This is an EXCEPTIONAL history of Jenkins, KY!! I am so happy I found this wonderfully detailed account of “HOW it all came about!” The enormous amount of labor required, and the movement of staggering amounts of supplies, is truly astonishing!!! I actually traveled there in 1992 because my father wrote a memoir, “Rock Candy Mountain, by Earl Davis” describing his life there at only 5 year old! His family moved to Jenkins about 1911 or 1912 and his father was the first engineer on the B&O!! He described that early town perfectly, and when I visited, it was exactly how he described it, even 80 years later! Your video is truly masterpiece!!! I’m so grateful to learn the FULL history of what it took to mine the coal from that mountain!!! My dad’s father, Allen Davis, and the people my dad wrote about, give flesh to the people from that window in time!! You provided an amazing backdrop to my dad’s early childhood experience! He wrote about how he would find nails under the boarded walkway and then proceeded to add them to that walkway! He thought he was helping the town by hammering those extraneous nails into place!! His five year old mind thought he was contributing!! So funny and charming!! Thank you again for sharing an important piece of history for so many!! I come from only one man’s small effort there! So many generations, like mine, came from that extraordinary effort of hard working men and the women that supported them!! I feel even more proud of that now, because of what you shared!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. My Great Grandfather, William Chub Adams, was born and raised in Burdine, just down the road a small piece. He used his team of horses to help the men move needed materials. We have other videos from that time period such as the building of the Bank, Library, YMCA, and others. We also have the SV&E Railroad that went through Jenkins along with other events such as the Seco and Burdine trainwrecks. Also, the reading of the Not So New News July 6,1912 is about the building of Jenkins. Along with that (yes we cover Jenkins a lot on here) we have slide shows taken of the residents of Jenkins from 1911-1930 and we have the stories of Talt Hall, Gaibe Jones, Clifton Branham, Killing Rock (The Pound Gap Massacre Story) and much much more. Feel free to check out our site.
P.S. The Shelby Valley & Elkhorn (the SV&E Railroad) was the original railroad. The B&O railroad bought them out a few years after it was completed. So it is the same railroad your grandfather worked on.
This is a great video. I know every place you're talking about. I'm from Pennington Gap,and I have lived in Norton Coburn Big Stone Gap. Love the history lesson. I never knew. Thank you and God Bless
Thank you for watching our videos. We try to be as accurate as possible with our research. As more digitalization comes out, the more we learn ourselves. We have several "mini videos" that go into more detail about the history of the area if you would like to check them out.
Every summer break from school, my brother and I spent with Grandparents..From Letcher County to Pound, we traveled all the beauty and history of this outstanding area
@@lindacooper6927, we love to hear from people who have both been to the area and have family connections there. Thank you for watching our channel. As far as I am aware, the Webb and Privett families are still there.
The 70s were very hard on the coal industry with a lot of strikes and things going on. Add to that, a lot of the economy was in the tank. But it was also a very unusual time in history as well. I was a child during the 70s however I do remember them well. After Matewan and the Battle for Blair Mountain are done, we are coming back to Tennessee history with the Railroads and Casey Jones.
I'm from Louisville but helped build probably the last coal burning power plant, Virginia City Hybrid Energy in St Paul, VA about 45 minutes or so from Jenkins. I worked with folks from Jenkins, Pound Gap, Wise, and that entire area. Great people and beautiful country.
I still have the doll Santa brought me for Christmas 1949 from the company store in Dunham. I remember my Dad, Ford Shockey, coming home covered in coal dust and the only thing you could see was the white of his eyes.
Diana, I lived on Dunham Hill from 1943 to 1948. There was a man, first name Ford who lived across the street from us. Maybe your dad. I went to the elementary school there and also had a doll from the company store.
@@Toniarosewp79 Dear Tonia Rose that is so true. So far I have 1 great grandson and 3 great granddaughters. Not sure if the grandkids are finished having kids though. Lol
Grateful thanks for posting this History should not be lost to the sands of time. Our nation was heated and power by generators from coal and it's miners had no idea it's risk from breathing the dust. Small town stores of any nation or people are rich with true history Thanks
I absolutely enjoyed this video. Thank you for posting. My mother was born & raised in Kentucky 1942.. I'm not exactly sure but I believe it was Hazard.. her father was a coal minor. My father was born & raised in Gallatin Tennessee 1930.. They met in Indiana & moved to Texas where my brothers & I were born & raised... Im 41 now & I have my own family, house & land... however I still dream of going back to Kentucky... I guess I have the mountains & hollers in my blood. Every summer we would go visit family up there & I absolutely loved it.
You did a great job on this. I enjoy things like this. My Mom's family came from Paintsville , Kentucky. My in-laws came from Auxier, Ky. Auxier was just a little coal mine camp (village, town). I've been there visiting. Very interesting compared to the neighborhood I grew up in. Really appreciate you taking the time to put this together.
Thank you Lynn. After the stories of Casey Jones, we do plan on returning to Letcher and Pike County for the railroad history of the area. We love our hometown but wanted to make the channel also about everything historic in the states and whole area. Appalachian people have a very rich heritage. I haven't heard of Auxier but I am sure Dave has. He's been everywhere lol.
Great documentary. I have lot's of family history in Jenkins. I have only been there a couple of times in my life. I hope to return soon to show my family this wonderful place.
My grandfather, an immigrant from Albania, settled in Jenkins. He owned the only restaurant in town, the Jenkins Inn, the white pool room , the colored pool room and the eatery in the rec center. My uncle, Milt Ticco went to the University of Kentucky and was an All American basketball player there. He was born in Jenkins in 1922, my mother in 1924, with an older brother born in Greece, and a younger daughter born in the early 1930’s in Jenkins. I grew up hearing stories about the wonderful times growing up there. My Uncle Milt was proud to be a Kentucky Colonel and the government sent condolences when my mother passed in Philadelphia in 2018.
I believe we have some photos of the restaurant inside and out. If you have any photos or can give us some more information on your grandfather and/or his restaurant and/or other businesses he may have owned we would love to know about them. If you do so we would love to do a video about it and would cite you for the information.
What a beautifully done story. Thank you. Please do a story on how our ancestors gave thier lives in those mines. The men and thier sons sometimes as young as 12 to 14 years old would go to work with thier father's in those mines. And get killed due to accidents because of the unsafe working conditions. And how they struggled every day with starvation and disease... And how the mine owners or coal companies didn't give a damn about them. Miners were in debt to the owners all thier short lives. They were treated like dirt not this bed of roses decribed in this beautiful story. Many of my ancestors were miners in these areas. Read the bureau of mining accidents and statistics and it will tell the story of our families that died in those mines making the rich richer. Like I said it's a beautiful story but a sad ending.
Nice well done story, the way history should always be done. Observe ,don't express judgment on situations and people. Consol Coal started with such high expectations of eventual payback, and no other way would Jenkins have ever come into existence. The truly sad story is how without diversification of occupations, the US federal govt lets towns die when the founding company pulls out. Without high general education, people are reluctant to move when there is little prospect in the next place. Small towns are great, if the owner families don't treat the worker families unfairly. Farms and scenery trump apartments and concrete jungles. Easier to raise kids also.
Thank you. We decided long ago that we would not be a political page and express our opinions. We only tell every piece of information that we can find on all of our stories. Please check out our other videos and stories. We also have play lists that have a variety of topics.
@@Kytnliving the amount of interview and research effort is obvious, impressive, and so appreciated. I was born in the low mountains coal mining area north of Chattanooga ( Daisy, TN). My ancestry is all scattered thru the mountains all the way to Pennsylvania and the Whiskey Rebellion era. I'm made of moonshine and coal, became an MBA, married 42 yrs to a lovely lady from Hong Kong, living in Northern Illinois.
@@jamesconner4971 Thank you so much. Both of my grandfathers, several uncles, cousins, father-in-law, and friends have all worked for Beth=Elkorn, Consol, and Southeast mining companies. Blue Diamond is another big coal company where we are from. This channel is a love letter to the Appalachian people to tell the true history. From the first settlers onward.
my dads family is from Jenkins. my granpa , James O'Dell worked in the mines. my dad , Wayne O'Dell was born there in 1927, my uncle Alan in 1929 my grandma's maiden name was Wells. I remember going there as teenager to help grandpa cut grass and take care of his house. hated it then , but love the memories now
My entire family and i was borned and raised there... my mom was borned in payne gap.. my Grandfather was the mayor of Jenkins and Pastor of the payne gap freewill Baptist Church.. our family grave yard is down in payne gap goes back to the 1633.. I grew up in mudtown.. as did my aunt's and uncle's.. they all graduate from Jenkins high.. My mom's dad is Rev Ezra Johnson and my dad's, dad is Dr.John Weaverling.. my dad was borned in Jenkins and grew up in Pound Va..
BillieB Why be a backward hillbilly? Not all of us are. Perpetuating a (bad) stereotype keeps giving Yankees an excuse to “poke fun at us’ns”. We don’t need that, and it’s not difficult to speak as if you went past the second grade
BoulderCreek Steve - Not understanding the need to correct a person for the way they were raised/speak. Too much “pc” stuff going on these days! I truly enjoy and learn from these amazing stories and people from near and far. 🤗
Gray Stewart a country music singer was from letcher county ky he was one of the best honkytonk style singers in the business sadly he committed suicide in the early 00s
My family is from Letcher County Kentucky although we now live in Franklin Kentucky Letcher County will always be where I was raised I was born in Jenkins Kentucky and I remember all the family and all the good times with from Letcher County Kentucky Thanks for the Memories My Family's last name is Fleming August 5th 2020
Wow, this what quite a story but the ending was sad It must have really been nice to live there back in those days, but maybe not so nice for the hard working Miners. And, how many died from accidents n lung cancer? My Grand Father n Dad both worked in the Mines n told of terribly hard times they went through along w many other people who worked in the Mines too n their Family Struggles, etc....
I am not familiar with the history of Pulaski county other than it was named after Gen Pulaski who obtained the land from a land grant for service during the Revolutionary war. I also know a small bit about Gen Zollicoffer and his tragic story, I hiked the Zollicoffer trail as a teen with the Boy Scout troop I was a member of on the first-day event when it became one of the 7 trails making up the Trail Hiker Award. I know a bit about Hazard but have not really dug into its history, although I do have a lot of information bookmarked for study... Since I become disabled a lot of my time is taken due to the condition of my illness.
Yes. Well actually from Burdine but we will let Jenkins claim him too. I have been trying to find out exactly where his house was but no one seems to know for sure.
Thanks, the sound is much better now.....:) Do you know anyone there that has videos of Jenkins you could borrow and do a video of Jenkins and all of Lakeside and the new houses that were build on the hill behind where Dr. Perry used to live ? I hear there are some real nice homes there, I never did see them.....I alway forget to go there when I would come in.....haven't been back in a few yrs. don't have many relatives there anymore ....only have one sister there now, and some nieces & nephews and some cousins.....everyone else is gone or have moved away...... we keep up by phone or Private msgs. , that's about it..... I know my sister said they used to do videos of the big parade & different things there in Aug. that came to Whitesburg every year......would be nice if someone could show those videos on You Tube.........hope someone sees this and does this.....
We actually are going through our archives (which is extensive because we have been collecting things for the past ten years now). We are finishing up a story currently on the housing of Jenkins, Kentucky, and how it was a brand new invention. And how Sears and Roebuck and Company struck a deal about it. It is really fascinating on that one. We are putting the finishing touches on it so it should be out after the tenth. That story surprised us on how much information was hidden and how big the story actually was. We have talked about breaking it up because it is that huge.
This is actually part 2 of 3... when we finish the 3rd we are going to put them on DVD we should have this done in a few months... Thanks for the Interest and sorry it took so long to get back to you on this... we have been doing research on the current project we have been working on (The Killing Rock) and McRoberts as well... and the Killing Rock has taken so much more time than we originally thought but when we started working on it we found a lot of information that as far as we could tell has never been told in any story...
That's fantastic news. Went hiking there this past Christmas Eve. Please, let me know when you have it on DVD. My dad loved this. We are big hiker/local history people. From the Pound/Jenkins area. Thanks again
To answer the legitimate question on a comment I had to remove due to content, Whitesburg became the county seat in the late 1800's when Letcher County was formed from land that was originally part of Knott, Floyd, and Pike Counties. At the time of its forming the only towns of any size were Whitesburg, Letcher, and Chip now Neon. The petition to the state for the new county came from the small town of Letcher and was thusly named "Letcher County." Although Letcher would become a fair-sized coal camp town after the coal boom, the town of Whitesburg held the only post office in the new county and to expedite county business the county seat was established in the older town of Whitesburg. On another historical fact, the town of Chip would eventually become the largest town in the county far surpassing all others with over 100 businesses. There have been many speculations as to how the town became known as NEON but I believe that Fess Whitaker gives us valuable information on that in his book "The History of Corporal Fess Whitaker." In his book, he tells a story about his campaign to become Jailor. He talks about a conductor aboard the passenger train he was riding and that the train was not scheduled to stop in Chip as it passed through the town heading towards the end of the line in McRoberts (about 5 miles between the towns) but the train would slow down and the black conductor would hold on to the train hanging out over the station platform and yell out "Any on, Any on, Any on" if anyone replied the conductor would pull the emergency stop line and the train would stop so the passenger(s) could board the train for the short ride to Fleming and McRoberts... Now think about what that conductor said as the train passed through the town of Chip... "N E on, N E on, N E on" to me this seems more plausible than any other story about how the town got its name. ...Dave
I live in Jenkins and Bought a Consol Camp house Cash for 48k$ My house is solid as can be, so is my neighbors houses. They'll stand for another 100 years np.
Our parents and our daughter bought houses in Jenkins that were built by Consol. We think the same thing, that they are there forever. They were built strong and built to last.
Nice story, appreciate the effort. I have one small complaint that I hear all the time in stories such as this. Pleeeeeease be sure to use the word CAValry and not CALvary. One little letter can give a word such a vast difference in meaning. One is a regiment of mounted soldiers ........ the other is where Christ died on the cross. Sorry, English major.
Sorry, but that is how we talk from Eastern Kentucky. We get a lot of complaints about how we pronounce words, but I would not change it for the world.
OTR Husband & Wife Team Driving I’m from Pulaski county. I know the dialect and the accent well. I know also that we get stereotyped because of it. By all means, carry on the accent, but please, please, at least use the correct word in this case and don’t add to the stereotyping that we are ignorant.
I work pretty hard at trying to get words correct, but when you get going you forget the correctness. I know what you mean though if you practiced for this video put the letters in the correct order.
My maternal family is from Letcher County.. While Jenkins "was" a success story at the time, the concept of these towns was socialism at it's best. It failed not only because of the decline of coal, but because the socialistic model was not sustainable. One company, no competition and little opportunity to invest in other businesses with the monopoly of the coal company and it's ownership of the entirety.....
@@contrabandjoe7974 That's capitalism, not socialism. Working for wage labor and privately controlled towns/businesses = capitalism. You can't be this uneducated can you? Please open up a book and actually study!
Hillbillies in my dna..my mom's family from perry county...ky.. grma had 12 kids,back in her day..we hav two still here..an uncle in indiana, an aunt in georgia..still distant ones I'm sure in hills,I'm sure..love anything with mountains ... he is 79, she is 92....her health,way better than his.....thanx for video..sent it to her...
Yes, it really is. In the early 1900s, it was one of the largest places in Kentucky with over 10,000 people in its population. It had electricity and running water years before Frankfort, Lexington, and Louisville. It housed the first hydroelectric dam in the state. You wouldn't know it today though as it is a small quaint place in the mountains, however, it holds a lot of history.
Although I love the report you have made a glaring error in this report. You keep referring to the mountain above Jenkins, Ky, as "Cumberland Mountain". You stated that they crossed "Cumberland Mountain to go to Pound, Va." This is incorrect as Cumberland Mountain is approximately 25 air miles east of this mountain, runs parallel to it to the Tennessee border, and is the sister mountain to this mountain . The correct name of the mountain that runs from Elkhorn City, Ky,, by Jenkins, Ky, to Tennessee is the "PINE MOUNTAIN". You called the fault on Elkhorn Creek the Cumberland Fault. It is actually the Pine Mountain fault and is one of many in that area. The Cumberland fault rises 30 miles east in the opposite direction and forms Cumberland Mountain. Seen from from the air the two mountains run straight as an arrow to the southwest, and are nearly identical in their appearance and direction but face opposite directions. The "Cumberland Valley" watershed for the Cumberland River, lies over the ridge from Jenkins. Many older people in this area have also mistakenly called it "Cumberland Mountain" but the actual name on all geological maps is Pine Mountain.
Thanks and yes I know... but the explanation is found in the first few minutes of the video when I state that in the 1800's and early 1900's the local population of the area called it old Cumberland, Fess Whittaker tells us this a few times in his book, "A history of Corporal Fess Whittaker." In addition newspapers about Gen Grant's campaign at Pound Gap during the civil war often have maps in which the mountain is labeled as Pine Mtn and Cumberland Mtn...in that fashion... (Cumberland Mtn is right over Pound Gap on those maps) and I just went with that not realizing that I had not explained what I had done until after the video was done. I plan to redo the audio on the video in the future, I now have better sound equipment and software to do so. In addition just like any history documentary, we always discover more information after the documentary is done, so it is due for an update. I am glad you like it though...
If you want to be technically correct, the mountain was once called Wasiota, a Shawnee word meaning Land of Plentiful Deer. The mountain chain is often referred to as the Cumberland, and the Cumberland Crest running for over 100 miles on the Kentucky border, between Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee includes the mountain running above Jenkins, also known as Pine Mountain. The name Cumberland was borrowed from the Cumberland River, named in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, but the Scotch Irish refused to utter his name, preferring the name Laurel Mountain. The name Cumberland was frequently used interchangeably with Pine Mountain. Daniel Boone called the mountain above Jenkins Steep Mountain. So, I don't agree with Allen Epling that this is a glaring error; it reflects usage, the name Cumberland used more broadly than the particular ridges referred to. Anyway, what's in a name?
Here is one of the Historical articles that I mentioned... at the bottom of the page 4th column is the telling about the battle of Pound Gap at the summit of the Cumberland Mountain... chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187/1892-08-25/ed-1/seq-9/#date1=1892&index=8&rows=20&words=Gap+GAP+POUND+Pound&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1893&proxtext=Pound+Gap&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
Allen Epling The big feud ambush, between the Mullins and Taylor was fought at Killing Rock, in Pound Gap. Hearing tales about it from long ago, the mountain was referred as Pine Mountain.
We took a wrong turn ended up here with our tour bus (Gospel group), These were the unfriendliest people ALL of us ever saw!,We thought we wouldn't get out alive!. Serious!!.
We are sorry you had such a bad experience there. Most of the people in Jenkins are not unfriendly you must have come across a bad lot, like everywhere we have those too.
Thank you for watching our video. The opening music is called the Virginia Reel. A lot of folks from the Appalachian Mountains are from Scot-Irish decent and so the Irish side does influence a lot of our music. I do believe David has put a list of the music that he used in this video at the end credits. We try to credit all of our source material.
8/2/20 I agree with someone on here the Music is too loud &, kinda annoying.....do you really need it? Way too loud near the end of the video.....hate loud music on videos.....
This was actually one of the first videos that we had released. We have now toned down the music on our new videos and are using different genres now. The music is mainly used for our slideshow videos and not for our "talkies" that are coming up.
I grew up in Floyd county Kentucky and I'll tell ya what if you didn't believe in the Lord you just didn't belong because you live by the book and what that means is you live to respect your elders you treat friends like family and the real family is what it was all about everyone helped each other as best as we all could there was down right hard work if you didn't work you got nothin there was no handouts and nobody accepted charity. This here's what's wrong with humanity nobody lives by them there rules no more everyone just expects handouts to take care of them lazy people will rob ya take advantage of you no respect and I'll tell ya another thing Jesus Christ done told us about these times were in he says this is exactly how it's be in the last days but it sure don't make it any easier cuz I'd rather see humans forget about all this materialistic crap that don't mean diddly scwat and start putting love and care and kindness and compassion and empathy back in there hearts. The bible tells us the mark of the beast is here and once you take it you no longer belong to God for eternity and that you will go through a conscience hell forever without end... literally ever. Now I know some folks don't believe that but just as Jesus said Satan is the father of all lies and his greatest lie of all time is convincing people that he and none of the bible is real.
And this goes to Consol history how? They established churches in the area. St. George Catholic church was the first one built, but they also built churches for other congregations.
This makes "a Coal Miner" sound like a most desirable Profession. (We all know that was/is not the case.) Is this a Modern Day Propaganda effort to present the History of Appalachia and all the Corporatist Elite appear as if it was a location that had Human Interest as the primary concern before *"Profits"?* This narrative sounds like it was written by Edward Bernays himself. ...and none suffered injuries w/o benefits, none acquired Black Lung, and all were compensated relative to the vast profits the owner enjoyed" ... right. This truly offends my education and intelligence.
This is a non political page. We try our best to show all points of view of the history that happened at that time. And that includes the people who funded the operation. Our families were coal miners. It is a very hard profession but an honest one.
You have to understand we have a very thick Appalachian accent. Both of us grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. To him, he was saying the word correctly. We are proud of our heritage and of our accent. Our country has many accents and so words do not always sound the same even when they are spoken in the same state.
This is an EXCEPTIONAL history of Jenkins, KY!! I am so happy I found this wonderfully detailed account of “HOW it all came about!” The enormous amount of labor required, and the movement of staggering amounts of supplies, is truly astonishing!!!
I actually traveled there in 1992 because my father wrote a memoir, “Rock Candy Mountain, by Earl Davis” describing his life there at only 5 year old! His family moved to Jenkins about 1911 or 1912 and his father was the first engineer on the B&O!! He described that early town perfectly, and when I visited, it was exactly how he described it, even 80 years later!
Your video is truly masterpiece!!! I’m so grateful to learn the FULL history of what it took to mine the coal from that mountain!!! My dad’s father, Allen Davis, and the people my dad wrote about, give flesh to the people from that window in time!!
You provided an amazing backdrop to my dad’s early childhood experience! He wrote about how he would find nails under the boarded walkway and then proceeded to add them to that walkway! He thought he was helping the town by hammering those extraneous nails into place!! His five year old mind thought he was contributing!! So funny and charming!!
Thank you again for sharing an important piece of history for so many!! I come from only one man’s small effort there! So many generations, like mine, came from that extraordinary effort of hard working men and the women that supported them!! I feel even more proud of that now, because of what you shared!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. My Great Grandfather, William Chub Adams, was born and raised in Burdine, just down the road a small piece. He used his team of horses to help the men move needed materials. We have other videos from that time period such as the building of the Bank, Library, YMCA, and others. We also have the SV&E Railroad that went through Jenkins along with other events such as the Seco and Burdine trainwrecks. Also, the reading of the Not So New News July 6,1912 is about the building of Jenkins. Along with that (yes we cover Jenkins a lot on here) we have slide shows taken of the residents of Jenkins from 1911-1930 and we have the stories of Talt Hall, Gaibe Jones, Clifton Branham, Killing Rock (The Pound Gap Massacre Story) and much much more. Feel free to check out our site.
P.S. The Shelby Valley & Elkhorn (the SV&E Railroad) was the original railroad. The B&O railroad bought them out a few years after it was completed. So it is the same railroad your grandfather worked on.
Very valuable historical documentary on our beautiful Jenkins...ty so much! Such a gift this is!
Thank you so much. We are trying to preserve as much history of the Appalachians as we can. It is rapidly disappearing along with our culture.
This is a great video. I know every place you're talking about. I'm from Pennington Gap,and I have lived in Norton Coburn Big Stone Gap. Love the history lesson. I never knew. Thank you and God Bless
Thank you for watching our videos. We try to be as accurate as possible with our research. As more digitalization comes out, the more we learn ourselves. We have several "mini videos" that go into more detail about the history of the area if you would like to check them out.
Every summer break from school, my brother and I spent with Grandparents..From Letcher County to Pound, we traveled all the beauty and history of this outstanding area
My Mamaw was a Webb and DaddyCarl was a Privett
@@lindacooper6927, we love to hear from people who have both been to the area and have family connections there. Thank you for watching our channel. As far as I am aware, the Webb and Privett families are still there.
@@lindacooper6927 - What a great childhood
I’ve lived in Tn all my life the 70’s were rough we done without on a lot of stuff but I wouldn’t trade them memories for anything on this earth
The 70s were very hard on the coal industry with a lot of strikes and things going on. Add to that, a lot of the economy was in the tank. But it was also a very unusual time in history as well. I was a child during the 70s however I do remember them well. After Matewan and the Battle for Blair Mountain are done, we are coming back to Tennessee history with the Railroads and Casey Jones.
I'm from Louisville but helped build probably the last coal burning power plant, Virginia City Hybrid Energy in St Paul, VA about 45 minutes or so from Jenkins. I worked with folks from Jenkins, Pound Gap, Wise, and that entire area. Great people and beautiful country.
The good old days and better times! And much nicer people !
Thanks! I’m from Maine but have been through Jenkins many times. There’s lots of history I didn’t know in this video.
Oh wow welcome to our page. I used to live in Clinton, Maine for four years. I loved the people up there, but missed home to much to stay. ~~ Joanna.
I still have the doll Santa brought me for Christmas 1949 from the company store in Dunham. I remember my Dad, Ford Shockey, coming home covered in coal dust and the only thing you could see was the white of his eyes.
Diana, I lived on Dunham Hill from 1943 to 1948. There was a man, first name Ford who lived across the street from us. Maybe your dad. I went to the elementary school there and also had a doll from the company store.
Yes, that was my Dad. My Uncle Wrightly and Aunt Lola Sanders lived across from us also.
@@dianabrown133
A treasure for sure. Something that you can pass down for generations.
@@Toniarosewp79 Dear Tonia Rose that is so true. So far I have 1 great grandson and 3 great granddaughters. Not sure if the grandkids are finished having kids though. Lol
Up to 4 great granddaughters now.
Great content! As a coal miner, of which I’m proud, being from Letcher Co is an honor ...it’s great to see such informative videos like this.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love this! I’m from Neon. So many of this still stands. Thanks for this information
Thanks for watching!
Grateful thanks for posting this
History should not be lost to the sands of time. Our nation was heated and power by generators from coal and it's miners had no idea it's risk from breathing the dust.
Small town stores of any nation or people are rich with true history
Thanks
great video. lots of good history. so much of it is lost in time.
I absolutely enjoyed this video. Thank you for posting.
My mother was born & raised in Kentucky 1942.. I'm not exactly sure but I believe it was Hazard.. her father was a coal minor.
My father was born & raised in Gallatin Tennessee 1930..
They met in Indiana & moved to Texas where my brothers & I were born & raised...
Im 41 now & I have my own family, house & land... however I still dream of going back to Kentucky... I guess I have the mountains & hollers in my blood.
Every summer we would go visit family up there & I absolutely loved it.
I still live in Letcher county. Coal isn’t booming like this but once the hollers are in your blood, it always will be
You did a great job on this. I enjoy things like this. My Mom's family came from Paintsville , Kentucky. My in-laws came from Auxier, Ky. Auxier was just a little coal mine camp (village, town). I've been there visiting. Very interesting compared to the neighborhood I grew up in. Really appreciate you taking the time to put this together.
Thank you Lynn. After the stories of Casey Jones, we do plan on returning to Letcher and Pike County for the railroad history of the area. We love our hometown but wanted to make the channel also about everything historic in the states and whole area. Appalachian people have a very rich heritage. I haven't heard of Auxier but I am sure Dave has. He's been everywhere lol.
Fantastic story! Beautiful area too.
Loved this, spent all my summers in Deane growing up. Still own 40 acres w family cemetery which has both Confederate & Yankees from same family.
We have family in Deane as well. It is such a wonderful little quiet community.
Great documentary. I have lot's of family history in Jenkins. I have only been there a couple of times in my life. I hope to return soon to show my family this wonderful place.
My grandfather, an immigrant from Albania, settled in Jenkins. He owned the only restaurant in town, the Jenkins Inn, the white pool room , the colored pool room and the eatery in the rec center. My uncle, Milt Ticco went to the University of Kentucky and was an All American basketball player there. He was born in Jenkins in 1922, my mother in 1924, with an older brother born in Greece, and a younger daughter born in the early 1930’s in Jenkins. I grew up hearing stories about the wonderful times growing up there. My Uncle Milt was proud to be a Kentucky Colonel and the government sent condolences when my mother passed in Philadelphia in 2018.
I believe we have some photos of the restaurant inside and out. If you have any photos or can give us some more information on your grandfather and/or his restaurant and/or other businesses he may have owned we would love to know about them. If you do so we would love to do a video about it and would cite you for the information.
Very interesting. Amazing how they built the area up.
What a beautifully done story. Thank you. Please do a story on how our ancestors gave thier lives in those mines. The men and thier sons sometimes as young as 12 to 14 years old would go to work with thier father's in those mines. And get killed due to accidents because of the unsafe working conditions. And how they struggled every day with starvation and disease... And how the mine owners or coal companies didn't give a damn about them. Miners were in debt to the owners all thier short lives. They were treated like dirt not this bed of roses decribed in this beautiful story. Many of my ancestors were miners in these areas. Read the bureau of mining accidents and statistics and it will tell the story of our families that died in those mines making the rich richer. Like I said it's a beautiful story but a sad ending.
And it still goes on today..
The winners write history, and all documentaries allowed.
It is pure propaganda.
Ask a Coal Miner.
@@jillsmcfarland2001
Correct!
My grpa,from perry county,died of black lung in VA hospital in 1962.. had moved to a farm in indiana,for his health,,from the mines.....
Nice well done story, the way history should always be done. Observe ,don't express judgment on situations and people. Consol Coal started with such high expectations of eventual payback, and no other way would Jenkins have ever come into existence. The truly sad story is how without diversification of occupations, the US federal govt lets towns die when the founding company pulls out. Without high general education, people are reluctant to move when there is little prospect in the next place.
Small towns are great, if the owner families don't treat the worker families unfairly. Farms and scenery trump apartments and concrete jungles. Easier to raise kids also.
Thank you. We decided long ago that we would not be a political page and express our opinions. We only tell every piece of information that we can find on all of our stories. Please check out our other videos and stories. We also have play lists that have a variety of topics.
@@Kytnliving the amount of interview and research effort is obvious, impressive, and so appreciated. I was born in the low mountains coal mining area north of Chattanooga ( Daisy, TN). My ancestry is all scattered thru the mountains all the way to Pennsylvania and the Whiskey Rebellion era. I'm made of moonshine and coal, became an MBA, married 42 yrs to a lovely lady from Hong Kong, living in Northern Illinois.
@@jamesconner4971 Thank you so much. Both of my grandfathers, several uncles, cousins, father-in-law, and friends have all worked for Beth=Elkorn, Consol, and Southeast mining companies. Blue Diamond is another big coal company where we are from. This channel is a love letter to the Appalachian people to tell the true history. From the first settlers onward.
my dads family is from Jenkins. my granpa , James O'Dell worked in the mines. my dad , Wayne O'Dell was born there in 1927, my uncle Alan in 1929 my grandma's maiden name was Wells. I remember going there as teenager to help grandpa cut grass and take care of his house. hated it then , but love the memories now
Nothing in the world like the mountains. She always calls her children back home with fond memories.
Thank you!! Great job!!
I went to school in pound va. On the other side of the mountain I was in Jenkins many many times
My Aunt Mae and Uncle Ernest Shockey had the grocery store in Pound VA
What an excellent historic acvount! I learned a lot. Hello from Alberta Canada 😉🇨🇦
Glad you enjoyed it!
My entire family and i was borned and raised there... my mom was borned in payne gap.. my Grandfather was the mayor of Jenkins and Pastor of the payne gap freewill Baptist Church.. our family grave yard is down in payne gap goes back to the 1633.. I grew up in mudtown.. as did my aunt's and uncle's.. they all graduate from Jenkins high.. My mom's dad is Rev Ezra Johnson and my dad's, dad is Dr.John Weaverling.. my dad was borned in Jenkins and grew up in Pound Va..
Borned? Heh heh heh . .
BoulderCreek Steve - Why be an a-hole?
BillieB Why be a backward hillbilly? Not all of us are. Perpetuating a (bad) stereotype keeps giving Yankees an excuse to “poke fun at us’ns”. We don’t need that, and it’s not difficult to speak as if you went past the second grade
BoulderCreek Steve - Not understanding the need to correct a person for the way they were raised/speak. Too much “pc” stuff going on these days! I truly enjoy and learn from these amazing stories and people from near and far. 🤗
Gray Stewart a country music singer was from letcher county ky he was one of the best honkytonk style singers in the business sadly he committed suicide in the early 00s
Excellent
Great job love it makes me proud to be a Cavalier
The Wise Co, Va area is where my great grandmother ended up. Julia Hartman Hensley. She died in 1935.
My family is from Letcher County Kentucky although we now live in Franklin Kentucky Letcher County will always be where I was raised I was born in Jenkins Kentucky and I remember all the family and all the good times with from Letcher County Kentucky Thanks for the Memories My Family's last name is Fleming August 5th 2020
Went to Elkhorn City high school.one of my friends was Kay Fleming...haven't seen her in 40 years hope she has done well....Sherri(Cline)Hall
My mom and dad was born in Jenkins, letcher county KY, nice little town
Love the country those woods rain Forrest is our lives period time is running out!!!
very good! its great
Wow, this what quite a story but the ending was sad It must have really been nice to live there back in those days, but maybe not so nice for the hard working Miners. And, how many died from accidents n lung cancer? My Grand Father n Dad both worked in the Mines n told of terribly hard times they went through along w many other people who worked in the Mines too n their Family Struggles, etc....
Whats the first fiddle tune called? Anyone know?
The first song is "Irish Reel" by Handmade from the album Tonewoods which is available. The second song is "Dove on the Wind" by Kevin Crawford.
Thanks 😊 my home place 🥰🙏🥰
My family is still there. I’m from neon but live in Pikeville now
Tell the story of Pulaski county ky. And the mining there or Hazard ,KY.
I am not familiar with the history of Pulaski county other than it was named after Gen Pulaski who obtained the land from a land grant for service during the Revolutionary war. I also know a small bit about Gen Zollicoffer and his tragic story, I hiked the Zollicoffer trail as a teen with the Boy Scout troop I was a member of on the first-day event when it became one of the 7 trails making up the Trail Hiker Award.
I know a bit about Hazard but have not really dug into its history, although I do have a lot of information bookmarked for study... Since I become disabled a lot of my time is taken due to the condition of my illness.
Joseph Defdendoll
My mother was from Hazard. She was born 1942.
Kenny Baker, Bluegrass fiddler was from Jenkins.
Yes. Well actually from Burdine but we will let Jenkins claim him too. I have been trying to find out exactly where his house was but no one seems to know for sure.
Thanks, the sound is much better now.....:) Do you know anyone there that has videos of Jenkins you could borrow and do a video of Jenkins and all of Lakeside and the new houses that were build on the hill behind where Dr. Perry used to live ? I hear there are some real nice homes there, I never did see them.....I alway forget to go there when I would come in.....haven't been back in a few yrs. don't have many relatives there anymore ....only have one sister there now, and some nieces & nephews and some cousins.....everyone else is gone or have moved away...... we keep up by phone or Private msgs. , that's about it.....
I know my sister said they used to do videos of the big parade & different things there in Aug. that came to Whitesburg every year......would be nice if someone could show those videos on You Tube.........hope someone sees this and does this.....
We actually are going through our archives (which is extensive because we have been collecting things for the past ten years now). We are finishing up a story currently on the housing of Jenkins, Kentucky, and how it was a brand new invention. And how Sears and Roebuck and Company struck a deal about it. It is really fascinating on that one. We are putting the finishing touches on it so it should be out after the tenth. That story surprised us on how much information was hidden and how big the story actually was. We have talked about breaking it up because it is that huge.
Great story my family was from Pound Va.
My uncle, Ernest Shockey, had the general store in Pound, VA
Mine too! My grandparents were Lloyd and Ruby Addington that lived in Killen Holler for years.
Is there a place I could get this on a DVD for my day?
This is actually part 2 of 3... when we finish the 3rd we are going to put them on DVD we should have this done in a few months... Thanks for the Interest and sorry it took so long to get back to you on this... we have been doing research on the current project we have been working on (The Killing Rock) and McRoberts as well... and the Killing Rock has taken so much more time than we originally thought but when we started working on it we found a lot of information that as far as we could tell has never been told in any story...
That's fantastic news. Went hiking there this past Christmas Eve. Please, let me know when you have it on DVD. My dad loved this. We are big hiker/local history people. From the Pound/Jenkins area. Thanks again
Yes, has the CD been completed?
To answer the legitimate question on a comment I had to remove due to content, Whitesburg became the county seat in the late 1800's when Letcher County was formed from land that was originally part of Knott, Floyd, and Pike Counties. At the time of its forming the only towns of any size were Whitesburg, Letcher, and Chip now Neon. The petition to the state for the new county came from the small town of Letcher and was thusly named "Letcher County." Although Letcher would become a fair-sized coal camp town after the coal boom, the town of Whitesburg held the only post office in the new county and to expedite county business the county seat was established in the older town of Whitesburg.
On another historical fact, the town of Chip would eventually become the largest town in the county far surpassing all others with over 100 businesses. There have been many speculations as to how the town became known as NEON but I believe that Fess Whitaker gives us valuable information on that in his book "The History of Corporal Fess Whitaker." In his book, he tells a story about his campaign to become Jailor. He talks about a conductor aboard the passenger train he was riding and that the train was not scheduled to stop in Chip as it passed through the town heading towards the end of the line in McRoberts (about 5 miles between the towns) but the train would slow down and the black conductor would hold on to the train hanging out over the station platform and yell out "Any on, Any on, Any on" if anyone replied the conductor would pull the emergency stop line and the train would stop so the passenger(s) could board the train for the short ride to Fleming and McRoberts... Now think about what that conductor said as the train passed through the town of Chip... "N E on, N E on, N E on" to me this seems more plausible than any other story about how the town got its name.
...Dave
I live in Jenkins and Bought a Consol Camp house Cash for 48k$ My house is solid as can be, so is my neighbors houses. They'll stand for another 100 years np.
Our parents and our daughter bought houses in Jenkins that were built by Consol. We think the same thing, that they are there forever. They were built strong and built to last.
👍👍👍👍👍
MY DAD FROM THERE
We do history on this page not politics. From this point forward any and all comments will be deleted and the pages will be reported.
Nice story, appreciate the effort. I have one small complaint that I hear all the time in stories such as this. Pleeeeeease be sure to use the word CAValry and not CALvary. One little letter can give a word such a vast difference in meaning. One is a regiment of mounted soldiers ........ the other is where Christ died on the cross. Sorry, English major.
Good, thank you!
Sorry, but that is how we talk from Eastern Kentucky. We get a lot of complaints about how we pronounce words, but I would not change it for the world.
OTR Husband & Wife Team Driving I’m from Pulaski county. I know the dialect and the accent well. I know also that we get stereotyped because of it. By all means, carry on the accent, but please, please, at least use the correct word in this case and don’t add to the stereotyping that we are ignorant.
I work pretty hard at trying to get words correct, but when you get going you forget the correctness. I know what you mean though if you practiced for this video put the letters in the correct order.
My maternal family is from Letcher County.. While Jenkins "was" a success story at the time, the concept of these towns was socialism at it's best. It failed not only because of the decline of coal, but because the socialistic model was not sustainable. One company, no competition and little opportunity to invest in other businesses with the monopoly of the coal company and it's ownership of the entirety.....
That's capitalism, not socialism.
@@68secretgarden wrong.. when your entire existence is controlled by a single entity that's Socialism at its best....
@@contrabandjoe7974 Go back to school.
@@tetrahedron1000 Why? to be exposed to more socialism by leftist professors and ideology???
@@contrabandjoe7974 That's capitalism, not socialism. Working for wage labor and privately controlled towns/businesses = capitalism. You can't be this uneducated can you? Please open up a book and actually study!
Hillbillies in my dna..my mom's family from perry county...ky.. grma had 12 kids,back in her day..we hav two still here..an uncle in indiana, an aunt in georgia..still distant ones I'm sure in hills,I'm sure..love anything with mountains ... he is 79, she is 92....her health,way better than his.....thanx for video..sent it to her...
Thank you so much for watching and sharing our videos. We truly appreciate it.
Small town
Yes, it really is. In the early 1900s, it was one of the largest places in Kentucky with over 10,000 people in its population. It had electricity and running water years before Frankfort, Lexington, and Louisville. It housed the first hydroelectric dam in the state. You wouldn't know it today though as it is a small quaint place in the mountains, however, it holds a lot of history.
If information is all correct well then Thanks.
I’m from Letcher county and this is the stories I’ve heard from my grandparents.
Hey my maiden is Jenkins🙂
hi
The one person who did not like the video. Probably from Tennessee
Or knows who runs controls everythiing.
Jills Mcfarland who please
This area is now a sacrifice zone?
You might have misunderstood his accent. We are both Appalachian and so there are words that we pronounce that others have a hard time with.
Although I love the report you have made a glaring error in this report. You keep referring to the mountain above Jenkins, Ky, as "Cumberland Mountain". You stated that they crossed "Cumberland Mountain to go to Pound, Va." This is incorrect as Cumberland Mountain is approximately 25 air miles east of this mountain, runs parallel to it to the Tennessee border, and is the sister mountain to this mountain . The correct name of the mountain that runs from Elkhorn City, Ky,, by Jenkins, Ky, to Tennessee is the "PINE MOUNTAIN". You called the fault on Elkhorn Creek the Cumberland Fault. It is actually the Pine Mountain fault and is one of many in that area. The Cumberland fault rises 30 miles east in the opposite direction and forms Cumberland Mountain. Seen from from the air the two mountains run straight as an arrow to the southwest, and are nearly identical in their appearance and direction but face opposite directions. The "Cumberland Valley" watershed for the Cumberland River, lies over the ridge from Jenkins. Many older people in this area have also mistakenly called it "Cumberland Mountain" but the actual name on all geological maps is Pine Mountain.
Thanks and yes I know... but the explanation is found in the first few minutes of the video when I state that in the 1800's and early 1900's the local population of the area called it old Cumberland, Fess Whittaker tells us this a few times in his book, "A history of Corporal Fess Whittaker."
In addition newspapers about Gen Grant's campaign at Pound Gap during the civil war often have maps in which the mountain is labeled as Pine Mtn and Cumberland Mtn...in that fashion... (Cumberland Mtn is right over Pound Gap on those maps) and I just went with that not realizing that I had not explained what I had done until after the video was done.
I plan to redo the audio on the video in the future, I now have better sound equipment and software to do so.
In addition just like any history documentary, we always discover more information after the documentary is done, so it is due for an update.
I am glad you like it though...
If you want to be technically correct, the mountain was once called Wasiota, a Shawnee word meaning Land of Plentiful Deer. The mountain chain is often referred to as the Cumberland, and the Cumberland Crest running for over 100 miles on the Kentucky border, between Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee includes the mountain running above Jenkins, also known as Pine Mountain. The name Cumberland was borrowed from the Cumberland River, named in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, but the Scotch Irish refused to utter his name, preferring the name Laurel Mountain. The name Cumberland was frequently used interchangeably with Pine Mountain. Daniel Boone called the mountain above Jenkins Steep Mountain. So, I don't agree with Allen Epling that this is a glaring error; it reflects usage, the name Cumberland used more broadly than the particular ridges referred to. Anyway, what's in a name?
Here is one of the Historical articles that I mentioned... at the bottom of the page 4th column is the telling about the battle of Pound Gap at the summit of the Cumberland Mountain...
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187/1892-08-25/ed-1/seq-9/#date1=1892&index=8&rows=20&words=Gap+GAP+POUND+Pound&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1893&proxtext=Pound+Gap&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
Allen Epling
Thank you! It is Pine Mountain. Born in Shelby Gap, Ky, so I've always known it as Pine Mountain.
Allen Epling
The big feud ambush, between the Mullins and Taylor was fought at Killing Rock, in Pound Gap. Hearing tales about it from long ago, the mountain was referred as Pine Mountain.
We took a wrong turn ended up here with our tour bus (Gospel group),
These were the unfriendliest people ALL of us ever saw!,We thought we wouldn't get out alive!.
Serious!!.
We are sorry you had such a bad experience there. Most of the people in Jenkins are not unfriendly you must have come across a bad lot, like everywhere we have those too.
born in Jenkins
This is where my great great uncle Greenberry Harris was killed at Killing Rock
It was a very hard story for us to do because it was very emotional for us here. We hope we did everyone involved justice in the story.
The music sounds like Irish music.
Thank you for watching our video. The opening music is called the Virginia Reel. A lot of folks from the Appalachian Mountains are from Scot-Irish decent and so the Irish side does influence a lot of our music. I do believe David has put a list of the music that he used in this video at the end credits. We try to credit all of our source material.
3:13 - Third from left, "Gooseneck" John Branham.
8/2/20 I agree with someone on here the Music is too loud &, kinda annoying.....do you really need it? Way too loud near the end of the video.....hate loud music on videos.....
This was actually one of the first videos that we had released. We have now toned down the music on our new videos and are using different genres now. The music is mainly used for our slideshow videos and not for our "talkies" that are coming up.
I played football against Jenkins. In 4 meetings they didn't score.
Jenkins has only had a few teams that have been decent in it's history so we are not suprised by the scores.
I wonder ?
The man whom Jenkins gets its name is George C Jenkins from Baltimore, Maryland. He married Francis Scott Keys niece.
Please realize that no modifier belongs with the word "unique". The word stands alone!
Noted for future videos.
Pound Gapp
I grew up in Floyd county Kentucky and I'll tell ya what if you didn't believe in the Lord you just didn't belong because you live by the book and what that means is you live to respect your elders you treat friends like family and the real family is what it was all about everyone helped each other as best as we all could there was down right hard work if you didn't work you got nothin there was no handouts and nobody accepted charity. This here's what's wrong with humanity nobody lives by them there rules no more everyone just expects handouts to take care of them lazy people will rob ya take advantage of you no respect and I'll tell ya another thing Jesus Christ done told us about these times were in he says this is exactly how it's be in the last days but it sure don't make it any easier cuz I'd rather see humans forget about all this materialistic crap that don't mean diddly scwat and start putting love and care and kindness and compassion and empathy back in there hearts. The bible tells us the mark of the beast is here and once you take it you no longer belong to God for eternity and that you will go through a conscience hell forever without end... literally ever. Now I know some folks don't believe that but just as Jesus said Satan is the father of all lies and his greatest lie of all time is convincing people that he and none of the bible is real.
And this goes to Consol history how? They established churches in the area. St. George Catholic church was the first one built, but they also built churches for other congregations.
This makes "a Coal Miner" sound like a most desirable Profession.
(We all know that was/is not the case.)
Is this a Modern Day Propaganda effort to present the History of Appalachia and all the Corporatist Elite appear as if it was a location that had Human Interest as the primary concern before *"Profits"?*
This narrative sounds like it was written by Edward Bernays himself.
...and none suffered injuries w/o benefits, none acquired Black Lung, and all were compensated relative to the vast profits the owner enjoyed" ... right.
This truly offends my education and intelligence.
This is a non political page. We try our best to show all points of view of the history that happened at that time. And that includes the people who funded the operation. Our families were coal miners. It is a very hard profession but an honest one.
Music too loud to hear the speaking person.
stra-tig-rif-ee, not "strat-e-graphee"
You have to understand we have a very thick Appalachian accent. Both of us grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. To him, he was saying the word correctly. We are proud of our heritage and of our accent. Our country has many accents and so words do not always sound the same even when they are spoken in the same state.
Creepy!
Lots of the camp houses still stands. I’m from Letcher county.
What "trumpy" wanted to return YOU to!
What?
This is a non political site. Please keep your political opinions off of our page. Thank you.