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Searching underground for West Virginia coal
By Tom Adkinson
July 8, 2022
BECKLEY, WEST VIRGINIA – Whenever you’re weary of the job you have, remind yourself that your circumstances could be a lot worse.
“When you see rats boogeying by you, you boogey right behind them,” says retired miner Don Barrett. Image by Tom Adkinson
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In another era, you could have been an Appalachian coal miner, whose every tomorrow would be exactly like the day before – dirty, dangerous and low paying. You can learn about that hard life at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, a city-owned attraction just two miles off I-77/64 in southern West Virginia.
A coal train full of visitors descends into the Exhibition Coal Mine at Beckley, West Virginia. Image by Tom Adkinson
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This is a real coal mine, complete with low ceilings, a keep-your-head-down train ride into the darkness and narration from miners who used to earn their livings extracting bituminous coal from similar gouges into the earth.
Miners have pulled coal out of the earth in the county surrounding Beckley since 1891. Mining employment once exceeded 14,000.
Don Barrett, a retired miner with a booming voice and colorful stories, is one of the exhibition mine’s guides. He pops onto the coal train with you and takes you out of the sunshine and into darkness.
He explains that in the early years of this mine and until 1910, humans, not machines, did all the work. That meant tunnels were dug, timbers were installed and coal was chiseled from the innards of the mountain by hand.
Striding back and forth in front of a coal car loaded with one ton of coal, Barrett explained that an early miner’s target was 10 tons a day. Compensation could be as little as 20 cents a ton.
“Think about that. Ten tons at 20 cents a ton meant the miner earned $2 a day,” Barrett said, adding that missing a day of work meant missing a day of pay, too.
The exhibition mine’s coal train makes several stops, where guides explain how the mining industry did progress to being highly mechanized and better paying.
One stop on the main tour is the “lunchroom” for the miners. Steel lunch pails protected their meals from mine rats. Image by Tom Adkinson
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At one stop, Barrett explains the significance of miners’ metal lunch pails. Miners brought their lunches because mining didn’t permit the luxury of a meal break back in the daylight – and the lunch pails were metal to prevent rats from stealing the miners’ lunches.
As aggravating as it was to have rats in the mine, Barrett observed, the rodents did provide a service. They were an early warning system for problems.
“When you see rats boogeying by you, you boogey right behind them. Something’s wrong,” he said.
A bronze statue outside the Pemberton Coal Camp Church salutes all West Virginia coal miners. Image by Tom Adkinson
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Back on the surface, your tour continues with exploration of several coal camp buildings. Together, they paint a picture of what life was like in a remote, largely self-sustaining community.
Exhibit Coal Mine tours begin at the Rahall Company Store, which now sells souvenirs instead of life’s necessities. Image by Tom Adkinson
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You can walk through a miner’s house (quite plain), see the superintendent’s home (much nicer), sit on the hard pew of the Pemberton Coal Camp Church, silently recite a multiplication table at the Helen Coal Camp School and peruse the souvenirs at the Rahall Company Store.
And throughout your visit, you’re likely hearing Tennessee Ernie Ford’s voice rattle around in your head: “You load 16 tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.”
Trip-planning resources: Beckley.org/coal-mine, VisitWV.com and AdventuresOnTheGorge.com
(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available on Amazon.com.
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