BUCHANAN COALFIELD

This boundaries of this coalfield are the boundaries of Buchanan County, Virginia, which is sandwiched between McDowell County, W.Va. and Pike County, Ky. in the heart of Appalachia. The National Coal Association and the Norfolk & Western Railway divided it into Upper Buchanan and Lower Buchanan Coal Districts, with Grundy being on the line of demarcation. The Upper District mined seams that were an extension of the neighboring Pocahontas Coalfield and also Virginia coal beds like the Lower Banner seam. The coals in the Lower District (Clintwood,Splash Dam, and Taggart / Darby seams) are also mined in nearby Big Stone Gap Coalfield. The county has no navigable rivers, and was served by the N&W (now N-S) Railway.

Buchanan Coal & Coke Company, and Sayers Pocahontas Coal Company began purchasing Buchanan properties in 1904 of "sufficient surface for making drift mouths, air shafts, wells, and sufficient land on which to erect tipples, tanks, pipelines, washers pumping stations, coke ovens, miners' houses, roads, railroads and sidings, tramroads, incline roads, chutes and such other devices as is necessary for the successful mining and manufacturing and removing said coal, oil, gas, fire clay, stone ..." Also at this time, Ritter Lumber Co. built narrow gauge railroads into Buchanan County to haul their lumber to market. Norfok & Western purchased these railroads, as well as the Big Sandy & Cumberland Railroad, in the 1920s and early '30s and began the process of converting them from narrow gauge to standard gauge in preparation for developing the coalfield. The Buchanan Coalfield started producing late - in 1932. One of the first operations was Home Creek Smokeless Coal Company. Other early operations included Lynn Camp Coal Corp., Buchanan County Coal Corp., and Sycamore Coal Corp.

Later in the 20th century, as the original coal veins became depleted or uneconomical, the coal companies sunk shafts down into the deeper Pocahotas No. 3 seam. This low volatile "smokeless" coal continues to be mined into the 21st century at Consol's Buchanan 1 mine near Raven, Va. As of 2024, this longwall mine is owned and operated by Coronado Global Resources.

May 2006 image by authorOakwood, Virginia coal camp. The small cinderblock structure was probably a coal house, where the coal company delivered coal to their tenants.
Image by Adams, courtesy of DaveUndated (but obviously very old) photo of the tipple of Oakwood Smokeless Coal Co.
Image by Adams, courtesy of DaveProbably the company store of Oakwood Smokeless Coal. This firm constructed the coal camp at Oakwood, Va. (a portion of which still exists) in 1936.
(Aug. 1944 image courtesy VT ImageBase, housed and operated by Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries; scanning by Digital Imaging, Learning Technologies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityRed Jacket Coal Company's Keen Mountain coal camp as it looked when it was newer. This was one of the last coal company towns to be constructed in the nation in 1937. Red Jacket, a subsidiary of Ritter Lumber Co., was later absorbed into Island Creek Coal Co. (And Island Creek Coal almost constructed the last coal town at the late date of 1980-81 in Buchanan County. It was to be called Buchanshire, but never got past the planning stages.)
May 2006 image by authorIn 1938 an explosion at the recently opened Keen Mountain coal mine resulted in the death of 45 miners. Island Creek continued mining at Keen Mountain until it closed down the last one, Beattrice Mine, in the late 1980s.
May 2006 image by authorThese might be the nicest coal company houses I have ever seen. They may have been reserved for management, because there are smaller homes closer to the site where the preparation plant used to be. (The only remains of the mines that I saw on that day were a 1960s or 70s vintage shop building and stacking conveyor.)
May 2006 image by authorI can tell that this was the company store because it is a carbon copy of the (now demolished) store that Red Jacket (or Island Creek) built at Coal Mountain, WV.
2003 image courtesy of Ed TalbottMouth of the original Keen Mountain coal mine.
Image by others
1944 image courtesy of Pennsylvania State University. Special Collections LibraryIn contrast to the first class coal town built at Keen Mountain, these awful shacks at Roth, Virginia were owned by Roth Development Company. The miners' rent for living in these inferior structures was deducted from salaries of the Crystal Block Coal and Coke Company mine at Roth.
May 2006 image by authorIsland Creek also owned this currently idle preparation plant, located near Vansant. Note the head frame for the skip hoist, indicating a shaft mine. I also saw a manway shaft out of view of the photograph. This operation, named the Virginia Pocahontas Mine No. 1, might have sent its coal to the Jewell Coal and Coke ovens down the creek.
May 2006 image by authorAnother view of the idled Pocahontas No. 1 coal preparation facility. Note the old locomotive being overgrown.
May 2006 image by authorThe coke works of Jewell Coal and Coke (now Sun Coke) near Vansant, VA. This is the only remaining coke works IN THE COALFIELDS that I am aware of, though they used to be numerous in the beehive coke era. All other active coke works are located outside of the coalfields, usually in the Rust Belt. Jewell Smokeless Coal Corp. opened this coke plant in 1962, with additions constructed in later years.
May 2006 image by authorThis tipple, known as the Vansant No. 1 tipple, was constructed in the mid-1950s.
Image by Adams, courtesy of DaveThe same view many years before.
1950s image by Bill GordonAnd again during the latter days of steam railroading. The train is taking on water for its steam engine. Shown is the Preston Mining Company's tipple, which must have been demolished and replaced with the Vansant No. 1 tipple above.
Nov. 2006 image by authorContrast the large Island Creek preparation plant shown above with this small, abandoned loadout near Maxie, VA.
Nov. 2006 image by authorAt the old company town of Harman, VA the coal company left their "Dictator" logo on this wall to preserve their memory.
Nov. 2006 image by authorNorfolk-Southern's Weller train yard.
Image by D.L. ColemanThis vintage photo of the aerial tramway at Roseann, VA is courtesy of D.L. Coleman, who was a mining engineer for Leckie Smokeless Coal Co. Leckie's subsidiary, Panther Coal Co., operated the Roseann mine. In the center of this picture is the tipple - down in the bottom of the valley, with rail cars lined up behind it.
Image by D.L. ColemanAnother view of the tram that used to be at Roseann. Leckie also owned mines at Panther, Anjean, Leckie, and Fireco - all in West Virginia. There were Leckie properties in Kentucky, too.
2009 image courtesy of "Longgone"Sad condition of the company store at Roseann, Va. It has been demolished now.
Nov. 2006 image by authorPrep plant and shaft head frame near Grundy, Va.
Circa 2000 image by othersAbandoned Jewell Smokeless Coal Co. prep plant at Jewell Valley, Virginia.
Jan. 2017 image by authorAbandoned coal camp houses in Jewell Valley, VA, which was constructed in 1935-36. About Jewell Valley Mark Van Dyke writes, "In 1994 I remember riding through there at night with my dad, and so many houses being up and down the side of the road. The old clubhouse was still there, everything. Not a soul lived in that holler. I was the scariest thing I believe I have ever seen." Many will remember the Jewell Valley mines being operated by Jewell Smokeless Coal Co. or Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation. Later, Island Creek Coal assumed ownership of the company store, and they kept it opened until the 1980s - very late for a coal company store.
Jan. 2017 image by authorThe block structure in front of the abandoned home was a "coal house." This was where the coal company truck would stop and deposit coal for two houses for them to use in their homes. I witnessed only one occupied home in Jewell Valley on the day of this photo (not shown).
Jan. 2017 image by authorJewell Smokeless Coal Co. opened their No. 2 mine at Jewell Valley in 1936. (No. 1 was at Jewell Ridge.) Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation closed its mines in 1982. And yet I still saw strip mines in the surrounding mountains on this day.
Jan. 2017 image by authorWhere once a row of coal company homes stood, now there are only chimneys. Although mostly abandoned, Jewell Ridge coal camp was mostly intact until the 1990s. An unconfirmed rumor states that one night some teenagers in Richlands, Va. were talking about how haunted Jewell Valley must be, and they drove up there and set most of the houses on fire.
In this 2002 aerial view of Jewell Valley, many of the houses have been torn down, but their foundations remain. Historian and researcher Alex Shust describes Jewell Valley's depopulation: "The houses in Jewell Valley were sold to a private individual in 1964. The Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation continued to use its offices in Jewell Valley until February 10, 1986. When the coal company closed its offices, it discontinued maintaining the water system. With a water system that did not meet state standards and no sewage treatment systm, the Buchanan County Circuit Court ordered the eviction of the last 13 families living in Jewell Valley by April 2, 1986, because the community was dumping raw sewage into Dismal Creek. The original sewage treatment facility had been destroyed by a flood in 1977. When the last family moved out of Jewell Valley on April 2, 1986, the former model community became a ghost town."
2018 image from hikingproject.comOld coal tipple near Grundy.
September 1959 image by Bill Gordon

S. Chase Freeman, a conductor for Norfolk-Southern, has shared his photographs and knowledge of Buchanan coal mines here.

Image courtesy of Chase Freeman
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanChase writes, "This is Island Creek Coal Company's Virginia Pocahontas No.1 operation at Dismal, VA on the now mothballed NS Dismal Creek Branch. Construction on VP1 began in 1965 but was delayed by an explosion in January of 1965, killing two men. The mine was running full tilt by March of that year. VP1 was decided to be the model for all the other plants they had planned and they settled on McNally-Pittsburg as their standard contractor. Each mine was designed to supply 2 million tons per year for 40 years and the storage & rail yards planned to support moving enough coal to enable loading out an 80,000 ton ship at Newport News within its docking time allowance. Remote-control locomotives loading 40-car cuts were standard. McNally used Dravo Corporation again for the 1,170' triple VP1 shafts but ended up going down 1,350', (40' deeper than nearby Beatrice shaft) before bottoming out due to an engineering drawing error misreading a core sample. Oops! VP1 and VP3 down at Vansant were the most productive Island Creek mines in the county and they stayed in a friendly competition to see who could mine the most coal. Shifter crews out of Dismal had to deliver and pull VP1 twice per day sometimes. VP1 was idled sometime in the 90's under Consol ownership and was sadly reclaimed in 2014. It was the very last Island Creek mine in the county to be reclaimed, and now there's nothing left of Island Creek's once massive presence here."
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanVirginia Pocahonatas No. 1 prep plant, shaft head frame, and conveyors.
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanDetail of sheaves on top of shaft frame.
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanThe other shaft at Virginia Pocahontas No. 1.
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanA final look back at the VP-1 prep plant.
Image courtesy of Chase Freeman"Here's Norfolk-Southern engine no. 821 passing by VP1 with empties for Coronado's (Formerly Consol) Buchanan Mine in Page. This was just days before they started demolition on it. Nothing about this scene can be recreated now. VP1 is gone, N-S mothballed the Dismal Creek Branch two years ago, and even the engineer, my longtime friend Jimmy Gibson, retired about 3 years ago. This is my favorite picture that I've taken over the years."
1974 image taken by Jack Corn and submitted by Chase FreemanChase describes this photo as, "This is Island Creek Coal Company's Virginia Pocahontas No.2 operation at Hamilton, VA on the Dismal Creek Branch. The mine was located in between Big Branch and Whitewood. Construction on VP2 was started in 1967 and it was fully operational by 1971. VP2 was jointly owned by Island Creek and Jones & Laughlin Steel with 99% of their output going to them for use in their steel mills. VP2 was plagued right off the bat with methane problems and bad top underground. It seemed the mine was always down for something rather it be a rock fall or 'gassing off.' The final death nail in the coffin came in 1984 when the bottom dropped out of the U.S. steel market. The mine was closed and sealed and sat abandoned for almost 20 years. It was finally brought down in 2001 and the whole area was reclaimed. Today the site is home to the West River Belt Company and you can't tell it was ever there. Not many pictures were taken of VP2 but here is an old publicity photo from my collection."
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanAccodring to Chase, this is "Island Creek's Virginia Pocahontas No.3 mine at Vansant. VP3 was completed in April of 1968 and was running full production by December of 1971. The mine was one of the most productive and was still loading about 900 cars per month on N-S railroad in 1995. Consol closed the mine down in 1998 and started canabilazing the plant and structures for usable parts. They finally reclaimed it in 2012 and nothing remains today except for 2 capped shafts and an empty field. N-S occasionally uses part of the old VP3 outlet to store empty coke hoppers for SunCoke."
Probably 1970s image courtesy of Chase Freeman"This is Island Creek Coal Company's Virginia Pocahontas No.4 operation at Dwight, VA (Whitewood) on the Dismal Creek Branch. Construction on VP4 started in 1969 and the mine was in full production by March of 1972. The three shafts were contracted to Centennial Development out of Utah, the same company that sank the shafts at VP3. The production shaft here measured in at 1,320 feet, also the same as VP3. VP4 was jointly owned by Nissho Iwai, a Japanese steel company. Mining at VP4 was short-lived, the mine itself was idled in 1985 but the prep plant kept operating. What saved the plant from total closure was the fact that they had a car shaker on site. Raw coal (dirty coal straight out of the ground) was brought in via railcar and was dumped in the car shaker and cleaned in the preparation plant. This continued for about 3 more years and the plant was shut down for good. The plant sat abandoned until 2007 when CONSOL finally decided to bring it down. I never made it up Dismal in time to see the plant in person but I do have this publicity shot of VP4 from my collection."
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanChase again: "Here are some pictures of Clinchfield Coal Company's Greenbriar dock, also known as Pittco. Built right on the Buchanan/Dickenson County line, construction began in 1970 so Clinchfield would have a way to load coal from their mines up Greenbriar 'holler' so they wouldn't have to truck the coal all the way to the massive Moss No.1 plant. The load-out sat at the end of the 5.6 mile Haysi Railroad. After 36 years of loading Splashdam coal, Pittco was idled in April of 2006 under Dickenson-Russell ownership and all coal that was loaded here was trucked to the McClure River Prep Plant and loaded there. Rumors whirled for years that they were going to start loading here again and I always held hope that they would. I heard what was the final death nail was CSX, now ownership of the Haysi Railroad, not wanting to repair the track after years of inactivity. It was reclaimed last year by Contura Energy and nothing remains but a big empty field."
Image courtesy of Chase FreemanA closer look at the Pittco "pant leg chute" loadout.

Mark Van Dyke shares his knowledge about the Buchanan Coalfield:

"Jewell Valley was a model coal town built by George L. Carter, founder and owner of the mighty Clinchfield Coal Co., Which was later absorbed by Pittston. Pittston also owned Seabord Coal Co. on the Jewell Ridge side of Tazewell Co. The old tipple that you said was owned by Jewell Smokeless was actually owned by Clinchfield, who owned Dante. Mining operations were shut down in the early 60's but the town remained at least until the late 70's, and the company store was ran until at least 1973, because my grandmother was a home health nurse and talks about eating there from time to time.

This county is still rich with coal, because Norfolk and Southern didn't give us train service until 1931. So that is a big reason that we still have large reserves.This coal field was unique because unlike most coal fields, it was mostly contract mined. The big four were Jewell Smokeless, United, Harman, and Knox Creek, and also Permac and Clinchfield contracted coal out. The seams mined were the Red Ash, Hagy, Widow Kennedy, Splashdam, and Jawbone, just to name a few. All of the coal was met grade coal except the Hagy seam, and the Splashdam and Widow Kennedy is world class coal. These contract mines were independently owned, non-union, mostly low seam mining, commonly referred to as dogholes. It was rumored that at one time Buchanan County had more millionaires than any other county in Virginia. Jim Mcglothlin owner of United Coal Co. and Woodrow Mcglothlin (now deceased) were one of the richest father and son teams in Virginia.

Deep under Buchanan county, though, lurks one of the, if not the, best seams in the world, the almighty Pocahontas 3 seam. When I say under, I mean 1500 feet under. Island Creek used to have their Virginia Pocahontas operations, 1-6, but the last mine, VP 8 which was VP 5 and 6 cut together closed down in 2005. Consol owns the largest mine in Virginia, Their Buchanan Mine, which produced 5 million tons in 2006.

United Coal Co. was started in the early 1970's during the energy crunch, when the price of coal skyrocketed. They had few company mines, but actually contracted almost all of their coal out, which was 'truck mined,' which means that the coal was mined and hauled to the prep plants by trucks. At that time there were no laws on bed tarps or anything to protect people from coal rolling off of the beds of the trucks. Every road in Buchanan County was literally black in the 1970's and early '80's. United Coal bought out many many companies in VA.,KY., and WV. and in the late '80's and early '90's was one of the largest around. In 1996 United sold to Massey. By that time they had accquired Knox Creek Coal, and Harman Mining, and Massey Sold the Harman Mining and Buchanan County Reserves to Rapoca Energy, a Buchanan County based company. They kept Knox Creek and operate their Tiller Mine just across the mountain on Shortt's Gap. In 2006 United Coal Co. was reborn, using the Wellmore Energy name. Coal is still truck mined by United on the western end of the county.

Island Creek Coal Co. bought the Red Jacket Coal Co. and built their coal camp at Keen Mountain, and it is the only surviving camp in the county. Their first shaft mine was started in the early '60's, just down the road from the camp, named Beatrice, which is now gone, followed by the Virginia Pocahontas mines. Consol, who bought out Pocahontas fuel, bought out Island Creek in 1993, and operated their Virginia Pocahontas mines, and their own, Buchanan No. 1. Island Creek ran a merchandise store at Vansant VA, up until the early 80's.

Harman mining was a large scale company, The largest in the county in the early days. They mined the Splashdam Seam, which varies from 8 feet, to 3 feet in thickness. Most is 3 feet. Wellmore's Apollo mine is still running, and it was a Harman mine, 1AA. The mine has been running since 1972, if I am not mistaken. Harman mine 1A lasted from the early 30's until the late 90's when it was shut down."

Sources:

Schust, Alex (2016, January-March). A Short History of Coal Mining on the Buchanan/Levisa/Dismal Creek Branches. Norfolk and Western Historical Society - Talk Among Friends, p. 10 - 33.

Norfolk and Western Historical Society (2006). N&W Coal and Coke Operations (As of March 1, 1936) , Vol. 12.

Van Dyke, Mark. “Info on Buchanan Coal Field.” Received by Chris DellaMea, 2 July 2008.