McROBERTS, KENTUCKY
McRoberts was a sister town to Jenkins (as well as Burdine and Dunham). All were built by Consolidation Coal Co. beginning in 1912. All mined the mighty Elkhorn seam of coal, which
conveniently outcropped along each side of the hollow. The miners at McRoberts worked in Mines No. 210, 2111, 212, 213, 214, and 215. At one time McRoberts featured schools, a baseball field, a Louisville & Nashville Railroad depot,
company store, meat market, filling station, and hotel, among other structures. Now about all that remains are the houses, a few churches, a cemetery, and a whole lot of memories.
War On Poverty era picture of McRoberts.
Coal company houses at Jenkins. In the red house on the right
a little bit of the original wood siding is visible.
Smaller coal company houses at McRoberts. For some reason
Consol called these "portable houses" perhaps because they came mostly assembled on the railroad
from an industrial housing manufacturer.
Back side of portable houses.
Former superintendent's house.
McRoberts Cemetery.
An article in the November 30, 1910 issue of The Coal Trade Journal stated, "The purchase by the Consolidation Coal Co. of Baltimore
of 100,000 acres of coal lands in the Elkhorn coking-coal field
in eastern Kentucky, and plans for its development on the basis
of an annual output of 4,000,000 tons, are of wide importance in
that they mark the opening up along broad lines of what is regarded as the largest undeveloped area of the highest grade of
coking coal known to exist in the country. The purchase price
of this particular tract was $4,500,000. The Louisville & Nashville will spend $5,000,000 to build to it. The company will
spend $1,000,000 on a road of its own and ultimately several
millions in development work, and other railroad lines will be
built. A total investment of $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 will be
made, directly and indirectly, as a result of this deal.
This property is known to contain nine distinct seams of
coal, but in the deal for its purchase its value was based only
upon one seam, known as Elkhorn No. 3. This scam has been
prospected throughout the property. It shows an average of
about 8,000 tons per acre. or an estimated total of 800,000,000
tons, which, at an annual output of 4,000,000 tons, would be
sufficient to last for 200 years."
1964 image by John Dominis
Nov. 2016 image by author
Nov. 2016 image by author
Nov. 2016 image by author
Nov. 2016 image by author
Nov. 2016 image by author