A rare photo of Humoco, WV, the only coal camp in Summers County. It was operated by Hump Mountain Smokeless Coal Co. during the 1920s. (Photo courtesy of W. Caldwell)
Clyde contributes this picture of the Left Fork Fuel tipple from the Greenbrier Coal Field. Clyde says that this tipple was in operaton during the 1950s.
What's left of the coal mining town named Bellwood in Fayette County. The operator was the Alaska Coal Co., mining the Fire Creek seam. Another source says the Bellwood No. 1, 2, and 3 mines were owned by the Dorkent Coal Co. and in the Pocahontas No. 3 vein.
A 1925 view of the Greenbrier Smokeless Coal Company store at Bellburn, a mine and coal camp founded in 1918 by John BELL and H.H. BlackBURN. This store is gone now, but a few of the coal camp houses remain. (Photo courtesy of W. Caldwell)
The preparation plant and loadout at Bellburn date from recent times when A.T. Massey operated a mine here as White Buck Coal Co.
Another view of the coal processing facility at Bellburn. Note the steel stacking tube on the left. This place probably won't be here in a few years. A coal tipple is a fleeting thing.
The coal camp of Duo in Big Clear Creek Valley. I looked thoroughly for any remnants of the tipple or mine, but only found a BIG reclaimed strip mine.
The mines and camp at Duo were owned by the Raine Lumber and Coal Co, and later (1960s) by Duo Coals, Inc.
An aerial view of Duo. With only about 20 homes Duo was a relatively small coal camp. Most of the homes are still in existence, though. (Photo from Willis Franco via Bill Richmond)
A scene from the coal camp of Crichton (pronouced cry-ton). This mine here was opened in 1921 by the Johnstown Coal and Coke Co. Operations ceased in 1951. Many people still call Crichton home, and the elementary school is still opened there, too.
As this photo of Marfrance illustrates, the coal operators in the Greenbrier field often located their coal camps on the hilltop. Marfrance, founded in 1912, was so named because the Margarette Coal Co. and Frances Coal Co. both had mines here.
This photo shows Clear Fork Coal Co.'s Clearco coal camp being constructed in 1929. I went up there and there's absolutely nothing left of the town, which is a shame because Clearco was
one of only a few coal camps in Southern West Virginia that I know of to have brick houses (Keystone and Glen Rogers are some others). Clearco was the highest (elevation) mine in the east. The Brooke No. 1 mine and Brooke No. 2 mine were in the Sewell seam. Later companies such as Demasi Coal Co. and Bryant Coal Co. mined at Clearco.
Bill shares this photo of the tipple at Clearco in July 2000, shortly before it was demolished. (Photo by Herold Robinson via Bill Richmond)
Bill also emailed in this picture of what he called the "work shop" at Clearco. He
writes, "As you can see the brick in the shop is also what most of the houses were built out of as well." (Photo by Herold Robinson via Bill Richmond)
A rare picture of the Clear Creek Coal Company store that used to exist at Clearco (Photo courtesy Bill Richmond)
Massey Energy's Green Valley mine is one of the few remaining coal operations in the Greenbrier Coalfield. Westmoreland Coal Co. originally built this prep plant and named it "Lady H."
Another contemporary coal company in the Greenbrier field is Princess Polly Anna, shown here with a stacking conveyor in front of an old Peters Equipment modular plant.