The first company at Whipple was Justis Collins' Whipple Colliery Co. An explosion at the mine in 1907 killed 16 miners. Lowell Thomas, the newscaster from radio's golden era, once broadcast from inside the mine, which closed in 1957.
Carlisle was named after a town in Scotland. The White Oak Fuel Co. began mining here in 1899. Later the New River Co. ran it, and they closed the mine in 1965, but not before 21 miners died in an explosion of the mine in 1915.
Both the Whipple and Carlisle mines were in the 48-inch Sewell seam of coal. For a time the shaft opening at Carlisle was known as "Oakwood".
The coal camp of Carlisle
Another section of Carlisle
The New River Co. "Oakwood Store" at Carlisle, built in 1928
Looking up the Carlisle coal camp toward the store.
A row of company built houses in Carlisle.
The durable metal roofs on these coal camp houses have lasted a century.
CONCORD UNIVERSITY TOUR OF CARLISLE-WHIPPLE-SCARBRO IN 2008
History of coal mining. History of West Virginia. History of Fayette County West Virginia. New River History. New River tourism. History of Coal. Research history.
History of Beckley WV. Sewell Coal Seam. Historic Pictures. Historic Photographs. Genealogy research.
Historic books. Historic Maps. Bluefield History. Beckley history publications. History. Polish immigrants. Slovak immigrants. Italian immigrants.
West Virginia immigrants. Appalachian music. Appalachian culture. Ghost towns pictures. Geneology. archaeology.
Historic architecture. Historic buildings. Historic towns. Organized labor. Unions. United Mine workers. Archives.
Daybreak at "Hunk Hill." "Hunk" was a local 
There were so many "hunks" on White Oak Creek from Carlisle to Glen Jean that a Catholic Church was built there. Mass has been canceled indefinately.
This is the original Saints Peter and Paul Church, which moved to Oak Hill in 1966 and is still located there. The old Catholic school and rectory are also still standing.
The Catholic cemetary with "Hunk Hill" in the background
Venanzio Di Zio's headstone. He probably died in the mines.
Anna Smisko's tombstone, written in Polish or Czekoslovakian or something
The headstone of Natale Delucanto written in Italian
"Brothers who worked and died together in the mine"
The Knights of Columbus erected this sign at the entrance to the graveyard in the 1990s, with a narrative about coal miners who died in mining accidents. The sign
further advises visitors to the graveyard to "say a prayer for those who died in the darkness so we can enjoy the sunlight."
The Whipple Company Store, built in the 1890s and still standing in the 21st Century. It is now operated by Joy and Chuck Lynn as the Whipple Company Store
and Appalachian Heritage Museum, and fascinating tours of the historic structure and its contents are given from May until October. I especially enjoyed the manual freight elevator.
Some of the remaining coal camp houses in Whipple
The Whipple tipple (from the out of print book "The New River Company-Mining Coal and Making History 1906-1976")
Whipple slate dump
These ruins of the Oakwood coal mine remain in the hollow behind the Oakwood company store. The tipple foundations are in the weeds, a tall red brick shaft enclosure is in the center, a repair shop is on the hill above that, and the remains
of a building that was either a supply house, repair shop, or power house is to the right.
Detail of the ornate masonry on the building that was probably a power house or supply house.
The building that is at the top of the ruins - perhaps a repair shop.
This was probably a guide tower for aerial tramway cables carrying refuse to the slate dump, a portion of which remains on the top of the hill.
It is unclear what this structure was, but it is on the hillside near the slate dump.
Sadly the historic remains of the Oakwood mine were being reclaimed in 2009.
Also these structures from a 1970s or 80s-era operation were still in existence in the Carlisle - Whipple vicinity as late as 2007, but have since been reclaimed.
At the Whipple Company Store.
At Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery.
At the crumbling powerhouse of the Oakwood Mine.
At the ruins of the Oakwood tipple.
The tour concluded in nearby Thurmond, WV.
SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA COALFIELDS
