nine years after Mt. Hope was granted a city charter by the West Virginia Legislature. The iconic drinking fountain in the park rests on a concrete foundation with semi-circular arches and keystones of native ashlar stone. Landscaping includes various trees and a planting bed surrounding a large piece of coal mounted on a concrete base. Across the street, an exposed seam of coal is framed by a cut stone arch with the words "Famous New River Smokeless Coal" inscribed above.  Both assets are contributing structures in the Mount Hope Historic District. The city of Mt. Hope lies within the National Coal Heritage Area, which spans 13 counties in southern West Virginia. The National Park Service aims to protect the history of coal in the region and educate visitors on the region's history.

Coal Heritage Park

Visitors to the Exhibition Coal Mine and take an educational tour
underground with a veteran miner. Tours of the vintage mine are taken in a “man
trip” coal car while the miner shares personal stories of life in the mine. During
the tour a brief history of coal mining is given and along the way stops are
made in order to point out specific aspects of the mine. Miners interact with
visitors by answering questions. 

The above ground tour includes a visit to a restored three room
house. The house was originally located in Sprague, WV as part of a coal camp
and owned by the New River Coal Company. Dating back to the mid-1920s, this
house is a great way to see what life was like living in a coal camp. 

Visitors may also tour a one room school building that was built
in 1925. This school building was originally located in Helen, West Virginia.
This particular school served the Black children growing up in the coal camp.
The school was owned by the coal company and only camp residents could attend. While
touring the one room schoolhouse, tour guides tell interesting facts concerning
the school and its students. The one room schoolhouse provides a different
perspective on education.

The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine offer tours daily from April 1
through November 1, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The mine is always 58 degrees so all
visitors are encouraged to bring a jacket. Tours last approximately 35 minutes.
T

Beckley is a stop on the Coal Heritage Trail and the site of West Virginia's Exhibition Coal Mine. Located in a former mine and filled with historic equipment and exhibits, the mine also offers tours led by former miners in a historic coal car that once took men into the mines. The interactive experience takes visitors into a mine while providing information about the history of the coal mining experience from a variety of perspectives. The complex offers more of a nostalgic view of coal mining with static displays of company houses, stores, and schoolrooms. As a result, the visit should be paired with a visit to the Mine Wars Museum in Matewan and other sites related to labor, industrial disasters, and other aspects of coal mining history. At the same time, this exhibit offers something unique in that it offers a chance to tour a former mine, go 1500 feet underground, and talk with a veteran miner about their experiences and perspectives.  

Exhibition Coal Mine and Coal Camp

West Virginia is called&nbsp;"Mountain State," but it is most known for its coal industry. Coal is a rich heritage in West Virginia and has been since it was discovered in today's Boone County in 1742. It was discovered by Peter Salley over a hundred years before West Virginia was its own state. The coal industry&nbsp;is&nbsp;&nbsp;a leader in West Virginia's economic, political and social history. However, it is also the center of controversy when it comes to the safety, environment and labor of the industry. The coal changed West Virginia from a frontier state to an industrial state. Coal in 62 recoverable seams can be found in 43 of the 55 counties in West Virginia.&nbsp;Knowledge of the coal reserves in what was once western Virginia predated the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson knew that coal was all over the area. His neighbor, John Peter Salley, traced significantly large bunches of bituminous coal along Coal and Kanawha Rivers. However, there was not a demand for the mineral outside of local areas in iron forges and Blacksmith shops. Needless to say, West Virginia cares about its coal and the heritage it brings. Coal Heritage Museum displays this culture and the history of the coal industry and its people. Boone County has a great story that includes Daniel Boone, explaining how the county received its name. The Coal Heritage Museum includes tools used&nbsp;by miners from the early mining days until present time. It showcases photographs,&nbsp;oral history tapes and even contains company records.&nbsp;

A museum located in downtown Madison, West Virginia that is dedicated to preserving the heritage of the coalfields for the future years and generations. It contains many memorabilia from the old coal mining days to today's coal mining jobs. It has a simulated coal mine and many other hands-on activities. It also includes a company store and a miner's home. The adjacent arts center displays Daniel Boone and explains how Boone County, West Virginia got its name. 

Bituminous Coal Heritage Foundation Museum

&nbsp;“The company had leases on 900 acres of land
and operated two mines and 100 coke ovens with 200 employees in the early 1900s”.
Three years after opening, there were one-hundred seventeen people working for
them. Payroll records indicated that miners received $1.05 for loading a coal
car that held two and a half tons of coal. Timber at this time sold for a one
cent a piece. 

“The families that lived
in the nine houses that were located in the immediate vicinity of the Buckeye
Tipple are superimposed here in the general location of the houses for the
1920s and 1930s period”. One-fourth of a mile up the track, four additional
houses were built to house the Campbell and the Buster Bailey families. 

Mr. Rickman was the
Buckeye Tipple Manager. He was the “boss of the Buckeye Tipple crew. Mr.
Richard Foster was the “boss of the Buckeye Mine crew. The well-known Dr. Homer
Luttrell was hired to work for this coal mine. He also delivered many of the miners’
children. Alex Bailey (pictured below) was the night shift mine foreman for the
mines above the Buckeye Tipple. Mr. Bailey lived on Sinai Mountain, right about
Goodwill, West Virginia. He was well known throughout the town of Bramwell. He
kept his money in the Bank of Bramwell, and refused to withdraw it during the
bank’s foreclosure. “He was a very respected community leader and was known for
his lending of money to anyone who approached him. It is said that he owned the
first car on Sinai Mountain”.&nbsp;

The Buckeye Coal Tipple was the second tipple owned by the Buckeye Coal and Coke Company.  Located at Freeman on Simmons Creek, the tipple opened in 1886. This was three years after the first coal shipped from Pocahontas, Virginia coalfields. The Buckeye Coal and Coke Company was owned and founded by the Hewitt family, who came to Bramwell in 1855 from Pennsylvania.

Buckeye Coal Tipple

In the early 1920s, David Houston, a prominent coal baron and owner of the Houston Coal and Coke Company, built the Houston Company Store. Unlike other company stores, the Houston Company Store was built on the edge of Carswell Hollow along Route 52 rather than in the center of town. The building housed a post office, payroll office, and a retail store that served the Houston Coal Company’s employees and their families. It also served as a gathering place for community members to socialize.Like several other coal company stores in the region during its era, the Houston Coal Company Store was considered essential to the mining industry in West Virginia. The building’s unique architecture exemplifies its function as a showpiece of wealth on behalf of the company, a common practice during the time. The building looks notably different and less industrial than most coal company stores throughout the region, largely due to its architectural style.The store’s primary functioning occurred during the post-Civil War era of vast expansions on behalf of the American industrial market. In order to attract and maintain a sufficient working force, coal companies in Appalachia built supposedly self-sufficient communities for their workers to live in. Several such towns came to existence in Southern West Virginia and were all thought of as the centerpieces of their communities.Initially, the store located in Kimball near Welch was owned by and operated for the Houston Coal Company, but later on it was purchased by Koppers Coal Company. The building was strategically placed in a long valley with company-owned houses and one other company store, which was necessary because of the unique configuration of the Kimball community. The other store no longer exists today, but it was likely much smaller and less prominent than the still-extant store.Interestingly, while most coal stores were place in the physical centers of their communities, the Houston Coal Company Store was actually placed at the mouth of the valley near the main road. Since it was built during the beginning of America’s automobile boom, it is believed the store’s placement was chosen with this in mind. Due to its location near to the main road, it was readily available to travelers just passing through the community as well as Kimball residents. The store’s functioning as a social hub in this way would have been very normal (and required) for the development and maintenance of industrial communities.After being owned and occupied by several companies since the 1950s, including Leatherwood Dairy, Corte Construction Company, and McDowell County Emergency Services, and being left vacant for several years, plans were recently announced for the building’s conversion into a cultural and historic museum. Efforts to restore the Houston Company Store began in 2005, and the $1.5 million restoration project was announced in 2015. The announced project included plans to turn the building into a visitors center for McDowell County with information on the role of company stores in local communities during the era of its most prominent operation.The majority of funding for the restoration project was provided by a grant on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration, which was issued through the National Coal Heritage Area. Funds were also matched by the town of Kimball and the McDowell County Economic Development Authority. Restoration was completed in the spring of 2016.

Constructed in 1923, the Houston Coal Company Store, also known as Koppers Store, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as one of the most unaltered remaining coal company stores in Southern West Virginia. It is a one-story building made of brick and features a near-perfect symmetry with round arches and a rear arcade.

Houston Coal Company Store/ Koppers Store

The store is located at the intersection of state route 16
and county route 12/8, right in the center of the small coal producing town of
Caretta. The company traditionally placed stores such as these in places where
they were easily accessible to the community. Along with the store, the company
built a church and a school between most of the community and the mine. This
ensured that the families who inhabited areas such as these would spend their
generic, coal company money in the store and was a way for the company to have
essentially control all of the commerce in the town.

Many men and women had no other choice but to shop at places
such as these. Since many of them weren’t being paid in actual U.S. currency,
they relied on the company stores to put food on their tables. This is why the
saying “I owe my soul to the company store” was generated.

The original Carter Coal Company Store stood on an even
T-planned stone foundation under a gabled roof. Wooden-frame shed wings, later
added to the sides of the façade, made the building into an L shape. This brick
building is an important landmark from a time when coal companies monopolized
small towns all across the state of West Virginia.

The Carter Coal Company Store was built in Caretta, WV in 1912 just after the company was established. The originally T-Shaped building had a couple additions during its use as a company store and was considerably large for its time period. Despite the additions as time passed, the building still retains most of its original architectural features that were common for Carter Coal Company Stores and is a relic of days past where families were essentially forced to shop at Coal Company owned businesses.

Carter Coal Company Store

Stone Mountain Coal Camp was home to many miners--Blacks, whites, and immigrants--and their families while they worked for the company. Coal companies created a complete system of control over their workers. Not only did they own the mines, they owned entire towns: company stores (that accepted their own form of currency known as scrip), housing, schools, doctors, churches, and cemeteries. This authoritative system inspired songs such as the popular “16 tons” ballad by Tennessee Ernie Ford, with lyrics like “I owe my soul to the company store.”  These camps were almost always unincorporated. To keep order and maintain obedience among the camps, coal companies employed mine guards to police their towns and squash any efforts to organize for fair living conditions and basic civil rights. At Stone Mountain Coal Camp, these gunmen were the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. The guards exerted power over miners by brutal force and received the reputation as thugs. The mine guards answered to no one but the company and its operators.  Miners often had to sign “yellow dog contracts” in which the worker agrees not to remain in or join a union. Those who refused to sign were fired and Blacklisted from the mines. Once fired, miners and their families, along with what assets and furniture they had, were thrown out of their company-owned housing, forcing them to live in tent colonies for periods of time, and oftentimes, in harsh conditions.  During the early 20th century, miners across southern West Virginia collectively organized to form a union and enjoy basic civil rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, and better pay. By January 1, 1920, the UMWA had some successes organizing the Kanawha Coalfields; however, the companies still had a stronghold in Southern WV. On January 30, 1920, UMWA President John L. Lewis and District 17 President Frank Keeney held a public meeting in Bluefield, WV--home of the headquarters of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Here, they announced their intentions to organize the non-union southern counties of West Virginia, including Mingo, Logan, and McDowell. Some 3,000 miners responded to this call, including miners at the Stone Mountain Coal Corporation near Matewan. Detectives arrived in Matewan on the Number 29 Train on the morning of May 19, 1920. The detectives had one intent that day: evict those who joined the union out of their coal company housing. They were led by Albert and Lee Felts, and made their way from North Matewan all the way down to Warm Hollow, carrying out evictions along the way. Thirteen detectives arrived in town that day, and only six would leave Matewan alive.  Various remnants of the camp are still found today, though there’s little there to recognize it and what happened. This Clio entry aims to remember those miners who fought for unionization and their monumental struggles that are often forgotten today.

Stone Mountain Coal Camp was built in the early 1900s by and for the coal company. It was an unincorporated town in Mingo County, West Virginia, with scattered land-holdings that stretched from North Matewan to Warm Hollow, which is strikingly close to the city limits of Matewan. Many miners and their families who lived here were violently evicted out of their company-owned housing on the morning of May 19, 1920 as an attempt to break the strike. These evictions left dozens of families homeless and led to the Battle of Matewan later that day, an event that left 10 people dead or dying. 

Stone Mountain Coal Camp 

The Coal House stands in Williamson, WV- which was incorporated in 1892. Coal was the driving force of the economy in that area, widely known as the "coal fields". So, it is obvious that Williamson's history would revolve around coal production and transportation; this history eventually lead to the building of the Coal House, which serves as a way of honoring and remembering it. Historians say that Williamson was named in honor of Wallace J. Williamson, one of the early settlers of the valley. Much of the region, including portions of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, centered around downtown Williamson. At the time, the Norfolk and Western Railroad (now Norfolk Southern) had a major railroad yard located in the East End of town that brought in a lot of business and money for the city. Williamson evolved over the years and became the "Heart of the Billion Dollar Coalfields".  In 1931 O.W. Evans, Manager of the Norfolk and Western Railroad's Fuel Department in Williamson, had the idea of building a structure entirely of coal in order to symbolize the dominance of coal in the region. Mr. Evans organized a campaign that eventually bore fruit with the completion of the Coal House in 1933. The house was constructed under the supervision of a local architect named H.T. Hicks by using 65 tons of bituminous coal mined in the local area and donated by several large coal companies. Also, much of the labor and materials was donated by local workers and citizens. At the time of its construction it was the only structure built of coal in West Virginia- now, there is another house found near Lewisburg. Housing the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Coal House stands on a lot immediately adjacent to the Mingo County Court House, symbolizing the vital link between the coal industry and the life of Mingo County. According to the description found in the National Register of Historic Places, the coal was cut into random size blocks and laid in random range. The outside surface is still intact due to coats of waterproofing varnish applied to protect the coal masonry from deterioration. All the openings in the building, windows and main entrance, are arched. The entrance door itself is a large double door surmounted by a large fanlight and flanked by sidelights. The entire building rests on masonry blocks, set on concrete footing. The two-feet thick walls of the house are also capped with stone coping. In October of 2010 the Coal House caught fire, causing extensive damage to the interior of the building, but minimal damage to the exterior. The building was safely renovated at a cost of around $200,000 and the inside of the building has been updated with a more modern interior design. However, according to Mandi Cardosi, the wood floors still creak and slant due to the various floods that have found their way into the building. This is now preventable because of the large flood wall that encompasses the city.    An unusual aspect of the building, and one that sets is apart from most public buildings in West Virginia, is the bronze plaque on the outside of the Coal House that not only lists the architects and major sponsors, but names every local company, businessman, mason, carpenter, and laborer who worked on the building. The Coal House was truly a community effort as few public buildings are, and is today on of the major objects of interest and community pride in Mingo County, West Virginia.

In 1993, local residents hauled sixty-five tons of coal into the city of Williamson, West Virginia. This coal was not used for the production of heat or energy. Instead, residents built blocks of coal and used these to form walls that were two feet thick. These coal walls now house a local history museum within the Williamson Coal House. One of the region's most unique landmarks, the "House that Coal Built" is now a local history museum with exhibits that feature local artifacts. The building also serves as a symbol of the community and reflect the pride of many area residents who are descendants of coal miners. 

Coal House

This brick building in Thomas, WV lies south of the center of town. Built in 1900 to replace a previous administrative building that had exploded the year before, the is now abandoned and kept up by the city. The building was constructed specifically for the Davis Coal &amp; Coke Company to function as a headquarters. It served this purpose until the company stopped operating in 1950. The office served as the administrative center for the company's coal mines in Thomas, Coketon, Benbush, Pierce, and Kempton.    The Davis Coal &amp; Coke Company was founded by local politician and businessman, Henry Gassaway Davis. Davis got his start working as a brakeman for the B&amp;O Railroad in the 1840s, going on to hold positions as a station agent, train conductor, and superintendent for the company. After making earning money selling supplies during the Civil War, Davis began to plan his future railroad ventures in the area. Davis and his brother Thomas began to buy property in Mineral, Grant, Tucker, and Randolph Counties in the late 1860s. Construction on the first mine and railroad on this property began in 1882 near Piedmont. During this delay in his business ventures, Davis served as the first Democratic Senator from West Virginia for three terms.   The success of their first mine gave Davis the funds to continue his railway and mines up the Potomac, leaving budding coal towns in their wake, including Davis, WV. The railway line was known as the WVC&amp;P. As the mining interests of the group expanded, the company was unified under the name Davis Coal and Coke Company in 1886. The group had expanded to Thomas, WV in 1884 and would continue to expand their reach. The administrative building in Thomas was built at the height of Davis's influence in the company. Davis stepped down as the company's president in 1902, though his family remained active in the business for years afterward. Davis continued to serve political roles and even had an unsuccessful run for vice president in 1904.    The Davis Coal and Coke Company was purchased by the Gould Company in 1903. The company's railroad lines were merged with the Western Maryland Railroad and Western Maryland Railway in 1906 and 1910. However, the name of the company and lines were kept as they had become recognizable at a national level. Though the company stopped coke production in 1920 as technology changed, the coal mines continued to operate until 1950. Coal from the Davis Coal and Coke Company"s mines was used to power US Navy ships.   The damage caused by the company is still being felt today, despite the mine closures in the 1950s. Environmental traces of toxic chemicals and the scars of strip mining are still apparent so many years later. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

The Davis Coal & Coke Company administration building, built in 1900 after an explosion destroyed the original structure, was the center of field operations for the Company until it closed in 1950. The two-story brick structure also housed the engineering department, where regional mines were planned, designed, and managed. The City of Thomas is the current owner of this property which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

West Virginia Miner’s Memorials

The Coal Heritage Riverwalk

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information