Stanaford is in the outskirts of Beckley. Piney Creek Colliery opened Piney No. 1 mine at Stanaford in 1902 and Piney No. 2 in 1903. Both of these mines were listed as being in the Fire Creek seam. This operation was later known as Piney Colliery, and by 1905 they had added a No. 3 mine into the Sewell seam. By 1908, the name became Piney Coal & Coke Co. and they were operating mines No. 1-5 in various seams. The next year, 1909, Piney Mining Co. became the name of the company that operated the Stanaford mines. The last time Piney Mining shows up in state mining records is 1917. That is the year that Elkhorn Piney Coal Mining Company assumed control of the Stanaford mines. From 1917 until the 1930s, Elkhorn Piney operated, at various times, mines No. 1 through 6. In the late 1930s, The Koppers Coal Co., the coal mining arm of coke giant Koppers Company, was the operator of Stanaford No. 1 (Beckley seam) and Stanaford No. 6 (Sewell seam). No. 6 was a sprawling mine with a tipple at what is now Ragland Road. Eventually, Eastern Fuel and Gas Associates purchased Koppers' mines and operated them as their Koppers Division. EFGA sold the Stanaford mines to The New River Company in 1944. NRC would own the Stanaford mines to the end. Stanaford No. 6 closed in 1954, and No. 1 in 1955. However, No. 2, or 2-G was reopened circa 1960. This mine shows up in state mining records through 1969. I believe these reserves were later folded into the nearby Skelton operation By the 1970s and 1980s Stanaford coal was transported to the Meadow Creek prep plant for processing and final shipment.
Update: I have learned that this tipple was from the Beckley Fire Creek Coal Company's Penman Mine. The mine was in the Fire Creek seam on the other side of Piney Creek from Stanaford. The actual coal camp of Penman was high up on the plateau above, next to where the federal prison is now located. There were about 50 houses, a company store, and a school.
