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ALPOCA - BUD WV
Alpoca, W.Va. and Bud, W.Va. kind of run together. They are on Barkers Creek in Wyoming County.
The name Alpoca was derived from Alpha Pocahontas Coal Co. Alpha Pocahontas was history prior to World War II. Later Gaston Coal Company operated mines at Alpoca. This may have been a subsidiary of
Slab Fork Coal Co. Later the Gaston No. 2 Mine in the Pocahontas No. 3 seam was an operation of the Slab Fork Coal Co. All of this was named after Gaston Caperton. The Caperton family owned Slab Fork Coal.
Thermo Pocahontas Coal Co. mined coal at nearby Bud. Today people still live at Bud, but nearly all of the Alpoca community has disappeared.
Former mainline of the Virginian Railway in Alpoca, W.Va.
The house on the right is the last remaining building from the Alpoca coal camp.
Another view of 21st Century Alpoca.
This structure was the escape hoist for the Gaston No. 2 Mine.
At first I thought this was Alpoca but I now think
it is part of Bud.
There are still some interesting buildings in Bud.
I wouldn't mind living in a cut stone home like this myself.
Remaining foundations from the Thermo Pocahontas Coal. Co.
The rubble stone foundations of the buildings indicate their historic nature.
A windowless church in Bud.
Sources:
Legg, Mary E. From Affinity to Winding Gulf. 1989.
Stevenson, Mary Legg. Coal Towns of West Virginia. Quarrier Press, 1998.
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SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA COALFIELDS