OMAR, WV
Omar is the biggest coal camp on Island Creek. Main Island Creek Coal Company opened the mines
at Omar in 1914-15, and it quickly became one of the largest enterprises in the Logan Coalfield. According to Coal Age, the lease
was 30,000 acres, production in 1916 was about 12,000 tons per day, and almost 500 company houses were constructed. Several of the houses
had running water and were plastered. Coal Age further described life at Omar: "Garbage disposal is taken care of by a steel tank
wagon and collections are made daily. The management has purchased trees for the main streets and plants, flowers and shrubs for the most
advantageous points. A model dairy is installed, and a wagon makes two deliveries a day. An uptodate [sic] ice-making plant with a capacity
of 12 tons a day is housed in the basement of the store." The coal company awarded prizes to families with the most attractive and well-
maintained yards.
In 1925 Main Island Creek sold the Omar mines to West Virginia Coal and Coke Corp., who employed 2000 employees at the Omar in 1934. That firm
closed the Omar mines in 1954. It is unknown whether the mines were closed due to exhuastion of coal reserves, or because the coal market had
fallen apart by then from the loss of markets such as steam trains switching to diesel, factories now operating on natural gas and oil, and
commercial and residential heating customers switching to other forms of heating fuel. Whatever the reason, the mid-50's were a prosperous
time for most of America, but not so great in many Appalachian coal towns. So many people left and went to Cleveland, Detroit, etc. But that's
another story.
The sun hasn't risen over the mountain yet to shine on the Omar coal camp.
A street of duplex former coal company houses. These are common in
the coal mining towns of Pennsylvania, but not so much in West Virginia.
Smaller single family company houses.
The company store. Junior Mercantile was the retail arm of West Virginia Coal and Coke Corp.
A photo of Omar from Coal Age magazine that was captioned,
"Omar, set in a picturesque mountain valey, is a well-ordered village with sidewalks and provisions for a wholesome community
life."
Looking up the tracks in "Omar." This is from a series of photos by photographer Ben Shahn listed as being at Omar, but some
may have also been taken at neighboring coal camps Superior Bottom, Micco, and Stirrat.
Different styles of company houses are visible in this picture. Behind each two-family house are two "outhouses" and a double coal bin.
This picture and the following one are listed by the Library
of Congress as being in Omar, but I think they look more like the nearby Superior Bottom camp.
Perhaps Superior Bottom was actually a named section of Omar.
To illustrate, this photo was actually taken at Superior Bottom.
Inferior coal company houses perched on the hillside. There
are no solid foundatons, only "stilts." There are no roads or sidewalks, and the landscape around the houses is barren and denuded.
Coal camp kids in the Great Depression.
The sign on this building reads, "Omar Graded Public
School White." At the time West Virginia was a racially segregated state.
The company store, and auditorium are visible in
this Omar picture. The auditorium consisted of a section for the YMCA; a section for the theatre; and on the ground floor, reading rooms,
snack bars, billiard parlor, and soda fountain. All activities at the auditorium were racially segregated at the time.
Downtown "Omar" at the bottom of the 1930's depression seems to
be faring better than other locations.
Men hanging out on the railroad tracks next to the Omar Theatre.
The railroad was used as a pedestrian thoroughfare.
Coal miners on their day off - Sunday. Although these are
Appalachian coal miners, they are dressed very much like mainstream America - not ragged hillbillies. At the time these people
(rightly) considered themselves as much a part of industrialized America as Pittsburgh steel workers or Detroit auto workers. Island Creek hollow
would have been filled with one coal town after another, and perhaps not thought of as "remote" or "off the beaten path" as we would consider it
today. I think Appalachia is much more marginalized now (21st Century) than it was back then.
Feb. 2002 image by author
Feb. 2002 image by author
Feb. 2002 image by author
1968 image by Kathy Laux via LoganWV.us
Circa 1916 Coal Age image via Google Books
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Circa 1999 image courtesy of wvcoalfield.com
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Circa 1922 "Keystone Coal Catalog" image via Google Books
Circa 1922 "Keystone Coal Catalog" image via Google Books
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress
Oct. 1935 image by Ben Shahn, Library of Congress