Thorpe was the No. 4 mine and coke works for United States Coal and Coke Co. (one of the coal mining
arms of U.S. Steel; H.C. Frick Coal and Coke being the other). No. 5 mine and coke works were at Thorpe, too (and, some would argue, No. 11). It is the end of the U.S. Steel coal
towns as one heads up the Tug Fork. The No. 4 mine produced coal from 1904 until 1940, except for a few years in the bottom of
the Depression. Apparently it was reopened from the 1970s to the 1980s, too. No. 5 mine produced Pocahontas No. 3 coal from 1904 until 1941, absent production in 1931, '32, and '34.
Dec. 2006 image by author
Duplex company houses at Thorpe. Dec. 2006 image by author
U.S. Coal & Coke had several different housing templates that they used in their McDowell County (and Harlan County, KY) towns.
Dec. 2006 image by author
The Thorpe post office at the time of this photo, U.S. Coal & Coke orginially built this as the coal camp's restaurant. At one time Thorpe
also featured a company store, community center, and clubhouse.Dec. 2006 image by author
Ruins of the beehive coke ovens. These coke ovens were last fired in 1921. It seems that the front facades never last on most coke oven remains. Often the stones or bricks were stolen
and reused somewhere else.
Dec. 2006 image by author
Retaining wall and rail siding at the remains of the coke ovens. Coke drawers would stand on top of the wall
and unload the ovens with long handled shovels, and then dump the shovel full of "quenched" coke into gondola cars. At some later coke works this operation was automated to a degree.
Dec. 2006 image by author
