KITZMILLER, MD

July 2003 image by author When I first entered the town of Kitzmiller, MD, I saw this restored coal car in front of the post office and I knew I was in a coal mining town.
July 2003 image by author Actually, Kitzmiller isn't a coal company-built town per se. It was a mill town before the coal boomed - first a woolen mill, then lumber. But it is full of coal history. Many of the local residents of Kitzmiller deny that a coal company built any of the homes in the town, but the owner of one of these homes said that Hamill Coal and Coke built these houses.
July 2003 image by author These houses in Kitzmiller were probably inhabited by miners of the Hamill Coal and Coke mine, which Kitzmiller citizens reckoned opened around 1900 and closed around 1960. Actually, the Hamill mines dated back to the 1880s, and possibly earlier, although Hamill Coal and Coke wasn't the operator until circa 1908. At that time, a new tipple and aerial tramway across the river were constructed.
July 2003 image by author Johnstown Coal and Coke Company store in Kitzmiller. That same company operated the Vindex mines and coal camp over the mountain from Kitzmiller.
July 2003 image by author There is a nifty little Coal Mining Museum in Kitzmiller. Here are a few of the many artifacts they have on display. There are also many books and photographs for research and reference there, and their collection is growing all the time.
July 2003 image by author The Kitzmiller Coal Mining Museum also features this model of the Hamill Coal and Coke mine. The aerial tram carried the coal across the river in buckets. If you would like to visit this museum remember donations are not mandatory but are appreciated.

Sources:

Ware, Donna M. Green Glades & Sooty Gob Piles. Maryland Historical & Cultural Publications, 1991.

DeWitt, Rebecca A. Our History of the Kitzmiller Region. 1st ed., vol. 1, Backbone Mountain & Potomac River Heritage Corp., 2000.

Ghost Towns of the Upper Potomac. Garrett County Historical Society, 1998.

Interviews with George Brady and other unnamed older people sitting on their front porches in Kitzmiller on Saturday July 5, 2003.

Meyer, Eugene L. “Old Town Clings to Life.” Washington Post, 28 Oct. 1979.

Maryland Geological Survey. Vol. 8, The Johns Hopkins Press, 1909.