Submitted by Madison Vance
Coal camps have been an important part of Appalachian history from the moment they began. The history of coal camps goes back to many years ago, holding families that had a miner who provided for them. Coal camps are like small towns where coal miners resided themselves and their families to remain close to the mine itself. However, they hold so much more value than what people seem to perceive. The secrets that can be found inside of each tiny home are heartbreaking, amazing, and sometimes terrifying. The ghosts of the past that continue to dwell in these homes hold the key to the past. Typically, the camps were quite small and could be found in common coal mining areas, like the Appalachia itself. Some camps are still standing and are used as museums for people to study and examine closely. If one intently inspects the historical values of the coal camps, so many secrets and intriguing facts can be brought back to life.
Coal towns of the Appalachia were considered homes for many families. Miners were provided with these homes when they came onto the job so that they and their families would have a place to live. The coal companies provided everything for these families. There were town stores that only accepted the coal miners’ money, or scrip, that would not be accepted anywhere else, so the families had to shop at the local stores. The companies basically owned the families and controlled what they did throughout their time living here. They did take care of them while they were there, but once it was time for them to go, there was no sympathy. For example, if a miner happened to pass away in the mines, the grieving family would be kicked out of the camp as soon as possible so someone else could move in. It sometimes got rough for these families.
Coal camps in West Virginia began to gain popularity in the early 1900s. “By 1922, nearly 80 percent of West Virginia miners lived in company houses.” (Company Towns) The towns began spreading throughout the state, and the Appalachia, as an easier source of living for the miners and a more intense amount of power for the owners. Churches, schools, stores, and sometimes luxuries such as swimming pools, movie theatres, and parks were built for the new residents of the towns. Most of the time, citizens were not provided with the luxuries and were only given the few things they needed to survive. The company store was basically the only source of food, hygiene products, toys for children, and anything else families wanted or needed to purchase. The whole towns were built around the company stores. Most of the time, the towns were isolated and placed by the train tracks. To build the coal camps, companies stripped the forests and built the homes and all the other buildings. “To cut costs, almost all miners’ homes were built identically, often of cheap materials.” (Company Towns) These homes were not reliable or stable enough for families to live in, but they had no choice.
Most of the time, the homes you were assigned depended on the job you worked. If you had a more important, better paying job, your home was not as bad as those who made less. There was a slight chance that the men and their families would receive a nicer home, but it depended on their job position as a whole. For example, if a miner was a boss, he had the most dependable and nicest built home in the camp. If you were a simple miner and worked the same as everyone else, the homes were not well. In addition, there were separate camps for other races.
Being in the early 1900s, racism was still a very popular thing then. African Americans were segregated from the white citizens and were treated very poorly. Violence, bullying, and hate crimes were common things that happened. The African American citizens that lived in the coal towns were placed in separate areas in the towns and were not allowed to be on the Caucasian side sometimes. The towns did, however, try to keep it steady and calm in the camps. “To maximize productivity while maintaining peace, coal companies tried to keep a balance in numbers among native white, blacks, and immigrants.” (Coal Towns) They claimed this to be a “judicious mixture”. Eventually, the hatred and violence decreased. This is believed to be because of the realization that all men were there for the same thing – to make money. They got along for the most part, but there were still some conflicts that occurred.
The wives of the coal miners went through a lot for their family. They struggled as well as the miners and helped get through the hard times. The women of the coal camps are under appreciated in many ways; sometimes they were the saving grace of these men and towns. The men of this time worked in deadly, unsafe areas to provide for his family and give them a home in the coal camps, but the woman took care of everyone and made sure things were taken care of. In the book Strategies for Survival: Women’s Work in Southern West Virginia Coal Camps, written by Janet W. Greene, it states, “…they fed the miner, washed his clothes, took care of him when sick or injured, and raised the children who would become the next generation of mineworkers. They added to the family income by performing domestic work for other families, produced goods for use in the home, and scavenged and bartered.”. (37-54) These women went through hard times taking care of everyone and trying to find work as well. The camps that held these families now hold the ghosts of the past that replay these moments throughout time.
Women did have opportunities to work outside of the home as well. There were not very many options to choose from in Southern West Virginia, but there were a few that they could pick from. If they did choose to do an outside job along with her work at home, she had to do double because she was still expected to do everything at home. Of course the husband would work in the mines and do hard labor, but the woman was stuck with everything else and no help except from maybe the children at times. Also, the women sometimes had to do manual labor as well. For example, they would often have to help carry coal on their backs if their husbands quit or they were not making enough money. It is understandable that the men’s jobs were far more dangerous, but the woman had to work more if she decided to take on an outside job to make extra cash. It was just expected for the woman to be able to handle it all.
To add, the families that lived in coal towns were moved around quite a lot as well. The miners would move from town to town, trying to find a stable job, or just simply going where they were sent. Greene included an interview from a miner’s wife in her novel. The interview was done with a woman named Ethel Brewster. “He moved me every place. I lived at Holden and Mud Fork: I lived all over Rum Creek… I’ll never forget the moving.” (Greene) The women of these families were the true backbones of the relationship. They were the biggest support and help to their men.
The only source of transportation for these citizens was the railroad. The railroad transported people, coal, and more. The homes in the coal camps were often built close, or next to, the railways so transportation would not be so far for them. The managers and owners of the coal companies had much better homes than the workers; they had mansions basically. In the book Builder levy | Images of Appalachian Coalfields, it states, “Managers and key personnel were favored with large and elaborate houses … The workers were housed in another section in cheap look-alike buildings.”. (Lewis 16) The workers were placed in very low maintenance, poorly built homes unlike the bosses. It was all because of the money difference. Once again, they basically owned these families and controlled them.
When it came to living in the coal towns, it sometimes got rough for these families. A lot of the families struggled daily; basically, their entire lives there. Money was hard to come by, the items at the company stores were expensive, the homes were caving in, the jobs were never stable, death was common, and more. It was hard for them at times. While living in these towns, the families had to find some source of friendship throughout the journey to help them get by. In the book Coal Men and Coal Towns, written by Charles Kenneth Sullivan, the details of life in the coal town are included in the text. It speaks of the many things miners, and their relatives, did to make life just a bit better. “Baseball was the reigning passion in the coalfields, and the Mining Institute’s first project was the sponsorship of a Raleigh town team.” (194) So, baseball was a large sport that distracted the men from the rough times they were going through. It helped them cope and gave them something to look forward to daily. There were also boy scout organizations for others. Drinking was also another hobby the miners had. Not all of them drank, but there was many that involved themselves into that lifestyle. It was all for their sanity, for the most part anyways.
The miners involved themselves with many other activities to make the best out of their situations. Along with the ones listed above is dancing, swimming, movies, tending to animals, church, and so much more. Friends were easy to come by in a small coal town because of the similarities the families had. “Women talked a lot over the fences and met each morning at the store to draw scrip and buy groceries. The men talked a lot after work on the steps of the store.” (Lewis 16) The children kept themselves quite entertained as well with games that they played with the other children.
Linda Vance, 70 years old of Kermit, West Virginia, spoke about many stories her parents told her about while she grew up. James (Hol) Hannah and Garnet Hannah lived in a coal camp for a very short period of time. Her grandparents on her mother’s side (Bertha Peggy Meade and Washington Mont Meade) also lived in one for quite a while. It was where her mother was raised. She has studied and learned quite a bit about them from primary sources – her family. Her parents lived in the coal towns in the 1930s-1940s. She mentions her parents’ detailed descriptions and how they described what life was like in these camps.
In an interview with Linda Vance, she explained what her parents went through as they grew up in coal camps. “The houses were just all together and close. They were real dirty too. It was just hard livin’, honey.” (Vance) She spoke about how she was raised in the homes that were in coal camps, but she did not experience it like her parents. The old, worn down camps were indeed dirty and unsafe.
“Mommy and daddy lived over in Omar in one while he worked. It was right close to a railroad track. It was a real tough time, mommy said. She always told me about how they’d have to heat with coal.” (Vance) Mrs. Vance added that she remembers seeing the coal homes, but when she seen them, they were renovated to last longer and hold better. Since coal towns had faded, people turned them into much better homes and updated them majorly to live in. She made sure to include the fact that her parents resided in these homes right after the Great Depression.
Mrs. Vance spoke of necessities, what was difficult to keep, and a few luxuries. “They had to use that ole scrip to pay for everything. It was used to buy sugar, coffee, and everything else that was needed. Mommy even sometimes got to go to the movies with it if she was lucky.” Her mentioning scrip is a prime example of how the companies owned and reigned over the people that lived here in these homes. How the community people had no choice because they had to make a living somehow.
Vance continued on, speaking about the different nationalities that also stayed in the towns. “Racism was a thing that happened, but not quite as often as you’d think. There was all different kinds of races livin’ there just tryin’ to get by, so everyone got along pretty good. Daddy always said that the families that lived there were no better or worse than him and mommy, or anyone else for that matter. They were all there for one reason.” (Vance)
Linda’s grandparents were more familiar with the coal camps. Her maternal grandfather, Washington, was killed in a mine. Bertha, her grandmother, passed following childbirth in the year of 1938. “After granddaddy was killed in the mines, grandma just had to leave. Of course, she found another man and had more kids, but mommy had done got out by that time.” (Vance) This shows how the coal companies had no sympathy for the families who lived here, but simply only cared for work. “Those who ran the mines were heartless. Didn’t care ‘bout hardly nothin but work.” (Vance)
Coal towns are an extremely important part of history. The background information that can be dug up is amazingly existential. Coal towns aren’t studied much anymore, they have faded throughout the teachings of history. Each time, being more and more forgotten. Living in the coal camps were not easy, especially in the Appalachia. However, it got the families by. They relied on the coal camps to survive and make it through another day at times. Times got rough, but the families relied on these towns. The bosses, the friends they made, local store workers, and more. Everyone relied on one another to get by. No matter what race, in the end it was all about just making it through another day. The women, kids, and men of these camps struggled daily with money, food, and supplies while living in the towns. Living in the old, run down, unreliable homes. The history of it all holds the key to many secrets.
Works Cited
“Company Towns.” Company Towns, coalheritage.wv.gov/coal_history/Pages/Company-Towns.aspx.
Greene, Janet W. Strategies for Survival: Women’s Work in the Southern West Virginia Coal Camps, 1990, www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh49-4.html.
Levy, Builder, et al. Images of Appalachian Coalfields. Edited by Douglas Harper, Temple University Press, 1989.
Sanders Day, James. “The Path Was Steep: A Memoir of Appalachian Coal Camps During the Great Depression.” Alabama Review, vol. 68, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 123–125. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100017249&site=ehost-live.
Sullivan, Charles Kenneth. Coal Men and Coal Towns: Development of the Smokeless Coalfields of Southern West Virginia, 1873-1923. Garland, 1989.
Vance, Linda.
Submitted via Instructor Vicky Evans’ English 102 class, Williamson Campus, Williamson, WV, Spring 2019.
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