Developing the Coal Field

Developing the Coal Field. . Stretching across western Mercer County through McDowell and southern Wyoming counties is the Pocahontas coalfield, one of the most productive, coal-bearing areas in the world. In this area, 6 seams of high-quality coal can be found close to the surface. The coal itself is semi-bituminous with a high carbon content that burns well and produces little smoke and ash. This quality encouraged its promoters to label it “smokeless.” It is the coal that fueled the industrialization of the nation. , Although it was one of the last of the Appalachian coalfields to be developed, early explorers and settlers in the 18th century observed outcrops of coal. These discoveries were noted as early as 1787 in Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia. In the 1830s, Virginia’s first geologic survey explored this region and noted the outcrops of coal. The lack of transportation combined with the rugged terrain made development difficult. The area, then known as the Flat Top Mountains, was settled by a few hardy Scots-Irish pioneers who were content to live in relative isolation. , Major Jed Hotchkiss, renowned map-maker for General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson during the Civil War, hoped that Virginia iron and limestone could be combined with West Virginia coal to launch a steel industry in Virginia. In 1873, he sent an engineer, Capt. Isaiah Welch, to survey the coal potential. Aided by locals, such as Jordon Nelson, the success Welch reported created great interest among capitalists in Philadelphia. Nelson, himself a blacksmith living near Pocahontas, Virginia, had discovered a coal seam at the time of the Civil War. He dug coal for his own use and operated the first retail coal business in the area, often packing ½ bushel sacks of coal on horseback to deliver to customers. Locally known as the “Nelson” seam, it was 13 feet thick and of superior quality. Later, it was renamed the Pocahontas #3 seam. , At Hotchkiss’ urging, a group of investors formed a railroad company which would, in 1881, become the Norfolk and Western Railway and provide a link between the coalfields and the east coast. Prior to 1903, under West Virginia law, it was illegal for railroad companies to own large tracts of land. To get around this restriction, the railroad investors formed the Southwest Virginia Development Company to purchase about 200,000 acres of land in the Flat Top area. The company would become the Flat Top Land Association and represented a combination of railroad and land holding interests that gave it great power in directing and profiting from the development of this coalfield. , As the nation became more industrialized, surveyors, engineers, speculators and would-be capitalists gravitated to this forgotten frontier in search of coal. Developing a coalfield required precise geological knowledge as well as an infrastructure of labor, housing and transportation. In a region that was underpopulated, it required coal operators to build towns to secure the required labor near the mining operations. The development of the coalfield reshaped the geography of the region.