This is the most unknown and mysterious coal field in Southern West Virginia. The New River Coalfield has been very well documented, and
the Winding Gulf and Pocahontas Coalfields have their experts,
but there isn't much information or nostalgia concerning the Greenbrier Field.
The March 1921 issue of The Coal Industry announced, "Preparations are now being pushed for the opening up of the last great field of New River coal, which consists of 200,000 acres of Meadow Creek and Meadow River. Operations are to be opened in this territory by five companies, including the Nelson Fuel Company of Lewisburg, the Imperial Smokeless, the Greenbrier Smokeless, the Marguerite Coal Company and the Frances Coal Company. The initial development will affect only 10,000 acres of this great field." A few months later Coal Age also heralded the new coalfield: "There is being rapidly developed in Greenbrier County a new smokeless field. Tributary to this section is 175,000 acres of coal belonging to the Gauley Land Co. Railroad connections at the present time are made via the C&O at Meadow Creek and thence by the Sewell Valley R.R. to Rainelle. At this point the Greenbrier & Eastern has built a ten-mile extension into the heart of this field, and there are five companies rapidly developing and getting ready to ship coal..."
Mining was mostly in the low-vol Sewell and Fire Creek seams. Later mining was in the Pocahontas No. 6 seam. At first the main railroads in the area were the Greenbrier & Eastern and the Sewell Valley Railroads. These were later absorbed by the C&O and New York Central when they jointly formed the Nicholas, Fayette, & Greenbrier Railroad (NF&G). Recent coal companies operating in the Greenbrier Coalfield included A.T. Massey's Green Valley Coal Co. and Princess Polly Anna Coal Co.
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