SMOKELESS COAL FIELDS OF WEST VIRGINIA: A BRIEF HISTORY

1. Location and Early Development

Location and Early Development 1 The coal-producing areas of the New River Valley, the Kanawha Valley and that part of West Virginia lying south of those two rivers are called "The Southern West Virginia Coal Fields." The western portion comprises the Kanawha, The Guyandotte, and the Williamson fields, from north to south. The eastern portion comprises the New River, the Winding Gulf, and the Pocahontas fields, also from north to south. The Kanawha, Guyandotte, and Williamson fields contain high volatile coals, and the New River, Winding Gulf, and Pocahontas fields produce low volatile, or "smokeless" coals. The more volatile matter, or gas, which a coal contains the more smoke it makes when being burned. The high volatile coals contain from 32 to 38 percent volatile matter. The low volatile coals contain from 16 to 24 percent volatile matter, and hence are called "smokeless." All coal was originally burned by hand firing, and the smoke difference between the high and low volatile coals was considerable . Anthracite coal has only 6 to 8 percent volatile matter, hence its early popularity in large cities where smoke was a great consideration. When John Mitchell called the great anthracite strike in 1902, the low volatile coals of West Vir15 16 The Smokel••• Coal Field. 01 We.t VIrginia ginia furnished the nearest approach to anthracite and built up a reputation and a market that stood them in good stead later on. (arly Hllfory After the Revolution, the State of Virginia took over sovereignty of former Crown lands. The debts owed by the State to officers who had served in the War were discharged by offering in payment lands in the western part of the State at 10 cents per acre. Many officers sold their warrants at a discount to speculators, and sizable patents were thus accumulated. For example, the Moore and Beckley patent covered 175,000 acres, the James Welch patent 90,000 acres, and the Wilson Cary Nicholas patent 500,000 acres. To be issued a deed, it was required that the patentee survey and map the tract and file the map with the Land Office in Richmond. Most of the area covered by these patents was non-arable land, but underlaid with coal. The occurrence of coal had been noted in the middle of the 18th century by the exploring parties of Dr. Thomas Walker of Albe.marle County and of Andrew Lewis of Greenbrier County. After the Civil War, the owners of these patents were, as a rule, unable to meet the taxes levied by West Virginia and forfeited the lands to the State. The State then put the forfeited lands up for sale to help finance the new public schools. Investors, chiefly from Pennsylvania, who had experience in the coal industry and were aware of the profit to be made from coal, bought up these lands. They were then prepared to lease them to coal operators, whenever such lands were reached by railways. Location and Early Development 17 Entry of th. Rid/roods Three major railroads serve the smokeless coal fields : The Chesapeake and Ohio, the Norfolk and Western and the Virginian. A more-orless distinct field grew up along the lines of each. In the following sections I have attempted to outline the early development of these fields. rh. Chesllpeoke and Oh'o Well before the Civil War, the State of Virginia , realizing the need for transportation to the western portion of the State, built five main roads across the Allegheny Mountains. These were constructed under the supervision of Col. Claude Crozet , a French army engineer who had been with Napoleon in the Russian campaign and who had fled France after Waterloo. Virginia also started the James River and Kanawha Canal, which was completed up the James River to Buchanan and from Charleston up the Kanawha to Deepwater. The plans of this canal included a four-mile tunnel through the mountains-a major undertaking. However, the railway era dawned and canals were soon all but forgotten. The State of Virginia started in the 1840's the Virginia Central Railroad (now the C. & 0 .) from Richmond in the east and from Charleston in the west. When the Civil War started the road was in operation from Richmond to Clifton Forge, and considerable work had been done on the western end. In fact, during the first year of the war, work continued on the Second Creek tunnel, near Ronceverte. After...