COALDALE W. VA. EXPLOSION - Jan. 4, 1906 In the 1880's John Cooper and his sons, Thomas and Edward, began coal mining operations in an area of Mercer County, WV that would be known as Coopers after it was developed. The Cooper's mining company would be known as the MILL CREEK COAL & COKE COMPANY. The Cooper's later expanded their operations to Coaldale, also in Mercer County, as the COALDALE COAL & COKE COMPANY. This mine would be known as the "COALDALE" mine. On Jan. 4, 1906 the "COALDALE" mine was struck with a disastrous dust explosion which resulted in the loss of 22 lives. THOSE WHOM GOD GRANTED EARLY RETIREMENT IN HEAVEN Sterling Williamson - 40 - Negro - Married 1 Child June Kelly - 22 - Negro - Married George Martin - 23 - Negro Nathan Hosten - 26 - Negro Stanley Holland - 25 - Negro Thomas King - 45 - Negro - Married Albert Barnum - 35 - Negro Gus Harris - 35 - Negro - Married Silas Harris - 25 - Negro - Married William Ward - 35 - Negro - Married Sip Gray - 20 - Negro William Price - 35 - Negro - Married 2 Children W. P. Sullivan - 36 - Negro - Married John Patterson - 40 - Negro - Married 7 Children Walter Gwynn - 21 - Negro W. C. Conrad - 22 - Negro Alada Loas - 40 - Hungarian - Married Anthony Bruce - 28 - Polish J. D. Sluss - 35 - American - Married R. H. Larew - 35 - American W. L. Larew - 30 - American - Married 2 Children Jack Martin - 40 - American - Married 1 Child A big thank you to ELVINA HIATT of Fort Worth, Texas for supplying the victims information. ELVINA is a Nebraskan gal transplanted "DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS" and is much appreciated in these WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS.

MINERS VICTIMS OF EXPLOSION AT COALDALE, W. VA. ALL MET INSTANT DEATH. FIRE DAMP OR MINE GAS SUPPOSED CAUSE OF DISASTER. ONLY ONE BODY HAS BEEN RECOVERED, TORN TO SHREDS BY FORCE OF EXPLOSION -- RESCUE WORK SLOW ON ACCOUNT OF GAS AND SMOKE -- MOUNTAIN SHAKEN BY THE CONCUSSION -- CROWDS OF RELATIVES FLOCK IN FEAR TO THE MINE'S MOUTH. Special to The Washington Post. Bluefield, W. Va., Jan. 4. -- Twenty-one miners, three white and eighteen colored, were instantly killed this morning by an explosion of fire damp, or mine gas, in the Coaldale Coal Company's mines at Coaldale, W. Va. Only one body has been recovered. Entire Force In Mine. The explosion occurred about 11:30 o'clock when practically the entire force was at work in the mines. The shock of the explosion was felt throughout the miles of tunnels and passages. Before the explosion that shook the mountain had died away, THOMAS WILLIAMS, himself some distance from the scene, staggered to his feet, and, feeling his way to a telephone, told those on the outside that there had been an explosion, and asked for help. A great crowd, composed of relatives of the dead miners, quickly gathered at the mouth of the shaft, and rescue parties were quickly organized by the mine officials. But the heavy volume of gas and smoke that filled the mine made the work of rescue slow and dangerous. Mangled By Explosion. It was not until 4 o'clock that the first body was brought out. It was that of H. C. CONRAD, and it was literally torn to pieces by the force of the explosion. The clothing was hanging in shreds. Up to a late hour to-night no other bodies have been recovered. The explosion took place in that section of the mine known as "Cracker Neck," between the "Smoky" and the "Big Jim" workings, and it is thought to have occurred in room No. 11. The general opinion is that the explosion was caused by gas, but the cause may never be known, as all of those who could shed light on the subject are dead. Mine Boss WILLIAMS, who was almost suffocated, was a considerable distance from the "Cracker Neck," and JAMES FITCH, who was painfully injured by the concussion, was in the main entry, possibly a mile from the scene of the explosion. GEORGE WEBSTER, who was also in the main entry, received painful wounds and was almost stifled. The force of the explosion was terrific. It is reported that at the opening near Maybeury, which is in the neighborhood of the "Cracker Neck," sixteen-inch pillars were blown down and out of the drift mouth with such force that trees on the mountain side were torn away by them. Telephone messages were sent through the Flat Top field, asking the fire bosses to come and aid in the work of rescue. The Coaldale operation was the first to begin work west of Elkhorn Mountain and employs a large number of men. The coal runs from ten to twelve feet in thickness, and the mine is one of the best, and has been always regarded as one of the safest in the field. It is the property of COOPER Bros., EDWARD COOPER, of Bramwell, and THOMAS H. COOPER, of Salem, being the active managers of this as well as the Mill Creek operations. It is said that the damage to the mine will be very large, but no idea can be gained of the extent until it can be explored. Nearly all the men killed carried insurance. They were for the most part experienced miners, many of whom were thrifty and owned their little homes

ABOVE PHOTO WAS TAKEN ABOUT 1915. RAILROAD STATION AND COMPANY STORE ARE LOCATED IN THE LOWER RIGHT. MINE WAS AT THE UPPER LEFT CORNER. PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM ABOVE THE COALDALE TUNNEL WEST ENTRANCE.

BUDDY FRENCH EXPLORES COALDALE HISTORY E-mail message from Buddy French Diz, You may already have this, but if not here's some more information I've gathered. I spent the day Thursday exploring old mine sites in McDowell County. First I went to Maybeury and turned up the hollow to the site of the old Coaldale Coal and Coke Company. I've also seen it listed as the Millcreek Coal and Coke Company--Coaldale Colliery. Of course there's not much of anything left of the original Coaldale. On the right side of the hill where the railroad tunnel was, you can still see the large concrete foundation that the big water tank sat on. For the first time, I found the site of the Coaldale tipple and coke ovens. They are located just above the road and about 150 yards before you get up to where the railroad tunnel was. Only the brick and stone wall foundations remain at the tipple site today, but most of the coke ovens are still visible. According to a special coal field edition of a 1896 Bluefield Daily Telegraph newspaper, I now have documented proof that John Cooper, who opened the Mill Creek/Coaldale mine, took out a 1,000 acre track of coal from the Flat-Top Coal Land Association. It was the Pocahontas No. 3 seam and averaged ten to twelve feet thick. The Mill Creek side began shipping coal in 1884, 2,369 tons and had 150 coke ovens. The Coaldale side had 110 coke ovens and began shipping coal in 1890, 17,529 tons of coal and 629 tons of coke. At the time of this printing the combined capacity of the two operations was 2,500 tons of coal and 15 cars of coke per day and employed 450 men. I've read that the railroad allotted coal cars to each mine based on how many coke ovens they had. I've also read that they required one coke oven for every ten acres of coal under lease, so if you had 1,000 acres of coal under lease, you had to have at least 100 ovens. Knowing that Coaldale had 110 ovens, I tried to verify that number so I followed the ovens all the way out to the point of the mountain to where you can look down on the current Norfolk Southern tracks, just a short distance from the new railroad tunnel. I stepped off 450 paces. That works out to about 1500 feet, the approximate length of the coke oven battery. It was a distance of about 14 feet from center to center of the ovens and if my math is correct, that's 101.7 coke ovens, so it works out pretty close. I went in one of the ovens and retrieved a piece of coke and a firebrick. The firebrick are yellowish in color and have the name Sciotoville on each one. After doing a little research, I discovered that fireclay was discovered in Sciotoville, Ohio in 1859. In 1861 Reese Thoms first produced firebrick in an old sawmill building. By 1870 there were three plants making firebrick and paving brick for roads, but in that same year they were all consolidated into the "Scioto Fire-Brick Company", producing 32,000 bricks a day and employing several hundred men. This company remained in operation well beyond the year 1900 and is probably where my souvenir firebrick was made in 1890 or earlier. I also discovered that in 1920 Sciotoville gave up its corporation powers and charter and became a part of Portsmouth, Ohio. Well, sorry I got a little off track. I also visited the Lickbranch, Crozer and Algoma mine sites and took pictures. If you are interested, let me know and I'll send you some pictures when I get them developed. Sure would have been nice it you could have been with me. Won't be able to do any exploring after everything turns green because it's too hard to find old sites and I don't like dealing with the snakes. Better go for now, take care. Buddy ________________________________________

PHOTO BY DIZZY HARRIS - JUNE - 1999

"COOPERS" or "COOPER" What is the correct name? I will attempt to clear up the age old confusion as to which is the correct name. The post office said "COOPERS" The post mark said "COOPERS" My birth certificate says "COOPERS" The U. S. Geological Survey says "COOPERS" The survey also list "COOPER" as a variant name. Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company Scrip says "COOPERS". Coopers Tunnel says "COOPER" (Built 1902). SO THERE YOU HAVE IT! DizHarris3@webtv.net E. L. Harris 1718 Hamilton St. Warren, OH 44485

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