Classroom

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.

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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

Visit the sites made famous by the novel Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam.

Rocket Boys (October Sky) 

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. 

West Virginia Miner’s Memorials

With
the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957 the Cold War between the U.S.S.R. and
the United States was reaching new heights. Russia was beating the United
States in the space race by a pretty large margin. In part due to the
bureaucracy that comes with government contracts. U.S. efforts to reach space
were failing and the thought of Russians flying spacecraft over America
frightened many Americans, but the launch had an entirely different effect on a
small town in West Virginia.

Coalwood, West Virginia was a
mining town that only existed to produce coal as many towns in southern West
Virginia did. At one time the population of Coalwood was approximately 2,000
people, a considerable population for such a narrow valley in rural West
Virginia. Like many small communities in West Virginia the population would
plummet as mining changed from a labor-intensive job to a mechanically
dominated job. This decline in coal jobs has had a devastating effect on
southern West Virginia and Coalwood is no exception.

Homer (Sonny) Hickam Jr. grew
up in Coalwood, son of Homer Hickam Sr. and Elsie Hickam. Homer Sr. was
supervisor at the mine, where he spent the majority of his life. Elsie was a
stay at home mother, but maintained a busy schedule in the community as well as
her son’s school. Sonny witnessed Sputnik 1 streaking across the sky and it
changed his life and the lives of many in his community forever. Sonny and his
friends started trying to build rockets in Sonny’s families basement and tried
to launch the first one in his backyard. An utter failure, the rocket blew up
and destroyed part of their fence. This explosion would lead to a search for better
accommodations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sonny’s father’s position at
the mine was both a blessing and a curse for Sonny. Hickam Sr. wants Sonny to
follow in his footsteps and that leads him to believe Sonny is wasting his time
building rockets, but his position also gives Sonny access to
resources/materials the group otherwise would not have had. Cape Coalwood was
one of those resources. With the goal of keeping rockets from landing in the
town of Coalwood, Hickam Sr. would allow the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA) to
set up shop on a remote piece of company property. What used to be a slack dump
would become home to scientific success that no one could have
seen&nbsp;coming. &nbsp;

Cape Coalwood, named after
NASA launch site Cape Canaveral, started out with nothing more than open space
but the BCMA began building everything they needed to successfully launch
rockets. Hickam Sr. would somewhat unwillingly provide a lot of materials for
the completion of Cape Coalwood, to include cement for the launch pad. BCMA
would also build a blockhouse to safely launch the rockets from. Cape Coalwood
would be home to the BCMA until the boys flew their final rocket.<blockquote>“We walked out on the gritty surface of the dump. Bulldozers
had flattened millions of tons of coal tailings to create a Black desert that
stretched far down the narrow valley. No tree, not even a blade of grass grew
on it. “If you want to fire off your rockets, here’s the place,” Dad said. “Nobody
in town can see or hear you. You’ve got the entire valley.” I gaped at the huge, flat Black space. “How long is it?” “About a mile, more or less.” I peered down the sun-baked dump and then at the surrounding
mountains, my imagination clicking into overdrive.” -excerpt from the book Rocket Boys</blockquote>







After the BCMA stopped using
Cape Coalwood and the boys went off to college the pad continued to be returned
to nature and became covered like any other field in the mountains of West
Virginia. Some shelters were built there for the October Sky Festival, but have
since deteriorated with the festival moving to Beckley West Virginia in 2012.

Cape Coalwood located in Coalwood, West Virginia, was the launch site for a group of teenagers made famous by the book Rocket Boys and later the movie October Sky. At this site, Homer Hickam Jr. and his friends tested their rockets and used the date they collected to improve their rocket building abilities. Originally this location was used as a slack dump for the various coal companies in the area before Homer Hickam Sr. allowed the boys to build their launch pad.

Cape Coalwood (Rocket Boys Launch Site)

In 1905 entrepreneur
George LaFayette Carter purchased 20,000 acres of land in McDowell County and
established the Carter Coal &amp; Coke Company to begin mining the area’s rich
coal seams. He also began building a town to service the mine, which he named
Coalwood. He later opened a second mine across the mountain with a town named
Caretta. By 1915 Coalwood was producing one million tons of coal each year. In
1922, Carter sold the mine and the town to the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal
Company. The company continued expanding the community with the construction of
new facilities and hundreds of new homes. It also recruited hundreds of new
miners to Coalwood, including African Americans and European immigrants. In
1933 Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal defaulted on its payments and ownership
reverted back to Carter. Carter died in 1936, and the company was then taken
over by his son James. In 1945 labor disputes resulted in Navy sailors being
deployed to Coalwood to keep the mine in operation for six months. In 1947 a
group of companies purchased Carter Coal and renamed it the Olga Coal Company. 

In 1956 the Coalwood
mine was connected underground to the nearby&nbsp;mine in Caretta, also owned
by Olga. In 1959, Olga ceased bringing coal to the surface via Coalwood,
instead opting to use the Caretta side. Soon afterward the Norfolk and Western
Railway removed all the tracks to and from Coalwood. The Coalwood-Carretta mine
continued to be productive, producing an annual average of one million tons of
coal. However the increase in mechanization and competition from other energy
resources began making operations at Coalwood unprofitable. In 1980, the Olga
Coal Company was bought by the LTV Corporation which shut down Coalwood's mine
in 1986. All company records were donated to the Eastern Regional Coal Archives
at Craft Memorial Library in Bluefield, WV. 

In the years following
the mine’s closure Coalwood has experienced a population decline and the
closure of most of its businesses. Coalwood became nationally known in 1998
following the publication of Homer Hickam’s memoir Rocket Boys. In 1999 Coalwood began hosting an annual Rocket Boys
festival featuring events such as rocket launch competitions and appearances by
Homer Hickam and the other Rocket Boys. In 2012 the festival was moved to Beckley, West Virginia where it continues today.

Coalwood is an unincorporated community in McDowell County, West Virginia. For many years it was a thriving coal company town. At its peak Coalwood had a population of 2,000 and produced two million tons of coal per year. Mining operations in Coalwood reached its climax in the 1960s and finally shut down production in 1986. The town is famous as the setting of the best-selling memoir Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam and the movie October Sky based on the book. For several years the community hosted an annual October Sky Festival.

Coalwood

Southern
West Virginia is home to many small coal mining towns and one of those towns,
Coalwood, is the childhood home of Homer Hickam. Mr. Hickam was born on
February 19, 1943; and he later graduated from Big Creek High School in
1960.&nbsp; But it was October of 1957 when Homer looked up and saw the Soviet
spacecraft that was known as “Sputnik” that changed his life forever. From then
on, Homer found his calling in rockets and the aerodynamics behind them. His
new hero and role model became Wernher von Braun, the German scientist that was
leading America’s space program during the time and attempting to face the
front and break barriers within the NASA program.

Up until the night Homer saw
“Sputnik” fly overhead, his life revolved entirely around the coal mining
industry. His dad, being the superintendent of the mine in Coalwood, was always
pushing for Homer to come into the mining industry the same way he was.
However, when Homer got into rockets, his interests were not going to be changed.
That’s when Homer decided he was going to keep going and follow his dream and
new love for rockets. Homer and his group of friends who consisted of: Quentin,
Roy Lee, and O’Dell, the Big Creek Missile Agency (BCMA), decided this was
something they were going to do. Things did not exactly go as planned for the
group of friends though. After a few launch mishaps, the group realized they
needed some help. That’s when Homer turned to Miss Riley and some other
teachers for help with the mathematics and books behind it all. The welders at
the mining company ended up helping the boys fabricate the pieces for their
rockets and also ended up teaching them how to do it themselves. The BCMA was
very successful in their endeavors, leading to Homer bringing home a win at the
National Science Fair for their work. 

Homer Hickam then went on to
become Vietnam veteran serving six years in the Army. Homer Hickam would be
awarded the Bronze Star for his service. After the war Hickam continued his
scientific work and lived his dream of working for NASA as an engineer. Hickam
has written numerous articles since getting home from Vietnam as well as many books.
Several are books about his life, the most well-known “Rocket Boys”. Later in
life Homer also picked up the hobby of amateur archaeology. His interests keep
him going, and strives to continue learning.&nbsp; His West Virginia roots stay
true as he celebrates being a Rocket Boy. Every October, a Rocket Boys
celebration was held in Coalwood, WV; now the celebration held in Beckley. Some
say that now, since the celebration has been moved from the very hometown of
Homer Hickam, it will never be the same.

Homer Hickam, known for his 1998 book "October Sky" (originally titled "Rocket Boys") is from Coalwood, WV. Long before being cast into the spotlight with the release of the movie “October Sky”, Homer “Sonny” Hickam and his friends in the Big Creek Missile Agency were famous in their small West Virginia town for building rockets. This early fame culminated in Sonny winning the National Science Fair. Homer Hickam would continue living his dream as an Aerospace Engineer for NASA. His legacy is significant not only for West Virginia but for NASA as well. 

Homer Hickam, Rocket Boy

Built in 1931, Big Creek High School, home of the Owls, opened in 1932. Like many schools during this segregated period, Big Creek would
only serve white students and would not become fully integrated until 1965. Big
Creek continued to operate until 2010. As population declined in southern
West Virginia, Big Creek, like many schools in the area, fell victim to consolidation.
Students from Big Creek joined students from Iaeger High School to form a new
school named River View High School in Bradshaw, West Virginia.A 1960 Big Creek graduate,&nbsp;Homer Hickam, is the author of
a&nbsp;memoir titled&nbsp;Rocket Boys&nbsp;that focuses on his upbringing
in Coalwood, West Virginia. A coal&nbsp;miner's son,&nbsp;Hickam's father expected
Homer to follow&nbsp;in his footsteps, but after being inspired by the news
of&nbsp;Sputnik 1, Homer formed a group of friends who started to build
rockets. With the help and encouragement of&nbsp;Big Creek High School&nbsp;teacher
Freida Riley, Homer and his friends won the school science fair with&nbsp;their
rocketry, and&nbsp;Homer went on to take his rockets to the National Science Fair where he ended up earning first place.



On July 17th, 2015, Big Creek High School, already
closed permanently, was destroyed in a fire. What caused the fire is still unknown. Luckily, the fire did not do significant damage to the new grade school that had been built in close proximity. For the town of War, West Virginia, their beloved high school will be missed for years to come. Famous alumni Homer Hickam had this to say-<blockquote>&nbsp;"The people of the county have suffered much during the past 40-plus years and this is another painful episode. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to celebrate the life there in my books before the changes began and I have hope for a renaissance there in the future but, for now, this hurts."</blockquote>

Built in 1931, Big Creek High School is located in War, WV and was in operation from 1932 to 2010. The school has been primarily known because NASA engineer and author Homer Hickam went there. The school is featured in October Sky, the movie adaptation of Hickam's book entitled Rocket Boys, a memoir in which Hickam writes about growing up as the son of a coal miner in Appalachia.The McDowell County community discussed preserving the historic building in order to use it perhaps as a museum, but unfortunately, it was decided due to the building's extreme deterioration that the school would be demolished and the land used for the Southside k-8 school's playground and park. Before it could be torn down, it caught fire and was destroyed in July 2015.

Rocket Boys (October Sky)

Carter Coal Company Store

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information