MERRILL PARK, WV

Merrill Park - one of the few coal camps north of the town of Logan - housed the families of the miners of Merrill Coal Mines, Inc.'s Merrill Mine, which they opened in 1921. The company town was along the Guyandotte River, but the actual coal mine was a distance away up a hollow. So Merrill Coal Mines had to shuttle the men to work and back with their own private locomotive. The Merrill Mine produced coal into the 1950's.

Dec. 2017 image by author The coal company housing that is still in existence along Route 10 at Merrill Park near Henlawson.

Dec. 2017 image by author Note how the coal company alternated from porch roofs to break up the monotony of company town architecture.

Circa 1961 image by Ernie Lantz The abandoned tipple just before it was demolished.

1922 Coal Age image via Google Books Early picture of Merrill Park mining camp. According to an August 1922 article in Coal Age, there were 84 four room company houses, and 54 were "equipped with a bathroom." Why not a bathroom in all of them?

1922 Coal Age image via Google Books Men working the picking table in the Merrill Coal Mines tipple.