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CARETTA, WV
This mining town was owned first by The Virginia Pocahontas Coal Co., later by the Carter Coal Co. and then Consolidation Coal Co. Their No.
254 mine was a slope into the Sewell seam, and No. 261 mine was a shaft down to the War Creek seam.
From 1948 Caretta was an Olga Coal Company operation, which was a subsidiary of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. Olga finally closed the Caretta coal mines in 1982. However, in the 21st Century
there was a somewhat small truck mine coal loader at the lower end of Caretta. And, around 2015, a
completely new prep plant replaced the old one, which kind of made me sad.
The preparation plant was idle on this day. Unfortunately it has since been demolished.
Another view of the prep plant showing the rotary breaker and the skip hoist. This hoist brought coal to the plant to be processed. There was also a "man hoist" which
is just a concrete cap over a shaft now.
Detail of the top of the skip hoist head frame.
Where the refuse bin discharged into the aerial tramway buggies.
These dilapidated buildings, which probably included maintenance and electric shops, were next to the tipple. The building with the smokestack coming out of it appears to
have been a steam power plant.
Another photo of the steam plant/tipple complex.
This was once part of an air shaft / fan house.
This was the company store in Caretta. At the time of this photo is was a neighborhood store (Coors beer truck on
the left), which is no longer the case.
View of Caretta from a long time ago.
The lower part of the Caretta mining camp.
The upper portion of the coal camp.
These garages were for the miners who owned automobiles.
Another row of coal camp garages at the upper end of Caretta. I guess one individual person owns these now.
Perhaps this was a boarding house.
Larger coal company houses simalar to those on the other side of the mountain at Coalwood.
This would have been considered a "model" company town.
Another part of Caretta contains these houses.
A new prep plant replaced the old one at Caretta. On this day, however, it looked idle.
A little church with a big handicap ramp.
My son and I found all of this old coal mining
equipment discarded at the edge of Caretta.
An underground mining shuttle car.
Look like parts out of a prep plant.
Wire rope winch.
Nov. 2001 image by author
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Image courtesy of Coalwood Historical Society
Nov. 2001 image by author
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