Coalwood, West Virginia
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Coalwood is an unincorporated coal mining town in McDowell County, West Virginia, USA. As of the 1990 Census, the population was 900. The coal mine there reached its peak sometime in the 1960s and finally shut down production on October 1, 1982. The town is the setting of the best-selling memoir Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam and the movie October Sky based on the book. The elevation of the town is 1,450 feet.
[edit] History
Coalwood was founded by George L. Carter in 1905. He came on the back of a mule and eventually found rich seams of coal, and bought 20,000 acres (80 km²). He constructed a mine, calling it the Carter Coal Company and built offices, houses, a schoolhouse, a company store, a church and many more. Carter hired a dentist and doctor to provide service to his miners.
In 1922 Carter sold the mine and the town itself to Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company, which further improved the town, turning it into a nationally recognized model company town. Carter died in 1936 and the company was taken over by his son James, who in 1947 sold it to a group of industrialists who changed the company name to the Olga Coal Company.
In 1956 the Coalwood mine was connected underground to the nearby Caretta mine, which was also owned by Olga, and in 1959 Olga ceased bringing coal to the surface via Coalwood. This prompted the Norfolk and Western Railway to begin pulling up the tracks leading to and from Coalwood.
The Coalwood-Caretta mine continued to be productive through most of the 20th century, though, producing on average one million tons annually until the mine was finally closed.
[edit] Coalwood afterwards
Though mining became easy, it became hazardous because now more dust erupted from the coal and black lung disease became more of a problem, especially for the later mine foreman and superintendent, Homer Hickam, Sr., the father of Homer Hickam, Jr. Problems got worse for the company and the union when the steel company sold all Coalwood houses except for the Hickam household. Soon afterwards, another union strike started up, but was settled just before Homer won the science fair. Homer Sr. continued to work in the mine until his forced retirement at the age of 65, but he stayed on as a consultant until, soon after, his lungs gave out and he moved away to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with his wife, where he died in 1989. The mine shut down, was filled up with water, and shafts turned off. People still live in Coalwood, but have to depend on other jobs to make ends meet. The town still has the old machine shops and the clubhouses. However, they are off limits to the public and have many windows broken and spray paint graffiti written on them.The Big Store in Coalwood was torn down on March 29, 2008, by the owners of the historic Coalwood properties, Alawest. The tipple has been dismantled and the site of the old abandoned mine is now fenced in with a car wash adjacent to it and a convenience store across the highway. Once a year, in October, there is an October Sky festival that is held there in honor of the accomplishments of the Rocket Boys. Many scientists and astronauts attend and Homer Hickam always makes an appearance. The October Sky Festival of 2007 was also representing the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to go into orbit around the earth. Commemorating both events, an actor from the movie October Sky named Scott Miles was able to attend the festival, signing autographs and gracing the public with his presence.
[edit] External links
- Coalwood, West Virginia is at coordinates Coordinates:
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