GLEN WHITE, WV
The Scottish / Gaelic influence on southern WV is evident in the number of community names with the prefix "Glen," such as Glen Rogers, Glen Daniels, Glen Morgan, Glen Hedrick, and Glen Jean. And then there is Glen White.
The Glen White mining camp was built by the E. E. White Coal Co., which was chartered on December 26, 1907. A spur was built by the Virginian Railway from their mainline to the new town, and the
first Beckley seam coal shipped July 1, 1909. The Glen White mine, one of the few shaft mines in the Winding Gulf Coalfield, was on one end of a nearly 6,000 acres lease
from Beaver Coal Co., and Stotesbury was on the other end. After many productive years the Glen White mine closed in 1945.
The late Dario Pitotti, of Beckley, said that his Italian-American family lived in the "hunk" section of Glen White in the 1920s and 30s. There was also a section for white Americans and one for African-American people. Dario remembered a store on the hill between Glen White and Lester
which was run by a man named Albanese and catered to the Italian-American immigrants. There were even bocce courts in the back yard of the store. Dario later went on to become chief electrician for Eastern Associated Coal at Stotesbury, which was originally the other E.E. White coal mining operation.
Mr. Pitotti also told me that one day at the Glen White mine the Beckley seam pinched down to 18". Company officials knew that the coal seam was thick again on the other side of this "pinch," and they
asked a young Mr. Pitotti to lay on his side and mine through the confining height until the seam thickened again. He said that he hardly had room to lift his shovel and move the coal out of the way. I have no idea why
the company didn't just take some rock down, or how they managed haulage through that section after Mr. Pitotti finished his grueling task.
Vintage view of Glen White, West Virginia showing company houses and the mine's rail sidings. A fairly gushing 1919 article in The Black Diamond noted that at Glen White "the management has
apparently ommitted no expense to make the living conditions more like those in an ideally located mountain resort than
in what one is accustomed to associate with a mining community."
Large company houses in the middle of the coal camp.
These smaller homes are more numerous in the Glen White coal camp, and probably represent the housing provided for the average coal miner and his family.
Some of the miners' homes still in existence along Route 54.
These company built houses at the back of the town still look original. When the coal company still owned the homes they were probably all painted the same color.
Typical of a coal camp hierarchy, these larger homes sit at a higher elevation than the miner's homes "in the bottom" and probably were inhabited by mine foreman
and bosses.
The nicest house in the Glen White coal camp is the extant mansion that was built for owner E.E. White, and sits on a bluff overlooking the town.
A portrait of E.E. White - obviously an enlightened and refined gentleman.
The White mansion, which allegedly contains a ballroom, is now on the National Register of Historic Places. At the foot of the hill in front of
the house is a "Service Roll" monument.
Detail of Service Roll, a monument which lists community residents that served in the military. These are common in coal mining towns of Western Pennsylvania, but they are not usually found in Southern
WV coal camps.
This Baptist church may date back to the coal camp era of Glen White.
The progressive E.E. White Coal Co. constructed this recreation hall containing bowling alleys, pool tables,
refreshment counter, and ice cream parlor. On the upper floor could be found a reading room, class room, and auditorium.
Inside the recreation hall's auditorium.
The former offices of the coal company. The company store used to sit beside this structure.
The power house has been recycled into a church. With so much cut stone work falling into ruin in WV it is nice to see some of it being saved and put to use.
Most other features of the Glen White coal mine are gone, but these tipple foundations are still there.
Next to the tipple foundations are the stone ruins of another mine building.
The coal shaft, tipple, and power house are visable in this vintage photo of the Glen White colliery. There also was a man shaft for this mine.
August 4, 1918 photo of a car of Glen White coal that was to be presented to the Red Cross.
The Glen White machine shop shown here is no longer in existence.
From the Beckley Post Herald, June 1, 1945:
Had you been at Glen White
yesterday afternoon (May 31,
1945) you would have seen a
strange and sad thing happen -
a coal mine die.
I was there, and It was a solemn
occasion for these stalwart men
who had been working a quarter
of a century and over in the quiet
little glen where, 36 years ago, the
late E. E. White built a town on
the Snuffer farm.
Some of the men who had been
there longest gathered around the
mine tipple, to be on hand when
the final car was hoisted from the
shaft.
High in the tipple C. P. Sanger,
56, dumped one car after another
as they rose from the shaft. Sanger
dumped the first car that rose
from the Beckley seam at Glen
White on June 30, 1909 — and
he was still there to dump the last.
At 3:45 the mine whistle blew.
"It don't sound right does it?" one
miner asked of another.
"No, it's got a lonelier sound
this time."
It's a quarter to four, and
they'll be bringing up the last car
soon," a small boy said.
Some of the older men began
gathering around. They were
mostly waiting, and not talking
much.
Had you been at Glen White
yesterday,- you would have seen
more to mining than coal cars or
black diamonds, or wage contracts,
or dividends, You would have seen
and felt that mining, like life, is a
great romance - and here it|
was dying.
I went up to Superintendent A.
E. Barrett, who came here from
England, and, said, "You must
hate to see it close down."
"We all do," he replied, simply.
"I was down in the mine today
and talked with some of the
men. They couldn't believe it.
They knew this was the last day,
but they just couldn't believe it
was true."
Barrett had worked at Glen
White for the past 29 years; the
last 24 he served as a mine foreman
and later as superintendent.
Big, husky J. W. Worley, electrician
for the mine, came by. He
grew up at near-by Lester, and
started working at Glen While
25 years ago.
"I grew up here with this mine,"
he said. "It was the first job I
ever had, I hate to see her go."
The men kept looking at the
tipple, watching the cars as they
moved to the top. "It won't be
long now," one said. "It's about all
up."
The mine went out like a queen
—producing 1,100 tons on the final
day.
"But that's all she'll stand,"
one man said — "you've got to
leave enough around the shaft to
get the machinery out. It wouldn't
be safe to bring any more up."
A. M. McMullins and C. N.
Shumate, blacksmiths, who had
been at Glen White 27 and 26
years respectively, sat on a stone
ledge, looking toward the shaft.
"I hate to see this," Shumate
said.
J. E. Farley, 67, came up. "Boys
this is like leaving home to me ...
I lost my eye here, and I lost my
wife here. There's never been another
mine like this."
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Image from The Black Diamond via Google Books
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