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BRADSHAW, WV

Most of Bradshaw W.Va. is a private town. It's a small incorporated town with a current population of around 300 people. But part of Bradshaw is a coal company town that was built by Bradshaw Coal Co. in 1919. Bradshaw sold their mine and coal camp to Southern Coal Corporation in 1942. The mine finally closed down in 1950. This is also known as the Dan coal camp.


Courtsy of WVGES

Map showing the coal mine, aerial tramway, man hoist, tipple, and coal camp.


1940's image from "A Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry" via the National Archives

View from coal camp at Bradshaw at the time Southern Coal Corporation owned it. I think this photo says it all about Appalachian coal town life in the 1940's. You have the wash tubs hanging on the house; the outhouses; pile of house coal (lower left); and the tipple at the bottom of the hill.


1940's image from "A Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry" via the National Archives

Another picture of the Southern Coal Corporation company town at Bradshaw. Did these people ever get used to living that close to the train? In the summer, with the windows open, the screeching wheels, rattling couplings, and horns would have been constant sounds coming right into the house.


1940's image from "A Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry" via the National Archives

Wash day at Bradshaw. Must have been a Monday.


Feb. 2018 image by author

The coal mine structures are gone, but part of the coal camp remains.


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