Pemberton is located on Soak Creek and was opened by the Pemberton Fuel Co. in the 1910s. Later the Koppers Coal Co. (1930s) and Lillybrook Coal Co. (1940s) mined there, with each operating a company store. A handfull of people still live there.
From the John Barringer CollectionVintage photo of Pemberton, West Virginia. Some of the coal company houses are in the background.
Oct. 1997 image by authorLocation where the C&O and Virginian railroads crossed. This was the first coal heritage picture that I ever took (with a very cheap camera). At the time, I had no
idea how obsessed I would become.
Feb. 2001 image by authorThis may have been a pump house for one of the Pemberton coal mines.
Feb. 2001 image by authorAn old wooden railroad trestle near Pemberton.
Dec. 1998 WV SHPO image by Jeff DavisAn old coal mine fan by the road in Pemberton. This was demolished in early 2002.
Nov. 2007 image by authorOne of the last remaining historic homes in Pemberton, the Doctor Daniels house, burned in 2007.
Oct. 1997 image by authorThe Emanuel Amato family came to the Winding Gulf Coalfield from Sicily. They eventually settled in Pemberton, bought this house, raised
it up, and put a store underneath. Later, Philip Gaziano operated his barbershop there.
2020 image by authorEmanuel Amato's (and his wife Provvidenza's) headstone at St. Francis de Sales cemetery in Beckley. Note "Riposa in Pace" etched in the stone - Italian for rest in peace.
Oct. 1997 image by authorThis is the last wall of a store that burned in Pemberton. The store was owned by the late Sam Amato, brother of Emanuel.
Image courtesy of Leonard St. clairSam Amato's store as it looked in 1965.
Image courtesy of Leonard St. ClairA great old picture of the railroad depot (Virginian?) contributed by Leonard S. That is smoke probably from one of the slate dumps on the left.
From a private collectionA wedding party poses in front of one of the slate dumps in Pemberton in 1946: Front Row L to R-Rena DellaMea, bride and groom Theresa
and Enrico Dellamea, his parents Maria and Pietro Dellamea; Back Row L to R: Louie, Gino, and Joe DellaMea.
