Stearns Coal & Lumber Company

Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. . In 1902, Justus S. Stearns of Ludington, Michigan bought 30,000 acres of virgin timberland in southern Kentucky. When coal was discovered soon afterwards, the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company was established. The company built the town of Stearns to serve as the hub of a logging and mining empire that would control over 200 square miles of land, built the Kentucky and Tennessee Railway, erected the first all-electric sawmill in the U.S. and employed over 2,200 people living and working in 18 coal and lumber camps. Almost all the buildings in Stearns were painted the company’s color of white with green trim, and included residences, a freight depot, office building, pool hall, theater, the renowned Stearns Hotel, and company store where residents could purchase nearly anything with company issued money, called scrip, or US currency. The company also provided water, electricity, steam heat, tennis courts, a golf course, and a baseball field in addition to a dentist and medical doctor. The Stearns Company operated mines from 1902 until 1975 when the last mine, the Justus Mine, was sold.