THACKER COAL FIELD
Stone, KY was established as a coal camp by the Pond Creek Coal Company in 1912. Ten years later the Stone coal mines and coal camp were sold to Fordson Coal Company,
a captive mine of the Ford Motor Company. The buildings pictured here were built by Fordson, probably around 1923-24. The building on the left was the company store, in the center was the company offices, and the
building on the right was a recreational building containing a restaurant and theatre.
In 1936 Fordson Coal Co. sold their mines at Stone, as well as nearby McAndrews and McVeigh, to Eastern Coal Corp. It was Eastern. marketing their product as "Red Robin" coal, that originally painted this sign on
the side of the recreational building. Shown here is a newly repainted sign on top of the old one. This was accomplished by Stone Heritage, Inc. , the volunteer group that actually saved these historical structures
from demolition and operates a museum in the center office building. The museum is open Saturdays from 10 until 3 or 4, and can be visited on other days by making an appointment with Peggy King. You can email her at king3700 "at" bellsouth "dot" net (have to keep
the evil phishing robots away).
This row of houses in Stone was for the officials of the coal company. The home at the right is actually a portion of the old clubhouse.
Stone, KY - miner's company houses, the old railroad bed, with the brick company buildings in the background. When the mines on Pond Creek began to mechanize in the 1950s, people probably began to move away to cities such as Detroit and Columbus. As
mining further declined over the years more people probably left Stone and the surrounding coal camps. But on the second Saturday in October a Pond Creek Reunion is still held at nearby Jenny Wiley Park, so that the former and current residents of these old coal towns can still get together and
intermingle.
A vintage view of the coal preparation facility that used to exist at Stone, KY (courtesy of Stone Heritage, Inc.)
Company houses in Aflex, KY, probably constructed in 1917 by the Leckie Collieries Company (Photo courtesy of David Price)
Church on the hill in Aflex, KY (Photo courtesy of David Price)
Abandoned truck dump tipple in Freeburn, KY
The former Norfolk & Western trestle that crossed the Tug Fork and headed into Majestic, KY (Photo courtesy of David Price)
Company store in Majestic, KY (Photo courtesy of David Price)
Ruins of the tipple - Majestic, KY (Photo courtesy of David Price)
Many steel companies, such as U.S. Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Inland Steel, and Republic Steel, owned "captive" mines in Eastern Kentucky. One of the last steel companies
to own a coal mine in the region was Steel Company of Canada (STELCO), which operated the subsidiary Chisholm Coal Company near Phelps, KY. Though the mine closed in the early 2000s, here is a photo of the
preparation plant and huge suspended conveyor that existed there until recently. Now what remains of "Big Steel" has divested themselves of "captive" coal mines and purchases coal on the open market for use
in their coke ovens.