USA > West Virginia > Kanawha County > Charleston > History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and representative citizens > Part 42
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Wellington Nixon was the hired man of Mr. Quarrier after the war and was trusted with everything, no matter how precious, and there was never any question of want of con- fidence, and Wellington could not have been made to do otherwise than as expected of him.
These have so far established their names that there has been no doubt of their sincerity, their uprightness and stability and honesty.
From Mr. Atkinson and Mr. Hale we learn of some of those mentioned and of some we have learned by experience. These people were servants of good families, some only for a limited time, while some were free nearly all their lives. They were all intelligent, in- tended to be well born and well raised and were trustworthy and reliable and truthful all their lives. Much could be learned of them and of their habits of life. They knew what was expected of them, knew for what they were trusted and no one was ever disappointed in them.
We wish to erect a monument to such people. They deserve it.
CONDENSED FACTS ABOUT CHARLESTON
Charleston, West Virginia, is a hustling little city, located on the Great Kanawha river, having a population conservatively estimated at 28,000.
Charleston has advantages in the way of cheap and competing transportation in every direction, east, west, north and south, which invite comparison with any commercial or manufacturing town in the country. In addi- tion to four important trunk lines of railroads -the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Kanawha and Michigan, the Coal and Coke, and the Virginian or Tidewater-it has cheap and re- liable river transportation, connecting it by
water with all points on the Ohio and Missis- sippi rivers and their navigable tributaries.
The Great Kanawha river is one of the best, if not the best, improved stream in the United States. The Federal government has ex- pended over four and a quarter millions of dollars in "slack watering" (or locking and damming) this river, the improvements there- by made insuring not less than six feet depth for navigation the year around.
Charleston has about twenty-nine manufac- turing institutions. The Kelley Axe Manu- facturing Company, the largest manufactur- ing institution in the city, and reported to be the largest axe manufacturing company in the world, alone employs about 1,200 men.
Charleston is the most important jobbing center between Cincinnati and Richmond. The number of houses engaged in the various lines of business is 42. Conservative estimate places the total volume of this business at $15,000,000.
Charleston has ten banks-four national and six state. According to authentic returns ob- tained and compiled as of the 17th day of No- vember, 1909, the nine banks then doing busi- ness in Charleston showed aggregate deposits of $6.521,120.58.
An official statement of the receipts of the Charleston postoffice for the years 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1909. is as follows:
Total receipts for 1906. $83,388.84
Total receipts for 1907. 90,434.33
Total receipts for 1908. 93.310.4I
Total receipts for 1909. 98,310.4I
Charleston has two progressive industrial development companies, one of which is the Kanawha Land Company and the other the Dunbar Land Company. The former has ex- tensive sites at South Charleston, about three miles from the business center of the city. The Dunbar Land Company also has extensive sites located a short distance below the city. Both companies offer sites convenient for rail- road-switching facilities.
Charleston is also the active center of the greatest oil and natural gas development in West Virginia at this time. The gas fields particularly are very extensive, affording a fair
311
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
assurance of an abundance of gas for years to come.
Back of all this are the great coal fields, of which Charleston is the financial, and to a great extent, the geographical center. The last re- port of the chief mine inspector of West Vir- ginia showed that within a fifty-mile radius of Charleston there were 176 coal companies, ope- rating 366 mines.
The climate of Charleston is ideal for manu- facturing industries, especially in summer, when, however hot the days may be, the nights are cool and refreshing.
Charleston has thirty-four churches in charge of thirty-three different ministers, di- vided among the various denominations as fol- lows: Adventists, 2; Baptist, 4; Catholic, 2; Christian, I; Episcopal, 3; Lutheran, I; Methodist Episcopal, 9; Presbyterian, 10; Jewish, 2.
Charleston also has a magnificent Y. M. C. A. building, which has just recently been opened.
Charleston has three hospitals and a num- ber of charitable organizations, including a shelter for homeless children.
The Charleston Chamber of Commerce has been organized about ten years, and during that time has been the active public industrial and financial organization of the city.
CENSUS STATISTICS Population of State
1870
442,014
1880
618,457
1890
762,794
1900
958,800
19IO
1,221,119
That part of Virginia taken to form West Virginia, is as follows :
1860 376,688
1820
I 36,808
1850
302,313
1810 105,469
1840
224,537
1800 78,592
1830 176,924
1790 55,873
West Virginia has 55 counties. The popu- lation of counties range (from Grant to Ka- nawha) from 7,838 to 81,457.
COMPARATIVE STATISTICS OF POPULATION OF CITIES AND TOWNS IN WEST VIRGINIA
Increase Over Pre- ceding Census
City and Census Year.
Population.
Number.
Per cent.
Bluefield :
1910
11,188
6,544
140.9
1900
4,644
2,869
I61.6
1890
1,775
.
.... .
Charleston :
1910
22,996
11,897
107.2
1900
11,099
4,357
64.6
1890
6,742
2,550
60.8
I880
4,192
1,030
32.6
1870
3,162
1,642
108.0
1860
1,520
470
44.8
1850
1,050
. ....
. ....
Clarksburg :
1910
9,20I
5,15I
I27.2
1900
4,050
1,042
34.6
1890
3,008
701
30.4
1880
2,307
1870
1860
895
.....
. ....
Fairmont :
1910
9,7II
4,056
71.7
I900
5,655
4,632
452.8
1890
1,023
I23
13.7
1880
900
279
44.9
1870
621
1 83
1 11.8
I860
704
2I
3.I
1850
683
...
...
Huntington :
1910
31,16I
19,238
161.4
1900
11,923
1,815
18.0
1800
10,108
6,934
218.5
1880
3,174
Martinsburg :
19IO
10,698
3,134
41.4
1900
7,564
338
4.7
1890
7,226
891
14.I
1880
6,335
1,472
30.3
1870
4,863
1,499
44.6
1860
3,364
1,174
53.6
1850
2,190
..
. .
...
1 Decrease.
312
HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY
City and Census Year. Population.
Morgantown :
1910
9,150
7,255
382.8
1900
1,895
884
87.4
1890
I,OII
266
35.7
1880
745
152
1 6.5
1870
797
56
7.6
1860
741
. ....
Moundsville :
1910
8,918
3,556
66.3
1900
5,362
2,674
99.5
1890
2,688
914
51.5
1880
1,774
274
18.3
1870
1,500
414
38.1
1860
1.086
I45
15.4
1850
2 941
Parkersburg :
1910
17,842
6,139
52.5
1900
11,703
3.295
39.2
1890
8,408
1,826
27.7
1880
6,582
1,036
18.7
1870
5,546
3.053
122.5
1860
2,493
1,275
104.7
1850
1,218
....
Wheeling:
1910
41,641
2,763
7.1
1900
38.878
4.356
12.6
1890
· 34,522
3.785
12.3
1880
30,737
11,457
59.4
1870
19,280
5.197
36.9
1860
14,083
2,648
23.2
1850
11,435
3.550
45.0
1840
7,885
.. .
1870
22,349
Increase, 1900-1910 2
26,761
Per cent of increase
48.9
Increase, 1890-1900 Per cent of increase
27.9
Land area (square miles) 860
Population per square mile, 1910. . 94.7
Rural population per square mile, 1910 68.0
URBAN AND RURAL TERRITORY
Urban, 1910-Places of 2,500 or more in 1910
22,996
Same places in 1900 II,099
Per cent of increase, 1900-1910 107.2
Rural, 1910-Remainder of county in 1910 58,46 1
Same territory in 1900. 43,597
Per cent of increase, 1900-1910 2 34.1
Urban, 1900-Places of 2,500 or more in 1900 11,099
Rural, 1900-Remainder of county
in 1900 . 43,597
Per cent in places of 2,500 or more, 1910
28.2
Per cent in places of 2,500 or more, 1900
20.3
POPULATION OF KANAWHA COUNTY WITH DE- CENNIAL INCREASE, DENSITY, AND POPULATION IN URBAN TERRITORY
Total population, 1910 81,457
1900
. 54,696
1890
42,756
2 Combined population of Elizabethtown and Moundsville, consolidated and incorpo- rated as Moundsville town in 1863.
POPULATION OF INCORPORATED PLACES IN KANAWHA COUNTY : 1910, 1900, AND 1890
1910
1900 1890
Cedar Grove town 679
Charleston city 22,996
II,099
6,742
Clendenin town
815
Eastbank town
55I
468
Pratt town
306
St. Albans
1,209
816
Increase Over Pre- ceding Census Number. Per cent.
1880
32,466
11,940
313
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
KANAWHA COUNTY STATISTICS BY DISTRICTS
Kanawha County
81,457
54,696
42,756
Big Sandy district, including Clendenin town.
3,835
2,915
1,960
Clendenin town 10
815
. .
.
....
Cabin Creek district, including Cedar Grove, Eastbank, and Pratt towns
22,920
11,854
7,940
Cedar Grove town 11
679
Eastbank town
55I
468
... . .
Pratt town 3
306
....
....
Charleston district,12 including wards I to 9 of Charleston city 23,966
22,283
11,099
6,742
Total for Charleston city 13 in Charleston and Loudon
districts
22,996
11,099
6,742
Ward I
2,597
Ward 2
3,75I
Ward 3
2,435
Ward 4
2,886
.... .
. ....
Ward 5
2,43I
.
. .. . .
Ward 6
1,599
Ward 7
2,438
...
Ward 8
2,015
.....
.....
Ward 9
2,13I
....
.....
Ward IO
713
Elk district
6,391
5,665
4,374
Jefferson district, including St. Albans town
3,841
3,545
3,270
St. Albans town
1,209
816
Loudon district, including ward 10 of Charleston city Charleston city 13 (part of)
5,718
4,427
3,343
Malden district
3,803
3,364
3,707
Poca district
4,090
3,818
3,038
Union district
3,949
3,842
3,266
Washington district
2,944
1,849
1,636
CENSUS
Population of Cities
New York
4,766,883
Chicago
. 2,185,283
Philadelphia
1,549,008
St. Louis
687,029
Boston
670,585
Los Angeles
319,198
Cleveland
560,663
Minneapolis
301,408
Baltimore
558,485
Jersey City
267,779
Pittsburg
533,905
Kansas City
248,38I
Detroit
465,766
Seattle
237,194
3 Incorporated in 1906.
8 Returned in 1900 as in Union district only.
9 Incorporated as a city in 1905.
10 Incorporated in 1904.
Buffalo
423,715
San Francisco
416,912
'Milwaukee
373,857
Cincinnati
364,463
Newark, N. J.
347,469
New Orleans
339,075
Washington, D. C.
331,069
11 Incorporated in 1902.
12 Part annexed to Charleston city in 1907.
13 Part of Charleston district annexed in 1907; re- turned in 1900 as in Charleston district only.
. .
.
.
. ...
·
·
...
713
.
1890
I9IO
1900
13,417
10,222
Charleston city (part of)
314
HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY
Indianapolis
233,650
Providence
224,326
Louisville
223,928
Richmond, Va.
127,628
Norfolk, Va.
67,452
Wheeling, W. Va.
41,64I
Huntington, W. Va.
31,16I
Charleston, W. Va.
23,000
St. Albans
1,209
GROWTH OF W. VA.
1870
442,014
1880
618,457
1890
762,794
1900
958,800
1910
1,221,119
MINERAL PRODUCTS (W. VA.)
Coal output, 1908
41,659,843 short tons
Value
.$40,909,054
Petroleum · 9,523,176 barrels
Farm lands
. 10,654,513
Bushels Value
Corn, in 1909 27,632,000
$20,448,000
Wheat, in 1909 4,810,000 5,435,000
Oats, in 1909 . 2,156,000 1,164,000
Potatoes, in 1909 3,822,000 2,599,000
Hay, in 1909 .. 844,000 tons 11,225,000
Tobacco, in 1909 12,600,000 pounds; value, $1,363,000.
LIVE STOCK ON FARMS 1910
Horses
. 197,000
Mules 12,000
Cattle 758,000
Sheep
· 709,000
Hogs
338,000
Wool, in 1909 3,380,684 pounds.
In 1905, there were 2,109 manufacturing es- tablishments, representing a capital of $86,- 820,823 and employing 43,758 persons, to whom was paid $21,153,042. The material used cost $54,419,206. Output valued at $99,040,676.
DATES OF FIRST OF THINGS
Watches were made I376
Almanac printed 1460
Post office established 1469
First printing press
1493
Needles came in use I545
Knives used in England 1558
First wheeled carriage in France. 1559
Newspaper published in England 1565
Printing press in America 1629
Public schools in America 1642
Daily newspaper I702
Steam engine in America I753
Flag adopted by Congress
1777
Photo in England 1802
Horse railroad 1826
Kerosene for light 1826
Lucifer matches 1827
Iron steam ship 1830
Steel pens made
1830
Postage stamps used 1839
Envelopes made 1839
Telegraph 1844
Sewing machine 1846
Atlantic cable 1858
Bell telephone 1876
Edison phonograph 1877
Trolley in Berlin 1879
Trolley in Cleveland 1883
CHAPTER XIX HISTORY OF THE COAL INDUSTRY By John Laing, Chief of the Department of Mines
Geography and Geology-Coal Deposits-Early Discoveries of Coal-John P. Turner's Coal Mine-Use of Coal by Salt Companies-The Rogers' Survey-Quantity of Coal Mined in 1840-Systematic Exploration in 1849-Mines Opened in 1853-First Commercial Ship- ments-Coal Convention in 1855-The Pittsburg Seam-Bakerstown Seam-Freeport Seam-Lower Kittanning Seam-Clarion-Brookville Seam-Stockton-Lewiston Seam- Coalburg Seam-Winifrede Coal-Chilton Seam-Thacker Seam-Cedar Grove Seam- Peerless Seam-No. 2 Gas Seam-Powellton Seam-Eagle Seam-Little Eagle Seam- Other Coals-General Report of Analysis by the W. Va. Geological Survey-Miscellaneous Statistics.
Kanawha County lies south of the central portion of West Virginia, and is divided by the Great Kanawha River, flowing from the south- east, for a distance of more than forty miles. The Elk River coming from the northeast flows through the County for a distance of nearly thirty miles, and empties into the Great Kana- wha at Charleston. Coal River flows through a small portion of the western part of the County and empties into the Great Kanawha at St. Albans, twelve miles northwest of Charleston, while the Poctalico River flows southwest and passes through a portion of the northern edge of the County, and empties into the Great Kanawha at Raymond City, about twenty miles northwest of Charleston. These streams, together with their tributaries, form the drainage basin of Kanawha County.
Geologically, Kanawha County carries many of the coals from the Monongahela Series to the Upper Pottsville Series, and has the dis- tinction of being the first locality in the United States to utilize natural gas for manufacturing purposes, the County being extensively under- laid with natural gas and oil, and it is further noted for being one of the first localities west of the Alleghany Mountains where salt was produced.
Rich deposits of coal were early discovered where it had been exposed by erosion along the bluffs on mountain sides. We are told that as early as 1742 a party coming from Augusta County (Virginia) discovered coal on Coal River, which fact possibly gave rise to the pres- ent name of that stream.
John P. Turner, of New York, who at one time resided in a mining district near Pitts- burg, came to Kanawha Valley about 1815 and engaged in supplying salt furnaces with wood, and in the year 1817, he opened a coal mine at the mouth of Burning Spring Branch, about seven miles southeast of Charleston, and en- tered into a contract with one of the salt com- panies to supply coal as fuel. Other salt com- panies soon adopted the use of coal as fuel, and thus coal mining became an industry in the County.
Prof. W. B. Rogers made an examination of the coal seams of the Great Kanawha about 1836, and in 1841 a geological survey was made under his directions, and in his report he stated he examined five seams of bitumi- nous coal and two seams of cannel coal, above water level, in the Great Kanawha Valley. He further stated that for the year 1840,
315
316
HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY
5,000,000 bushels of coal were mined and used for the production of 1,000,000 bushels of salt. Possibly the first coal shipped from Kanawha County was mined by Alva Hans- ford who, in 1840, built a boat, loaded it with coal and transported it to Cincinnati where he sold the coal at the rate of seven cents per bushel.
In 1840 the quantity of bituminous coal mined in Western Virginia (now West Vir- ginia ) was computed to be 289,698 gross tons, while the entire State of Virginia produced 379,369 gross tons.
It was not until about the year 1849, and thereafter, that a systematic exploration of the mountains and hills of the Great Valley was undertaken with a view of determining the value of same as a coal producing field. At that time Colonel William H. Edwards, owner of the Wilson Survey of 85,600 acres, began to make extensive investigations in search of coal.
In the year 1853 mines were opened on Field's Creek, where the Winifrede Collieries are now located, and the coal transported to the Kanawha River by narrow gauge railway and thence shipped to Cincinnati, and the Lower Ohio by flat boats.
The year 1855 witnessed the first commer- cial shipments of coal from Kanawha County, though there were many coal companies or- ganized at this time to commence the develop- ment of coal lands. From an issue of the In- dependent Republican of Point Pleasant, Ma- son County, Virginia (now West Virginia) dated October 4th, 1855, we read the follow- ing :
COAL CONVENTION
Proceedings of a Convention held at Charles- ton, Kanawha County, pursuant to notice, on the 15th of September, 1855.
Representatives Present :
Col. C. Q. Tompkins, Representative of the Paint Creek Co.
H. M. Onderdonk, Great Western Mining & Manufacturing Co.
E. Kenna, Forks of Coal Company.
S. F. Griffin, Mt. Carbon Coal Co., and WVy- oming Coal Co.
Dr. English, Mithcomah Cannel Coal Co.
P. P. Doddridge, Old Dominion Coal Co., and The Kanawha Coal Company.
Joseph Gill, Coal River and Kanawha Min- ing & Manufacturing Company.
W. T. Rosencrans, Cannel Coal Company of Coal River.
J. D. Vanhorn, Western Mining & Man- ufacturing Company of Coal River.
Clement Smith, President of Coal River Navigation Company.
N. Fitzhugh, Pioneer Coal Company.
Clement Smith, Virginia Cannel Coal Com- pany of Peytona, Coal River.
W. J. Rand, Iron Hills Coal Company.
Samuel Miller, Kanawha Salt Company.
The meeting being duly organized, Colonel C. Q. Tompkins was called to the Chair, who briefly stated that the object of the Conven- tion was to elicit information appertaining to the mineral and other interests of the Great Kanawha Region, with the view of preparing a report, exhibiting the claims of those inter- ests to the Legislative aid of the State.
Some interesting remarks were made by different members of the Convention, and the following resolutions were presented to and passed by the Convention unanimously :
Resolved, That Colonel C. Q. Tompkins, Messrs. Clement Smith, S. F. Griffin and Sam- uel A. Miller, be, and they are hereby, ap- pointed a Committee, whose duties it shall be to inquire into the extent of the general re- sources of the Valley of the Kanawha; the probable amount and value of the freight it will furnish for transportation; the extent of the interests now engaged in the coal, iron, salt and lumber of the Valley; the necessity of an improved mode of transportation to se- cure a successful development of those and other interests; to propose a Memorial to the Legislature, embodying the result of their in- quiries in the matters thus submitted to them, and to do and perform every other act and thing which they think will best subserve the interests of the parties composing this meet- ing, having a proper regard to the great in- terest of the State, as well as the rights and interests of the James River and Kanawha Company.
317
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
Resolved, That this meeting be adjourned, to meet at Charleston on the 15th day of No- vember next, and if the meeting shall not then convene, that the Committee, appointed by the preceding resolution shall, and they are hereby requested to lay the Memorial to be prepared by them, before the Legislature in such man- ner as the Committee may deem most appro- priate.
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meet- ing be published in the Kanawha Republican, and that the other papers of the State, friendly to the improvements contemplated, be requested to publish he same.
(Signed) COL. C. Q. TOMPKINS, President. (Signed) CLEMENT SMITH, Secretary.
When the salt manufacturing began to de- crease, the manufacturers had coal lands, but they did not have the necessary capital to de- velop the mines, build barges and boats or pur- chase railway equipment, and for this reason they were applying to the State Legislature for aid.
In 1866, Professor Harris S. Daddow, of Pottsville, Pa., published his exhaustive work, "Coal, Iron and Oil," in which he says :
"The coals of the Great Kanawha Region, as we shall specially describe, are of various constituencies, and are adapted to all the re- quirements of the trades and manufactures. The hard and the cooking, with the fat and gaseous bituminous; the variable splint, and the rich and oily cannel, are all found in the same mountains, and are all acecssible, alike to the miner and navigation, through the agencies of the eroding waters which have ex- posed these coals in a thousand places. This is the natural mining and manufacturing cen- ter of the Great Alleghany coal field."
While Kanawha County is rich in its de- posits of natural gas, oil and salt, yet its great- est wealth lies in its coal deposits. The hills contain a great number of seams of coal of a workable thickness, among which the follow- ing may be named :
The Pittsburg, Bakerstown, Freeport, No. 5 Block or Lower Kittanning, Clarion-Brook- ville, Stockton-Lewiston Coalburg, Winifrede, Chilton, Thacker, Cedar Grove, Peerless, No. 2 Gas, Powellton, Eagle, and the Little Eagle.
A diagram showing the coal seams in Kana- wha County is herewith submitted. This dia- gram has been taken from the "Coals of West Virginia," as compiled by Mr. C. E. Krebs, Assistant Geologist, Charleston, West Virginia. It will be noted that there are sixteen workable coal seams in Kanawha County, while the total seams in the State are about sixty. Kanawha County having more than twenty-five per cent of all the seams in the State.
THE PITTSBURG SEAM
North of Elk River the tops of the hills carry the Pittsburg Coal which reaches a thickness of from 3 feet to 7 feet. The coal is hard block, glossy, and does not crumble. It is an excellent fuel and domestic coal. This coal is mined by the farmers and hauled to Charleston in wagons, where it is sold for fuel. No accurate survey has been made showing the exact area underlaid by this seam, but it has been estimated at various figures and there is possibly from 10,000 to 15,000 acres of this coal lying in the hills between Elk River on the south and Poctalico River on the north, and in the near future this coal will be mined on a larger scale and shipped to the western markets.
THE BAKERSTOWN SEAM
The Bakerstown Coal lies from 400 to 500 feet below the Pittsburg Coal and has been opened on Two Mile Creek but it is thin and impure. It has not been thoroughly prospected, but the indications are this seam has very lit- tle commercial value.
THE FREEPORT SEAM
This coal lies from 100 to 200 feet below the Bakerstown and is found along the waters of Elk River and possibly south of Elk near the tops of the hills. It is from 2 feet to 4 feet in thickness, and is a good domestic and fuel coal.
THE NO. 5 BLOCK OR LOWER KITTANNING SEAM
The No. 5 Block or Lower Kittanning is one of the most important in the Kanawha Coal Field. It is mined in various places in Kanawha County and shipped both east and west as a domestic, fuel and steam coal. It
318
HISTORY OF KANAWHA COUNTY
lies from 40 to 200 feet above a hard per- sistent black flint sandstone which has been called the "Black Flint Ledge." At the mouth of Elk River this coal is about on a level with the Chesapeake & Ohio grade, while it rises rapidly, going to the southeast until at Mont- gomery the coal seam occurs about 900 feet above the level of the Chesapeake & Ohio grade. This seam is mined on Blue Creek and Elk River, also on the Kanawha & Michigan Railway, and its branches, also on Morris, Paint and Cabin Creeks of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The seam varies in thickness from 4 feet to 8 feet. It is a hard, block coal and does not easily disintegrate, thus forming an excellent coal for shipments. This seam is sometimes a cannel coal, as on Falling Rock Creek where it has been mined for years and on Mill Creek on the Coal & Coke Railway. The cannel coal varies from 21/2 to 5 feet.
THE CLARION-BROOKVILLE SEAM
At from 30 to 50 feet below the No. 5 Block there often occurs a seam of coal from 2 to 3 feet thick, which has been named the Clarion or Brookville. This seam has not yet been worked in a commercial way.
THE STOCKTON-LEWISTON SEAM
The first seam below the Kanawha Flint Ledge has been named the Stockton-Lewiston Seam where it occurs from 10 to 30 feet be- low the Black Flint Ledge. This coal is usu- ally a twin seam and was once mined south of Charleston for fuel for salt furnaces. It ap- pears on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway about one-half mile east of Charleston Station. It is possible this is the cannel seam that was for years mined at Cannelton. It varies in thick- ness from 3 to 6 feet, but usually contains some impurities.
THE COALBURG SEAM
The next seam of importance is the Coalburg underlying the Lewiston from 30 to 100 feet. This was first mined on a commercial scale at Coalburg, sixteen miles southeast of Charles- ton, from which it derived its name. In fact, it was probably through the mining operations of this seam that the character and reputation of the coal in the Kanawha Valley was first
established in the commercial markets of the country. This seam contains much splint coal, as well as alternate layers of soft or "Gas" coal, and one or more partings of shale. Fre- quently the layers or shale will thicken up to several feet of rock. The coal is mined on the Kanawha & Michigan Railway and branches of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. It is ex- cellent for steam purposes and one of the best domestic. It ranges in thickness from 3 to 7 feet and is one of the important coal beds in Kanawha County.
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