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The Winding Gulf Coalfield is located in western Raleigh County and eastern Wyoming County, in southern West Virginia. It is named after the Winding Gulf stream, a tributary of the Guyandotte River. In the early 20th century, it was promoted as the "Billion Dollar Coalfield".
The nomadic Native Americans who hunted there for thousands of years ending in the Woodland Period and the early European settlers in the Virginia Colony and the Commonwealth of Virginia were generally aware of the "rock that burns" which lay below the rugged terrain of the mountainous area which became southern West Virginia. However, aside from some personal mines, no commercial value had been realized by the mid 19th century.
Noted British geologist David T. Ansted (1814-1880) was among the early experts hired by potential investors to survey promising coal fields along the New River in southern Virginia in the United States. In 1853, Dr. Ansted helped identify the rich bituminous coal seams which lay there. His work set the stage for a mining boom in the area, where he invested in land in what became the new state of West Virginia in 1863 during the American Civil War (1861-1865).
It took transportation and industrialized techniques to realize the commercial potential. A protégé of Dr. Ansted, William N. Page (1854-1932), became a leading industrialist and developer of iron furnaces, coal mines and railroads in the area, leading and managing such enterprises as the Gauley Mountain Coal Company for absentee investors, many of whom were based overseas in the United Kingdom. Page came to West Virginia to help complete the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) between Richmond, Virginia and the Ohio River in the early 1870s, and helped develop branch lines to coal mining facilities. Former West Virginia Governor William A. MacCorkle described him as a man who knew the land "as a farmer knows a field." Beginning in 1898, Page began working on a scheme to expand into the Winding Gulf area, which was also in the sights of the C&O, whose main line ran along the New and Kanawha River Valleys.
The C&O was heavily working the New River Coalfield, and planning expansion into the Winding Gulf region. However, despite efforts to discourage him, Page introduced unwanted competition by what appeared at the time to be mysterious means. In what has become a popular tale of both U.S. railroads and business competition, the story was recorded and told by historian and rail author H. Reid in The Virginian Railway, published in 1961.
It turned out that William Page, who the C&O knew to be a bright man but of apparently limited financial means, had the secret backing of millionaire industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840-1909). When the large railroads used their power to discourage the Page scheme, Rogers financed an expansion of the Deepwater Railway, originally planned as a West Virginia short line railroad of 80 miles (130 km), into a Class 1 railroad reaching all the way across Virginia over 500 miles (800 km) to become the Virginian Railway. [1] It became a major third coal exporter at Hampton Roads in 1909. Despite the inefficiency of some duplicative facilities, the Winding Gulf Coalfield benefited from the two major railroad outlets, and became one of the most productive in the state.
The mining of coal in the Winding Gulf Coalfield began in the first decade of the 20th century and continues into the 21st century. The coal in this field is a low volatile coal, and the seams of coal that have been mined include Beckley, Pocahontas No. 3, Pocahontas No. 4, and Sewell. This is very high quality bituminous coal rated at approximately 15,000 British thermal units per pound (35 MJ / kg ).
Over 50 coal camps (also known as coal towns) were once located there, with independent commercial districts at Sophia and Mullens anchoring the eastern and western ends of the field. By the 21st century many coal camps had partially or completely returned to nature.
Some of the names associated with the Winding Gulf Coalfields are:
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The company towns were located along Winding Gulf Creek, Stone Coal Creek, upper Piney Creek, Slab Fork, Laurel Fork, Devils Fork, Barkers Creek, and the Guyandotte River. The main railroad in this coalfield, the Virginian Railway (VGN), had branches running along all of these streams.
The Virginian's main line bisected the field as well, in addition to a repair shop and rail yard at Mullens (named the Elmore Yard), which was operated by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) after a 1959 merger. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) also served the eastern part coalfield, but never entered the Wyoming County portion.
Winding Gulf Collaries, Gulf Smokeless Coal Co., C.H. Mead Coal Co., E.E. White Coal Co., and Pemberton Coal and Coke Co. were among the early players in the field. These companies recruited native born whites for employment, but also imported Poles, Italians, and other European immigrants to work in their coal mines. African-Americans were hired to work in the coal mines of the Winding Gulf Coalfield as well. By the time the "coal boom" of the late 1970s and early 1980s occurred, Westmoreland Coal Co. and Eastern Associated Coal Co. were the dominant operators and most of the ethnic diversity had disappeared (including polka dances at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Beckley).
While millions of tons of coal have been mined from this coalfield, the mineral is still extracted at a few deep and strip mines, and a large International Coal Group deep mine and preparation plant on the edge of Beckley, WV started operations in late 2007.
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The population was 1,404 at the 2010 census. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Route 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawks Nest overlooking the New River far below.
Princeton, is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The city is coined the "Heart of Mercer County" or the "Jewel of the South" in past decades. The population was 6,432 at the 2010 census with approximately 35,000 residents living in the greater Princeton area. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,342. The city hosts the Princeton WhistlePigs baseball club of the Appalachian League. A main tourist destination of the city is the Mercer Street Grassroots District located in Downtown Princeton. This area has been revitalized and is now home to cafes, restaurants, shops, and artistic venues.
Mullens is a city in Wyoming County, West Virginia. The population was 1,475 at the time of the 2020 census. It is home to a highly rated railroad themed restaurant "Second Street", and has a railroad crossing at the front entry of the town.
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads.
William Nelson Page was an American civil engineer and industrialist. He was active in the Virginias following the U.S. Civil War. Page was widely known as a metallurgical expert by other industry leaders and investors as well as state and federal authorities.
Frederick James Kimball was a civil engineer. He was an early president of the Norfolk and Western Railway and helped develop the Pocahontas coalfields in Virginia and West Virginia.
David Thomas Ansted FRS was an English professor of geology and author of numerous books on geology. His role as a teacher at Addiscombe Military Seminary, where future East India Company army officers were trained, had an influence on the study of geology in the colonies.
Page is a census-designated place (CDP) and coal town in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 224. It was named for William Nelson Page (1854-1932), a civil engineer and industrialist who lived in nearby Ansted, where he managed Gauley Mountain Coal Company and many iron, coal, and railroad enterprises.
Whitby is an unincorporated community and coal town in the Winding Gulf Coalfield of southern West Virginia within Raleigh County, United States.
The New River Coalfield is located in northeastern Raleigh County and southern Fayette County, West Virginia. Commercial mining of coal began in the 1870s and thrived into the 20th century. The coal in this field is a low volatile coal, known as "smokeless" coals. The seams of coal that have been mined include Sewell, Fire Creek, and Beckley. This is very high quality bituminous coal rated at approximately 15,000 BTU (16,000 kJ). The New River coalfield is named after the north flowing New River. Over 60 coal towns were once located there, supported by independent commercial districts at Beckley, Oak Hill, Mount Hope, and Fayetteville. By the 21st century many coal camps had partially or completely returned to nature. These company towns were located along Dunloup (Loup) Creek, Laurel Creek, White Oak Creek, lower Piney Creek, and, of course, the New River. The mainline of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway ran right through the center of this coalfield, with spurs branching off in many directions, and rail yards were maintained at Quinnimont, Raleigh, and Thurmond, WV. The Virginian Railway's main line also passed through the western side of the field as well. Companies such as the New River Company, New River & Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Co., and Mary Frances Coal Co. were the largest operators in the New River Coalfield, but there were many smaller ones as well. These companies recruited native born whites, immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, and African-Americans from the South to work in their coal mines and railroads. The mines began to close down after World War II and today there are very few active coal mines in the field. The New River Gorge is now the domain of the National Park Service as the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, and they have done what their budget allows to preserve the coal heritage of the area.
Pocahontas Coalfield, which is also known as the Flat Top-Pocahontas Coalfield, is located in Mercer County/McDowell County, West Virginia and Tazewell County, Virginia. The earliest mining of coal in the coalfield was in Pocahontas, Virginia in 1883 at Pocahontas Mine No. 1, now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Logan Coalfield is a coalfield located in Logan County and Wyoming County of southern West Virginia, in the Appalachia region of the eastern United States.
Kay Moor, also known as Kaymoor, is the site of an abandoned coal mine, coal-processing plant, and coal town near Fayetteville, West Virginia. The town site is located in the New River Gorge at Kaymoor Bottom (38°03′00″N81°03′17″W). It is linked to the mine portal 560 feet (170 m) above on Sewell Bench (38°02′52″N81°03′58″W) in the wall of the Gorge by conveyors.
Samuel Dixon was an industrialist and politician in West Virginia. Dixon was among the powerful and wealthy men who helped develop southern West Virginia's bituminous coal bearing-region during the late 19th and early 20th century.
Tams is an unincorporated community in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. Tams is located on West Virginia Route 16 and Winding Gulf, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Sophia.
The National Coal Heritage Area (NCHA) is a federally designated National Heritage Area encompassing a region of thirteen counties in West Virginia that were the source of "smokeless" bituminous coal through much of the 20th century. The National Heritage Area recognizes the area's cultural and historic qualities and serves to promote tourism, historic preservation and economic development in the region. The idea of the NCHA was first proposed in the early 1990s by Congressman Nick Rahall, and was established on November 12, 1996 by the 1996 Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act. The designated area includes Boone, Cabell, Fayette, Logan, Lincoln, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Raleigh, Summers, and Wayne counties.
The Richmond Basin was one of the Eastern North America Rift Basins. It lies over Swift Creek Reservoir from Interstate 64 to the Appomattox River.
Flat Top Mountain is a mountain ridge within the Allegheny Mountains in Southern West Virginia, United States.
The Princeton–Deepwater District is a rail line in West Virginia that connects Deep Water, West Virginia, on the Kanawha River southwards to Princeton, West Virginia, and beyond to rail lines leading to Virginia. It is known for its rugged terrain and opportunities for rail photography.
Pocahontas Fuel Company operated mines in the state of Virginia in Boissevain and Amonate, and in West Virginia at Jenkinjones, Bishop, and Itmann. Pocahontas Fuel Company founded the Pocahontas Consolidated Collieries Company in 1907. In 1956 Pocahontas was acquired by the Consolidation Coal Company. Consolidation Coal Company became Consol Energy in 1991. Consol Energy mines coal at Amonate. Pocahontas Fuel Company used the Norfolk & Western Railway bring the coal to ports for shipment.