Backcountry Notes

Aetna Coal Mine, Tennessee, from King & Champney, The Great South (1875)In the century following the Civil War, nothing brought change to Appalachia as much as did the development of coal mining. The western highlands of Southern Appalachia overlay vast fields of bituminous coal and the construction of railroads into the mountains opened up coalfields for commercial exploitation.  By the end of the 19th Century, Appalachian coal was powering the industrial revolution in America, providing fuel for power plants, locomotives and other steam engines, and coke for making steel. 

Note: Click on any image for a larger view. Unless otherwise noted, images are from the Library of Congress archives. All images in this article are in the public domain.

"Down In A Coal Mine," King & Champney, The Great South (1875)Prior to the Civil War, the American coal industry was dominated by central Pennsylvania anthracite.  In 1869, U. S. domestic coal production was 17,083,000 tons of anthracite and 15,821,000 tons of bituminous coal. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad established a main line from Richmond, Virginia, to Huntington, West Virginia, in 1873, opening the bituminous coal fields of southern West Virginia. In 1879, domestic production was 30,208,000 tons of anthracite and 37,898,000 tons of bituminous coal. The Norfolk and Western completed its mainline from Norfolk to Bluefield, West Virginia, and built a feeder line to the hamlet of Pocahontas in Tazewell County, Virginia, in 1883:

On March 12, 1883, the first carload of coal was transported from Pocahontas in Tazewell County, Virginia, on the Norfolk and Western Railway. This new railroad opened a gateway to the untapped coalfields of southwestern West Virginia, precipitating a dramatic population increase. Virtually overnight, new towns were created as the region was transformed from an agricultural to industrial economy.

West Virginia's Mine Wars.

Rail yards at Caples, West Virginia. Loaded coal cars are shown on the right.

In 1899, coal production in the United States surpassed the production of Great Britain for the first time -- domestic production was 60,418,000 tons of anthracite and 193,323,000 tons of bituminous coal.  A report published in The Colliery Engineer, Volume 22 (1901), stated (at page 128):

In point of production, the most important of the coal fields of the United States are those contained in the Appalachian region, extending from Pennsylvania on the north to Alabama on the south. The proportion contributed to the total coal product of the United States by the areas included in the Appalachian region varies between 60 and 70 per cent.

Bluefield, WV, rail yardsBituminous coal divides roughly into two types -- "steam coal," used to power boilers for the production of motive power and electricity, and "met coal," or metallurgical coal, used to produce coke for the making of steel. The met coal of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia is the finest in the world and much of it is still sold for export. The development of this region was described in The South in the Building of the Nation: Economic History, 1865-1909, ed. by J. C. Ballagh (1909), at pages 180-181:

Over the mountains from, and to the south of, the New River coal field is the famous Pocahontas region of Virginia and West Virginia, the product of which has few if any rivals for purity and for coking and steaming qualities. The credit for the development of this region belongs chiefly to the late Major Jed. Hotchkiss, an ex-officer of engineers on the staff of Stonewall Jackson. With the termination of the strife between the states, Major Hotchkiss, who was a geologist as well as an engineer . . . resumed the practice of mining engineering and took special interest and pride in developing the resources of his state. It was largely through his efforts that capital was attracted to the Pocahontas coal field, and the Norfolk and Western Railroad extended into the region. The first miners arrived at the present site of Pocahontas, Virginia, in January, 1882. Eighteen months later (in June, 1883) the New River division reached the mines and the first carload of coal was shipped to Norfolk and distributed among the poor of that city. This district is now the most important coal-producing region of the South, having a yearly output exceeding that of any other state south of the dividing line of the Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon line. 

"My Sweetheart's A Mule In The Mines"

In the early years of mining, until the development of the electric-powered mine locomotive, the horsepower for coal mining was usually supplied by mules. Coal cars ran on tracks inside the mines and each car typically held a ton or better. Where mules fit inside the entries, they were used to pull the coal cars to the tipple. A folk ditty from that era goes like this:

My sweetheart's a mule in the mines,

I drive her without any line,

On the bumper I sits, and t'baccer I spits,

All over my sweetheart's behind.

(This is one of two "mule tunes" which the author learned from his grandfather J. B. Slack, Jr.) 

Coal miners and mule, Sandlick Mine, Grafton, WVMiners and mules inside the works, Gary, WV, 1908After a day's work, drivers sometimes rode their mules home

So just what is a "tipple?"

A "tipple" is a facility where mine cars are tipped to unload the coal for processing -- cleaning, sorting, and so on. Every mine had its own tipple, along with a complex of other production buildings and administrative offices. These often were located on a mountainside and led down to a railyard where the coal was loaded into cars for train transport.

Tipple at Scott's Run, WVCleaning plant, Pursglove, WVCoalbreaker, Floyd County, KentuckyCoke ovens, Buchanan County, VirginiaTipple, Kelly Creek, WV

"I Owe My Soul To The Company Store"

As new branch railways were constructed, the production areas in the Appalachian coalfields continued to increase.  Then, as now, local sentiments were divided -- some welcomed the coal industry for the employment and profits it brought, others resented the changes to the landscape and society.  As new mines opened, company towns were built -- houses and usually a company store. 

Company store, McDowell County, WVWelch, West VirginiaRed Ash, Virginia, a coal-company townInside the Raven-Red Ash company store

Mining town, Virgie, KY. The structures between the two rows of houses a privies or "out-houses."Main drag of Virgie, KY, in 1940Company store, Davey, WV

Coal company houses, Jewell Ridge, VA"It's Dark As A Dungeon"

If you've never been inside a coal mine, I have some news for you: when the lights are out, it is darker than any dungeon on earth. It takes some grit to be a coal miner. Those who have worked underground always remember the camaraderie which develops in a crew of miners -- but once they get an above-ground job, few go back. (More about coal miners in an article to come later.)

Yes, this is a full-color photograph, taken in the Pocahontas No. 3 mine near Richlands, Virginia, in 1974. National Archives.Coal miner working on the "roof" of a mine entryEarly mining machine, Gary, WVMiners' bathhouse, Welch, WVCoal miners at the end of a shift, Jenkins, KY, 1935