KANAWHA-COAL RIVER COALFIELD
Commercial mining in the field began at Cannelton in the 1850s, and the Kanawha field is currently the No. 1 producing coal field in the state. The field encompasses Boone County, the Marsh Fork district of Raleigh County, Kanawha County, Clay County, and even parts of Nicholas County.
The most important seams in these areas are the medium-volatile Eagle, No. 2 Gas, Cedar Grove, Coalburg, and Winifrede. Also, Conley lumps other areas in with the Kanawha Field, but these regions actually contain
the coal seams mined in the northern part of the state, and as such are the southern most extent of these coals. These areas include the region from Elmwood to Raymond City in Putnam County, and also the Elk River valley (some maps refer to this as the Coal and Coke Field). Since the coals mined in these areas are
different from that mined in the southern part of the Kanawha Field, I have divded the coalfield into upper and lower portions on the map.
Early 21st Century operations that I remember in the Kanawha-Coal River Field include Eastern Associated's Black Stallion, Lightfoot No. 2 mines, and Rivers
Edge Mine, Independence Coal Company's mines and their prep plant Liberty Processing, Omar Mining up the hollow from that, Goals Coal, Performance
Coal Company's mines, Marfork Coal Company, Elk Run Coal Company mines and Chess Processing plant, Pine Ridge Coal Company's Big Mountain No. 16 Mine, the Dakota/Jupiter
Operation, Catenary Coal's Samples Mine, Speed Mining, Kanawha Eagle's mines, Amvest's Fola Coal, and Massey Energy's Power Mountain/Alex Energy, to mention just a few. A
lot of coal poured out of this coalfield 1995-2010.
MUDDLETY (CATHERINE COAL TIPPLE)
History of coal mining. History of West Virginia. History of Kanawha County West Virginia. History of Fayette County
West Virginia. History of Raleigh County. History of Wyoming County. History
of McDowell Couinty. History of Beckley WV. Pocahontas Coal Seam. Historic Pictures. Historic Photographs.
Historic books. Historic Maps. Bluefield History. Beckley history publications. History. Polish immigrants. Slovak immigrants. Italian immigrants.
West Virginia immigrants. Appalachian music. Appalachian culture.
Historic architecture. Historic buildings. Historic towns. Organized labor. Unions. United Mine workers. Archives.
TOWNS AND SUB-REGIONS: