"SHINBRIER" ALMOST HEAVEN by "dizzy" harris.

COALDALE

COALDALE W. VA. EXPLOSION - Jan. 4, 1906

In the 1880's John Cooper and his sons, Thomas and Edward, began coal mining operations in an area of Mercer County, WV that would be known as Coopers after it was developed. The Cooper's mining company would be known as the MILL CREEK COAL & COKE COMPANY. The Cooper's later expanded their operations to Coaldale, also in Mercer County, as the COALDALE COAL & COKE COMPANY. This mine would be known as the COALDALE MINE. Other operations included the TUG and WARDUE MINES. The WARDUE MINE was the last to operate.

On Jan. 4, 1906 the COALDALE MINE was struck with a disastrous explosion which resulted in the loss of 22 lives.

A big thank you to ELVINA HIATT of Fort Worth, Texas for supplying the victims information. ELVINA is a Nebraskan GAL transplanted "DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS" and is much appreciated in these WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS.

THOSE WHOM GOD GRANTED EARLY RETIREMENT IN HEAVEN

Sterling Williamson 40 Negro Married 1 Child

June Kelly 22 Negro Married

George Martin 23 Negro

Nathan Hosten 26 Negro

Stanley Holland 25 Negro

Thomas King 45 Negro Married

Albert Barnum 35 Negro

Gus Harris 35 Negro Married

Silas Harris 25 Negro Married - Age may be 36

William Ward 35 Negro Married

Sip Gray 20 Negro

William Price 35 Negro Married 2 Children

W. P. Sullivan 36 Negro Married

John Patterson 40 Negro Married 7 Children

Walter Gwynn 21 Negro

W. C. Conrad 22 Negro

Alada Loas 40 Hungarian Married

Anthony Bruce 28 Polish

J. D. Sluss 35 American Married

R. H. Larew 35 American

W. L. Larew 30 American Married 2 Children

Jack Martin 40 American Married 1 Child

MINERS VICTIMS OF EXPLOSION AT COALDALE, W. VA.
ALL MET INSTANT DEATH.
FIRE DAMP OR MINE GAS SUPPOSED CAUSE OF DISASTER.
ONLY ONE BODY HAS BEEN RECOVERED, TORN TO SHREDS BY FORCE OF EXPLOSION -- RESCUE WORK SLOW ON ACCOUNT OF GAS AND SMOKE -- MOUNTAIN SHAKEN BY THE CONCUSSION -- CROWDS OF RELATIVES FLOCK IN FEAR TO THE MINE'S MOUTH.

Special to The Washington Post.

Bluefield, W. Va., Jan. 4. -- Twenty-one miners, three white and eighteen colored, were instantly killed this morning by an explosion of fire damp, or mine gas, in the Coaldale Coal Company's mines at Coaldale, W. Va. Only one body has been recovered.

Entire Force In Mine.

The explosion occurred about 11:30 o'clock when practically the entire force was at work in the mines. The shock of the explosion was felt throughout the miles of tunnels and passages. Before the explosion that shook the mountain had died away, THOMAS WILLIAMS, himself some distance from the scene, staggered to his feet, and, feeling his way to a telephone, told those on the outside that there had been an explosion, and asked for help.
A great crowd, composed of relatives of the dead miners, quickly gathered at the mouth of the shaft, and rescue parties were quickly organized by the mine officials. But the heavy volume of gas and smoke that filled the mine made the work of rescue slow and dangerous.

Mangled By Explosion.

It was not until 4 o'clock that the first body was brought out. It was that of H. C. CONRAD, and it was literally torn to pieces by the force of the explosion. The clothing was hanging in shreds.
Up to a late hour to-night no other bodies have been recovered.
The explosion took place in that section of the mine known as "Cracker Neck," between the "Smoky" and the "Big Jim" workings, and it is thought to have occurred in room No. 11. The general opinion is that the explosion was caused by gas, but the cause may never be known, as all of those who could shed light on the subject are dead.
Mine Boss WILLIAMS, who was almost suffocated, was a considerable distance from the "Cracker Neck," and JAMES FITCH, who was painfully injured by the concussion, was in the main entry, possibly a mile from the scene of the explosion. GEORGE WEBSTER, who was also in the main entry, received painful wounds and was almost stifled.
The force of the explosion was terrific. It is reported that at the opening near Maybeury, which is in the neighborhood of the "Cracker Neck," sixteen-inch pillars were blown down and out of the drift mouth with such force that trees on the mountain side were torn away by them.
Telephone messages were sent through the Flat Top field, asking the fire bosses to come and aid in the work of rescue.
The Coaldale operation was the first to begin work west of Elkhorn Mountain and employs a large number of men. The coal runs from ten to twelve feet in thickness, and the mine is one of the best, and has been always regarded as one of the safest in the field. It is the property of COOPER Bros., EDWARD COOPER, of Bramwell, and THOMAS H. COOPER, of Salem, being the active managers of this as well as the Mill Creek operations. It is said that the damage to the mine will be very large, but no idea can be gained of the extent until it can be explored.
Nearly all the men killed carried insurance. They were for the most part experienced miners, many of whom were thrifty and owned their little homes

OTHER MILL CREEK COAL & COKE CO. FATALITIES

Frank Marlowe - 05/29/1909 Coaldale Mine Slate Fall

Charles Hairston - 11/16/1907 Coaldale Mine Slate Fall

A. D. Reynolds - 05/27/1909 Coaldale Mine Slate Fall

John Carter - 11/16/1916 Coaldale Mine Fall of Coal

Luther Johnson - 01/03/1895 Coaldale Mine Struck by Engine

John Hospota - 11/30/1902 Coaldale Mine Slate Fall

Jim Dantorlee -03/16/1910 Coaldale Mine Slate Fall - SEE NOTE BELOW

Ellis Tucker - 08/03/1894 Mill Creek C & C Slate Fall

Dave Fox - 09/06/1925 Tug Mine Kettle Bottom Fall

Sam Green - 06/23/1924 Tug Mine Fall of Coal

Oakley Carner - 05/10/1921 Tug Mine Fall of Sandstone

J. F. Hendricks - 04/19/1921 Tug Mine Slate Fall

Joe Lambert - 03/29/1921 Tug Mine Coal & Rock Fall

Toney Adams - 02/15/1921 Tug Mine Fall of Coal

Henry Staples - 01/11/1921 Tug Mine Fall of Coal

Thomas Franklin - 01/12/1914 Tug Mine Coal & Slate Fall

John Moran - 08/05/1913 West Fork Mine Trip Car Wreck

David Stanger - 09/06/1913 Mill Creek Mine Crushed

Paul Jackson - 07/14/1913 Tug Mine Trip Car Wreck

Frank Layer - 01/18/1912 Mill Creek Mine Coal & Slate Fall

George Smith - 07/14/1911 Mill Creek Mine Fall of Coal

Amelio Charna - 07/06/1906 Mill Creek Mine Slate Fall

Tony Gott - 07/06/1906 Mill Creek Mine Slate Fall

Sam Moat - 07/06/1906 Mill Creek Mine Slate Fall

Harry BuckHannon - 07/07/1908 West Mine Slate Fall

WILLIAM ADAMS - 08/08/1903 MILL CREEK MINE ROOF FALL

RUFFUS BRITTON HAGERMAN - 02/25/1952 WARDUE MINE ROOF FALL

NOTE FOR JIM DANTORLEE ~ Jim's real name was Vincenzo Dattolico. Correction by Sebastian "SAM" Dattolico.

VINCENZO DATTOLICO

Vincenzo Dattolico was fatally injured by a slate fall March 16, 1910 at the Coaldale Mine, Coaldale, West Virginia. He was born May 10, 1883 in Puglia, Italy and came to America about 1905. He was known as "Jim" by family and friends. "Jim" is interred in the Pocahontas Cemetery, Pocahontas, Tazewell Co., VA. Plot: Section 7, Lot 67. Information provided by his nephew, Sebastian Dattolico.

COALDALE PHOTO WAS TAKEN ABOUT 1915. RAILROAD STATION IS LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF PHOTO. COMPANY STORE IS LOCATED IN THE LOWER RIGHT. MINE WAS AT THE UPPER LEFT CORNER. PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM ABOVE THE COALDALE TUNNEL WEST ENTRANCE.

BUDDY FRENCH EXPLORES COALDALE HISTORY

E-mail message from Buddy French

Diz, You may already have this, but if not here's some more information I've gathered. I spent the day Thursday exploring old mine sites in McDowell County. First I went to Maybeury and turned up the hollow to the site of the old Coaldale Coal and Coke Company. I've also seen it listed as the Millcreek Coal and Coke Company--Coaldale Colliery. Of course there's not much of anything left of the original Coaldale. On the right side of the hill where the railroad tunnel was, you can still see the large concrete foundation that the big water tank sat on. For the first time, I found the site of the Coaldale tipple and coke ovens. They are located just above the road and about 150 yards before you get up to where the railroad tunnel was. Only the brick and stone wall foundations remain at the tipple site today, but most of the coke ovens are still visible. According to a special coal field edition of a 1896 Bluefield Daily Telegraph newspaper, I now have documented proof that John Cooper, who opened the Mill Creek/Coaldale mine, took out a 1,000 acre track of coal from the Flat-Top Coal Land Association. It was the Pocahontas No. 3 seam and averaged ten to twelve feet thick. The Mill Creek side began shipping coal in 1884, 2,369 tons and had 150 coke ovens. The Coaldale side had 110 coke ovens and began shipping coal in 1890, 17,529 tons of coal and 629 tons of coke. At the time of this printing the combined capacity of the two operations was 2,500 tons of coal and 15 cars of coke per day and employed 450 men.
I've read that the railroad allotted coal cars to each mine based on how many coke ovens they had. I've also read that they required one coke oven for every ten acres of coal under lease, so if you had 1,000 acres of coal under lease, you had to have at least 100 ovens. Knowing that Coaldale had 110 ovens, I tried to verify that number so I followed the ovens all the way out to the point of the mountain to where you can look down on the current Norfolk Southern tracks, just a short distance from the new railroad tunnel. I stepped off 450 paces. That works out to about 1500 feet, the approximate length of the coke oven battery. It was a distance of about 14 feet from center to center of the ovens and if my math is correct, that's 101.7 coke ovens, so it works out pretty close. I went in one of the ovens and retrieved a piece of coke and a firebrick. The firebrick are yellowish in color and have the name Sciotoville on each one. After doing a little research, I discovered that fireclay was discovered in Sciotoville, Ohio in 1859. In 1861 Reese Thoms first produced firebrick in an old sawmill building. By 1870 there were three plants making firebrick and paving brick for roads, but in that same year they were all consolidated into the "Scioto Fire-Brick Company", producing 32,000 bricks a day and employing several hundred men. This company remained in operation well beyond the year 1900 and is probably where my souvenir firebrick was made in 1890 or earlier. I also discovered that in 1920 Sciotoville gave up its corporation powers and charter and became a part of Portsmouth, Ohio. Well, sorry I got a little off track. I also visited the Lickbranch, Crozer and Algoma mine sites and took pictures. If you are interested, let me know and I'll send you some pictures when I get them developed. Sure would have been nice it you could have been with me. Won't be able to do any exploring after everything turns green because it's too hard to find old sites and I don't like dealing with the snakes. Better go for now, take care.
Buddy

COALDALE ~ ABOUT 1900

PHOTO BY DIZZY HARRIS - JUNE - 1999

"COOPERS" or "COOPER"

What is the correct name? I will attempt to clear up the age old confusion as to which is the correct name.

The post office said "COOPERS"
The post mark said "COOPERS"
My birth certificate says "COOPERS"
The U. S. Geological Survey says "COOPERS"
The survey also list "COOPER" as a variant name.
Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company Scrip says "COOPERS".
Coopers Tunnel says "COOPER" (Built 1902).

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES by RON DIXON

McDowell/Mercer County Childhood Memories

My Name is Ronald Boyd Dixon. I was born on August 15, 1934 at home in a Coal Company House located in Switchback, West Virginia. I have one younger brother Teddy Eugene Dixon that was also born at home. He was born February 26, 1938 in the home of our Uncle Norval and Pearl (Wolfe) Purdue in Coopers, West Virginia. Our paternal Grandparents were Kelly Glen and Barbara (Bailey) Dixon. Our maternal Grandparents were John F and Belle Wolfe. Our parents were Kelly Eugene and Margaret (Wolfe) Dixon. Most people called Dad "Gene" and called Mom "Maggie".

The earliest I remember is when I was about 6 or 7 years old when we lived in a Coal Company House on a hillside up a hollow from US52 in Upland, West Virginia. My father was working for the Upland Coal Company at this time. The mine port was a very short distance from where our house was located. One vivid memory of mine during this time was when we got word that an accident had happened in the mine and as kids are likely to do, we ran off toward the mine to see what was going on. After a while an electric motor pulling several empty coal cars with the injured miners exited the port and stopped. I was just a little fellow and was not tall enough to look over the edge of the car so I pulled myself up over the edge and looked in the car. I can still see the image today in my minds eye that I saw on that day many years ago. An injured miner was laying in the car with Blood coming from every hole in his head…his eyes, his ears, his nose and mouth. I soon was chased away by the grownups and told to get myself out of there. I don't remember any other details about this mine accident at the Upland Coal Company.

Our Grandfather K G Dixon and his family lived down in the bottom from where our house was located up on the hillside. Grandfather Dixon was working as a "Fire Boss" at the Upland Mine but at some point later on he began working as a "Fire Boss" at Jenkinjones. I spent a lot of time at my Grandparent's house; in fact when our Father was drafted in 1944 my brother and I lived with them until our Father was discharged from the Army in 1945. I remember that there were mine tracks running directly in front of the house and quite often an electric motor would go by the house toward US52 where the Upland Coal Company had a supply yard with mine timbers and other assorted supplies and equipment. They would pick up whatever they were after and then would return up the hollow to a point where they had to execute a switchback to get back up the hill to where the mine was located.

Of course these years were during World War II. I remember ration cards and ration coupons/tickets that was necessary to buy sugar, gasoline, shoes and other assorted items. I remember how we collected scrap iron for the war effort. I remember we also were even saving empty toothpaste tubes. I remember we could only buy one loaf of bread each day.

As time went by the war ended and our Father returned home. Our Father remarried and moved to a little community that was called O'toole. Father was now working at the mine in Jenkinjones, West Virginia. It seemed like I only saw my father on the weekends as he was asleep when we got up in the morning and he was gone to work when we got home from school. We got our weekly spanking on Saturdays. The O'toole community was about a mile up the road from Anawalt, West Virginia heading toward Jenkinjones. Lot of coal trains went by our house on the way to Welch. I remember riding the local passenger train from O'toole to Welch where we changed trains to go on up to Coaldale. We attended the Public School in Anawalt for two years…my 7th and 8th grades.

COALDALE

In the summer of 1948 Our life was changed dramatically when my brother and I went to live with our Mother and now Step-Father Ople Anthony James in the community known as Coaldale, West Virginia. Our Step-father worked on a section gang for the N&W and we were living in a Railroad owned house just a few feet from the N&W mainline. While living in Coaldale I was able to witness on a daily basis those great N&W built Steam Engines working up the Elkhorn grade. What a wonderful time of my young life. Often we would ride the eastbound local passenger train to Bluefield; spent the day shopping and taking in a movie at the Granada or the Colonial Theatre and then catching the late afternoon westbound local back to Coaldale . On other occasions we would ride the westbound local to Northfork, WV; go to a movie at the Freeman Theatre and return to Coaldale on Number 10 the eastbound.

Coaldale was located in Mercer County at the West Side of the old Elkhorn Tunnel commonly known as the "Coaldale" Tunnel. Coaldale was located up the valley from Maybeury, West Virginia thru the community known as Barlow and on up the valley until you could go no further by car. Guessing, I would say it was about 4 miles from Maybeury to Coaldale and I will say that, unfortunately, I had to walk it many times. Since Coaldale was located in Mercer County Ted and myself attended Public School and graduated at Bramwell High School in Bramwell, West Virginia. I graduated in May 1952 and Ted graduated in 1956. I immediately joined the USAF at the tender age of 17 and left Coaldale for Basic training At Lackland AFB in Texas. Interesting note about getting to school....Before the Railroad construction started the School Bus would travel from Bramwell west on US52 to Maybeury and drive up the valley and on up the mountain into Coaldale to pick up the school kids. After construction started the school bus would drive west on US52 to Blizzards and then go around the mountain on a dirt road to just above Coaldale to pick the kids up.

At one time Coaldale was the location of a major coal mine but when we moved to live with our Mother in 1948 the only action going on was the N&W construction to build the new double track Elkhorn tunnel which would lead the Railroad to moving the tracks from one side of the mountain to the other side resulting in a lower grade up the Elkhorn. The new tunnel was opened in June 1950. I was there with many other people at the East Portal and witnessed the first revenue train exit the tunnel. I believe it is common knowledge that the first revenue train was the Pride of the N&W passenger trains which was known as Number 26, the eastbound "Powhatan Arrow". I also was privileged to witness the inaugural run of the "The Powhatan Arrow" in 1946 or 1947 (not exactly sure) as School Officials took all the students from Elkhorn Grade School to watch the Westbound Number 25 go thru Elkhorn, West Virginia. I remember all the kids from school were lined up beside the track and cheered as the train went by. We were really impressed by that streamlined Engine pulling the train. During the construction of the tunnel I was on the construction site many times. For a time, one of my uncles worked on the project. We made friends with several of the workers there, especially with the cooks in the mess hall that had been constructed to provide meals for some of the workers. We managed to get a few free handouts. Sad to say but when the new tunnel opened the community of Coaldale as I knew it slowly faded away. For some reason the powers that be decided to move the Coaldale post office over to a place on US52 commonly referred to as "Blizzards" where the Blizzard family and others lived. The highway department put a sign on the Highway labeled "Coaldale" so I guess the community of Coaldale lives on. I'm not sure which coal company did the work but when the N&W removed all the rails and the electric wire from the old roadbed and tunnel the coal company proceeded to mine out the coal seam that the tunnel had been constructed through.

They mined a lot of good quality coal from that tunnel and then sealed the port. I had an occasion to explore the old community of Coaldale a little over two years ago. Mother nature has completely reclaimed that which is hers. We could not find any clue as to where the portal was located. The only trace of the railroad roadbed we could find was the remains of some cement posts that probably held up signal bridges. No buildings of any kind were located. The only evidence of the home I had lived in was a lonely chimney barely visible. It was quite sad for me to see this but it finally made me realize that those days I remembered living in Coaldale were truly gone forever. Thankfully, I still have the memories.

Grandfather John Wolfe worked for the Mill Creek Coal and Coke Company. He was the general maintenance supervisor for the Coal Company taking care of many repair needs. He was a carpenter, plumber and I'm sure many other things that I was not aware of. He traveled to all the Mining communities of the Mill Creek Coal Company taking care of whatever he needed to do. I remember he used to go to a place called "English". I know it is in McDowell but I'm not really sure exactly where English is.

Grandparents lived in a Company provided home in the community of Barlow. I spent a lot of time at their home as well. The Barlow mine was active and a lot of activity was always going on. From Grandfathers front porch I could watch the action as the N&W had track going up the valley toward Coaldale that the N&W used to move loaded coal cars around building outbound trains. Although today there is no visible evidence there was a huge slate dump across from their home on the opposide mountain side. Today it is completely covered by trees. The Company Store at Barlow was maybe a quarter mile (plus or minus) from their home going toward Maybeury. Granny would often send me to the store to pick up something for her. She always rewarded me with a shiny dime. The dime didn't last long because I couldn't wait to go back to the Store and get one of those huge and delicious .05 cent ice cream cones.

Of Course the mine was eventually closed and the tipple was torn down. I was able to witness the Company Store being torn town as the railroad construction project moved on toward completion. Grandfather Wolfe retired and built a home in Bluewell, West Virginia. They then moved away from the Barlow location. Today it is a very depressing site to drive through this area. Only a few people live there now and most of the buildings have fallen into a dilapidated condition.

I have good memories from my childhood although I'm sure there were some hard times. I was blessed to be born into a good family in southern West Virginia. I have nothing but good memories of all my Grandparents. One thing that I will always remember is the delicious food that Granny Wolfe always placed on the table. As a good Granny will do she was always ready to give me something good to eat.

ANY EX-COALDALE RESIDENTS WISHING TO CONTACT RON MAY DO SO THROUGH ME AT MY E-MAIL ADDRESS

JOHN F. AND BELLE WOLFE

MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS OF RON AND TED DIXON

KELLY GLENN DIXON AND BARBARA (BAILEY) DIXON

PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS OF RON AND TED DIXON

COPYRIGHT 2008

DizzyHarris1@yahoo.com

E. L. Harris
1305 Dodge Dr NW
Warren, OH 44485

COALDALE WV R.R. STATION

COALDALE WV TUNNEL WEST ENTRANCE 1930

COALDALE TUNNEL WEST ENTRANCE UNDER CONSTRUCTION 1888

E-MAIL FROM BUDDY FRENCH

I want to make a correction about the above Coaldale Tunnel photo. In the past I may have labeled it as under construction in this photo. This photo was taken in 1901, thirteen years after the tunnel first opened and shows work being done on the new ventilation system. On April 3, 1901 it was announced that the new tunnel ventilation system had been completed and was now operational. A 200 feet deep well was drilled to supply water to a new steam plant that was built. It contained a 200 hp turbine engine that drove three ventilation fans that forced fresh air through the tunnel at about 8 to 10 mph ahead of locomotives. This limited locomotives speed to 6 mph or otherwise they would catch up with their steam and smoke. Between 1888 and 1901, seven train crewman died in the Coaldale Tunnel from asphyxiation and fourteen more were reported as being brought out near death. In 1915 the N&W electrified a 30-mile section between Bluefield and Vivian and began using Baldwin-Westinghouse LC-1 electric locomotives.

FIRST TRAIN THROUGH COALDALE TUNNEL 1891