Jan. 2007 image by author
These red block company houses in Derby, VA represent the last coal town built by Stonega Coke and Coal (not counting their rebuild of Keokee in 1947). Derby was constructed in 1922-23 and so named because the officials of the company stopped to tour their new town on the way to the Kentucky Derby. The "model" coal camp was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Jan. 2007 image by author
A few "coal houses" still exist in Derby. The company would deposit the families' coal into the slots facing the street. The families in turn would pull their coal out of a door on the side facing the homes. One lifelong resident of the town told me that the teachers at Derby taught the kids the "three r's: reading, 'riting, and the road to Richmond."
Jan. 2007 image by author
The church in Derby is still in existence, but none of the mining complex is. Coal was mined at Derby from 1923 until 1956 in four different mines in the Taggart and Marker seams of coal.
Jan. 2007 image by author
This photo of a Derby house coming apart illustrates the red block construction methods.
