Coal Camps USA.
October 7, 2013 8:35 AM Subscribe
Coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains. An encyclopedia of coal towns.
Just good common sense really.
1. STAY OFF OF THE PROPERTY OF THE FEW REMAINING ACTIVE MINES. THEY ALL HAVE GUARDS WHO WILL RUN YOU OFF. ALSO, IT'S DANGEROUS, SEEING AS HOW YOU PROBABLY WON'T BE WEARING A HARDHAT AND METATARSALS.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:16 AM on October 7, 2013
1. STAY OFF OF THE PROPERTY OF THE FEW REMAINING ACTIVE MINES. THEY ALL HAVE GUARDS WHO WILL RUN YOU OFF. ALSO, IT'S DANGEROUS, SEEING AS HOW YOU PROBABLY WON'T BE WEARING A HARDHAT AND METATARSALS.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:16 AM on October 7, 2013
Mine Cube?
posted by cjorgensen at 9:17 AM on October 7, 2013
posted by cjorgensen at 9:17 AM on October 7, 2013
EmpressCallipygos: "Huh. In the Western PA section, it gives an advisory for those thinking of visiting - "avoid talking with a Texas or French accent". What's that about?"
No idea. There are a lot of Texans around these days working on the Marcellus gas wells but I don't think that anyone would have a problem with the accent. And in 24 years of living in Western PA, I've never met someone from France so no idea what that's about. Residual anger over the French and Indian War?
posted by octothorpe at 9:24 AM on October 7, 2013
No idea. There are a lot of Texans around these days working on the Marcellus gas wells but I don't think that anyone would have a problem with the accent. And in 24 years of living in Western PA, I've never met someone from France so no idea what that's about. Residual anger over the French and Indian War?
posted by octothorpe at 9:24 AM on October 7, 2013
My parents grew up in and around Grundy, and I got excited when I saw the title "An Encyclopaedia of Coal Towns." However, it's really a listing of the coal fields, the major coal mines, and some of the company towns, than offering any information about the non-company towns. Still, one of my Dad's first jobs was banging coal out of coal cars with a sledge hammer, he went on to work in the energy sector, his father worked for the power company (fueled by coal), and my mom's father did the whole gambit of mine owner, mine manager, and plain ol' miner. It was interesting to get a view of the countryside that I have only visited a couple times my entire life.
As a tangent, my parents both love the movie October Sky, as they think it fairly accurately reflects the world they grew up in (the coal mining towns of southwest Virginia, not high school rocketry). The movie, itself, is set not that far away from their childhood homes.
posted by Atreides at 9:32 AM on October 7, 2013
As a tangent, my parents both love the movie October Sky, as they think it fairly accurately reflects the world they grew up in (the coal mining towns of southwest Virginia, not high school rocketry). The movie, itself, is set not that far away from their childhood homes.
posted by Atreides at 9:32 AM on October 7, 2013
Oh God, the Rust Belt section of that site. I just want to pick up all those gorgeous brick buildings and bring them to California where they would be used and loved.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:42 AM on October 7, 2013
posted by entropicamericana at 9:42 AM on October 7, 2013
Oh God, the Rust Belt section of that site. I just want to pick up all those gorgeous brick buildings and bring them to California where they would be used and loved.
I'm pretty sure there must be people in the Rust Belt who want to love those brick buildings, but currently lack the resources to do so.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:24 AM on October 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure there must be people in the Rust Belt who want to love those brick buildings, but currently lack the resources to do so.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:24 AM on October 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
I really enjoy the all the photos here, but part of me feels it's a bit disingenuous in how it displays only the gritty and blighted parts of these areas. This one in particular bugs me in how it implies the Goodyear complex in Akron is a shuttered shell of a factory, when in fact, the company is still very strong here, even investing tens of millions of dollars in new facilities and employing thousands of people. The Rust Belt gets a bad rap, much deserved at times, as a post-industrial wasteland, but there are plenty of good things happening here, and we need all the help and positive press we can get.
Now excuse me, I have to leave in a few to head to my bowling league tonight.
posted by slogger at 11:05 AM on October 7, 2013
Now excuse me, I have to leave in a few to head to my bowling league tonight.
posted by slogger at 11:05 AM on October 7, 2013
And now I see many people are making the same point in the Detroit discussion a few threads down.
posted by slogger at 11:37 AM on October 7, 2013
posted by slogger at 11:37 AM on October 7, 2013
I'm big on genealogy and I really like to be able to put my ancestors' lives in context. Many of them were miners in Pennsylvania and Ohio. This site is excellent for helping me see the ways in which they lived and worked. Thanks for this.
posted by disclaimer at 12:23 PM on October 7, 2013
posted by disclaimer at 12:23 PM on October 7, 2013
Oh God, the Rust Belt section of that site. I just want to pick up all those gorgeous brick buildings and bring them to California where they would be used and loved.
Except for the part where they'd fall on your head in the next earthquake. That's why you don't see brick in California--it's phenomenally expensive.
posted by hoyland at 12:26 PM on October 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Except for the part where they'd fall on your head in the next earthquake. That's why you don't see brick in California--it's phenomenally expensive.
posted by hoyland at 12:26 PM on October 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Except for the part where they'd fall on your head in the next earthquake. That's why you don't see brick in California--it's phenomenally expensive.
Indeed, it's a good thing they don't have earthquakes in back there.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:31 PM on October 7, 2013
Indeed, it's a good thing they don't have earthquakes in back there.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:31 PM on October 7, 2013
My dad was born in Grundy in 1922. His mom wanted him to get an education and get out of there, so he did.
I grew up in central VA and I can tell you that SW VA might as well be another planet. Tough area, tough people, tough lives. If you've never seen John Sayles' movie "Matewan", and want to know a bit more about the area's history, you should check it out.
Driving down those mountain roads was like disappearing into another world. The people had been so brutalized by Big Coal that the paranoia was palpable. On one of our visits in the 70's, during a mining strike, we were visiting some family property with an old friend of dad's who made me wear a bullet proof vest. He had several rifles and a shotgun with him as well. That made an impression on me, a teenager from a college town.
posted by skepticbill at 1:05 PM on October 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
I grew up in central VA and I can tell you that SW VA might as well be another planet. Tough area, tough people, tough lives. If you've never seen John Sayles' movie "Matewan", and want to know a bit more about the area's history, you should check it out.
Driving down those mountain roads was like disappearing into another world. The people had been so brutalized by Big Coal that the paranoia was palpable. On one of our visits in the 70's, during a mining strike, we were visiting some family property with an old friend of dad's who made me wear a bullet proof vest. He had several rifles and a shotgun with him as well. That made an impression on me, a teenager from a college town.
posted by skepticbill at 1:05 PM on October 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
My parents grew up in and around Grundy
Atreides, I was just in Grundy a few days ago. First time I was there - I'm from Cleveland, but I was taking my Dad to visit an old friend. There really wasn't much there, but there was an awful lot of new construction - road work and new retail centers. According to a youngish local there isn't anything in Grundy but drugs and druggies. I don't know about that, but with all that was going on, there didn't seem to be anything to do. There was an awful lot of support for coal being displayed via bumper stickers, billboards and yard signs, but no sign of any coal work happening - at least along 460.
posted by SafetyPirate at 6:24 PM on October 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Atreides, I was just in Grundy a few days ago. First time I was there - I'm from Cleveland, but I was taking my Dad to visit an old friend. There really wasn't much there, but there was an awful lot of new construction - road work and new retail centers. According to a youngish local there isn't anything in Grundy but drugs and druggies. I don't know about that, but with all that was going on, there didn't seem to be anything to do. There was an awful lot of support for coal being displayed via bumper stickers, billboards and yard signs, but no sign of any coal work happening - at least along 460.
posted by SafetyPirate at 6:24 PM on October 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure there must be people in the Rust Belt who want to love those brick buildings, but currently lack the resources to do so.
Absolutely. My hometown is host to this creepy old brewery. This is among my favorite buildings in town, and has featured in several of my nightmares. It's been added to the register of historic places because nobody wants to see it go. But the place is an absolute ruin. It was built shortly before prohibition. The brewery investors lost their shirts in the deal. A trucking company owned it for years and had no use for the upper floors. The floors have sagged so much that there's a 12" gap between the end of the floors and the wall. The bricks are crumbling. It's dangerous to enter most of it. Restoring it would cost a fortune, and no modern manufacturing operation in its right mind would want to locate in a multifloor facility. Expensive lofts would not happen here, because it's in a shitty part of town. No bank will ever finance a dime of work on this property. So there it sits, crumbling, as it has for the last 80-some years.
posted by TrialByMedia at 9:21 PM on October 7, 2013
Absolutely. My hometown is host to this creepy old brewery. This is among my favorite buildings in town, and has featured in several of my nightmares. It's been added to the register of historic places because nobody wants to see it go. But the place is an absolute ruin. It was built shortly before prohibition. The brewery investors lost their shirts in the deal. A trucking company owned it for years and had no use for the upper floors. The floors have sagged so much that there's a 12" gap between the end of the floors and the wall. The bricks are crumbling. It's dangerous to enter most of it. Restoring it would cost a fortune, and no modern manufacturing operation in its right mind would want to locate in a multifloor facility. Expensive lofts would not happen here, because it's in a shitty part of town. No bank will ever finance a dime of work on this property. So there it sits, crumbling, as it has for the last 80-some years.
posted by TrialByMedia at 9:21 PM on October 7, 2013
I was just in Grundy a few days ago. First time I was there - I'm from Cleveland, but I was taking my Dad to visit an old friend. There really wasn't much there, but there was an awful lot of new construction - road work and new retail centers.
There has been a lot of construction in Grundy for a while now. The Corps of Engineers not too long ago finished "moving" the town to the other side of the local river as for what you might call the nuclear option of flood control. It resulted in much of the old downtown being wiped out (i..e, all the nice looking old buildings).
I think most of the coal jobs that once represented the economic foundation of the town are gone. In part, this is due to economic reasons, where's the coal, how to get it out, and it's cheaper to perform mountain top removal mining (with fewer miners needed). Grundy, though, isn't going down without a fight. In the last decade and a half, both a pharmacy and law school opened up in Grundy (the law school was the site of a tragic shooting). Most people don't get excited about Wal-Marts opening, but in Grundy, Wal-Mart opened a unique two story store to account for the lack of level ground, and from what I've heard, it's still going on as a pretty big deal.
I actually have a first cousin who moved with his family to Grundy, they were from Roanoke, to work at the Mount Mission school located there. My aunt's family started the school decades ago and now my uncle sits on the board and my cousin was recently made the top administrator (I think). For the kids there, I hope Grundy is more than drug and druggies!
I appreciate the info, definitely!
Coal used to be such an everpresent industry that the creeks ran black with coal dust and the coke furnaces at night made my mother reflect that it must be what hell looked like.
posted by Atreides at 7:25 AM on October 8, 2013
There has been a lot of construction in Grundy for a while now. The Corps of Engineers not too long ago finished "moving" the town to the other side of the local river as for what you might call the nuclear option of flood control. It resulted in much of the old downtown being wiped out (i..e, all the nice looking old buildings).
I think most of the coal jobs that once represented the economic foundation of the town are gone. In part, this is due to economic reasons, where's the coal, how to get it out, and it's cheaper to perform mountain top removal mining (with fewer miners needed). Grundy, though, isn't going down without a fight. In the last decade and a half, both a pharmacy and law school opened up in Grundy (the law school was the site of a tragic shooting). Most people don't get excited about Wal-Marts opening, but in Grundy, Wal-Mart opened a unique two story store to account for the lack of level ground, and from what I've heard, it's still going on as a pretty big deal.
I actually have a first cousin who moved with his family to Grundy, they were from Roanoke, to work at the Mount Mission school located there. My aunt's family started the school decades ago and now my uncle sits on the board and my cousin was recently made the top administrator (I think). For the kids there, I hope Grundy is more than drug and druggies!
I appreciate the info, definitely!
Coal used to be such an everpresent industry that the creeks ran black with coal dust and the coke furnaces at night made my mother reflect that it must be what hell looked like.
posted by Atreides at 7:25 AM on October 8, 2013
http://www.coalcampusa.com/westmd/george/lonaconing-maryland-georges-creek/lonaconing-maryland-georges-creek.htm
Yay, my hometown. I'd guess probably 1/3 of the houses are "company houses" that were built by the mines and rented to miners - hence the "owe my soul to the company store" line. As a kids, my friends and I would crawl all through the tipples and chuck rocks out of the windows or roll old tires down the huge piles of coal. (This would be on Sundays, when they weren't operating, obviously)
The Iron Furnace is a "major landmark" for the area, and during the holidays it's used as the setting for the town nativity scene, which is kinda neat.
It's all strip/pit mining (seams are relatively shallow) as tunnel mining is too expensive to make it worthwhile. The abandoned mines made great dirt bike/ATV riding playgrounds as well. Although you'd get chased off once in a blue moon, but for the most part the mine owners looked the other way, as long as you didn't mess with the equipment, which nobody did, as the mine was always somebody's dad's employer.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 7:36 AM on October 8, 2013
Yay, my hometown. I'd guess probably 1/3 of the houses are "company houses" that were built by the mines and rented to miners - hence the "owe my soul to the company store" line. As a kids, my friends and I would crawl all through the tipples and chuck rocks out of the windows or roll old tires down the huge piles of coal. (This would be on Sundays, when they weren't operating, obviously)
The Iron Furnace is a "major landmark" for the area, and during the holidays it's used as the setting for the town nativity scene, which is kinda neat.
It's all strip/pit mining (seams are relatively shallow) as tunnel mining is too expensive to make it worthwhile. The abandoned mines made great dirt bike/ATV riding playgrounds as well. Although you'd get chased off once in a blue moon, but for the most part the mine owners looked the other way, as long as you didn't mess with the equipment, which nobody did, as the mine was always somebody's dad's employer.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 7:36 AM on October 8, 2013
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posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:08 AM on October 7, 2013