I'll never forget my poor daddy had a lunch bucket identical to those and he would always manage to leave some kind of little snack in it every day to bring home to me. I will always remember how excited I would get when dad would come home from work. And to see what kind of little snack he had kept for me
Thank you for this video. My grandfather was a coal miner in W. Pennsylvania. 45 years in the mines. Black lung disease, pack of Kools a day. Whiskey in his coffee. Lived to be 95 years old. Died in his sleep. What a man.
@@johnritchie3237 There is likely some truth to what Milanos said about his grandfather. I’m from W.PA and I worked the coal industry for over 40 years and I knew some pretty old goats who were in their 80’s and still smokin’, chewin’ tobacco, and damn right, whiskey in coffee-couple of spoonsful of sugar please-A tough bunch of boys
FIRST TIME HERE LISTENING! AS A SOUTHERN BOY, I THINK I'M GOING TO LIKE THIS! I USED A CASH REGISTER LIKE THAT MANY TIMES! (NOT YELLING BECAUSE OF CAPITALS, MY EYESIGHT IS POOR)
My great grandfather came from Poland in 1909. He had a small personal mine for the house. He mined for a company for 20 years. My grandfather mined as a boy for a few years. Went to WW2, came back and mined until 1960 when his mine shut down (Powhatan No. 1). My dad worked in the mines his whole life (Powhatan No. 4 and McElroy) for 45 years underground. I ended up in a coal fired power plant. Coal gave our family a great living.
I lived in West Virginia for a short time. Beautiful area, beautiful people. I once worked with a man by the name of George Daniels. George was a boss in the coal mines and then he retired and worked for Walmart for 18 years. George was quite the storyteller. He told stories about the coal mine and days. Really kind of sad actually. Those people had hard hard lives. God bless West Virginia
The coins you mentioned are called scrip. Beckley is in Raleigh county. I grew up in Beckley long before this exhibition mine became such a tourist attraction. It's nice to see the mine become such an interesting place to visit as coal becomes less valuable and less necessary for our energy needs. Politicians have little effect on the future of coal. They can't just force more production when the world won't buy it. Nonetheless, the coal industry played such an important part in our history.
That video is my 2nd most viewed videos. When I made it, I had no idea the attention it would get. Most comments are make are correcting me on the county. I have no idea where I said the wrong county. Oh well. Thanks for watching my video and telling me the information. I am glad they made it a tourist attraction.
My mother was from Beckley I still have relatives in Oak Hill. (The Smiths) My dad was a miner from 1914 to 1942. I still have his carbide lamp it still works but it's hard to find carbide now.
I was born in Beckley, we lived on Harpers Road. My Dad was in Construction, his job moved us to Charleston. Then we moved to Florida where I grew up. The coal mine is wonderful to your & surrounding houses & store. The views from the Mountains are breathtaking. West Virginia has gorgeous waterfalls, rivers & streams also. ❤Take me home country roads.
Love hearing you talk, you sound just like my Aunt Mary Francis Honaker. Most of my people have gone home, that's what makes it so good to hear your voice. I can close my eyes and see everyone. Grandfather was killed in the mines in War, back about 1934. Thanks for a look at how he would of worked.
Born & raised in Caretta, WVa. My daddy, & several uncles all worked in the Olga Coal mine there! Beautiful memories of people and places! Judith Bryant Haught
Great video. I mined anthracite coal in central PA. I started in the coal business when I was 7 years old. I picked rock in the summer. Go to work with my dad and uncles. I had my own helmet, lantern, gas check light, and metal lunch box !!! The same mine my great grandpa worked in. Great memories.
When I was about 14 yrs old me and two friends snuck into the mine and played all night, rode all over the mine on those little scooters. They left the lights on all night then. It was a blast. This was around 1974. I grew up in Beckley.
I worked in the mines for 36 years, 8 different mines, in 4 different states, but I still enjoyed this video tour and some history. Things sure have changed since those days. Mechanization and computerization have made things much easier, but there's still a lot of hard work to go around. Thanks for the effort, folks!
This video brings back memories. My grandfather and great-grandfather worked in the coal mines near this place, 100+ years ago and I still have one of their picks. My other grandfather was killed in a mine explosion farther north. In the 1970s, I machined the gathering arms and gear boxes for the loaders.
Thank you for the video. I went there almost 30 years ago. I really enjoyed it. Only paid $2.00 for the tour and $1.00 for Christmas ornaments made from coal. They built a new entrance to the museum. We started outside on the little tram to go in the coal mine. I really enjoyed the houses. I always wanted to go back, but never have made it back that way.
I have been on a coal mine tour in Scranton PA, I found it totally amazing just how Men and children, some as young as five years old worked in the mines digging out the Anthracite. Back in the old days no records were kept as to how many kids were injured or died due to accidents below ground.
The companies never kept track of the employees, a mine fire/explosion in the 1900s killed estimated 100 men in a WV mine, they had to estimate because there was no list of the manpower, but they knew how many company owned mules were killed
@@judeodomhnaill9711 what’s even more nuts is a teacher of mine who was a coal miner telling me the story of when they broke into an old section of that particular mine and began to reinforce it he said he felt someone grab his shoulder and he turned around and a miner covered in moss with a carbide lantern asked him which way was outside, my teacher wasn’t a big story teller and was a very down to earth Catholic, didn’t hesitate to tell us that he saw a ghost down there
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 that's madness. I go into abandoned mines here in Pa. 18 years now. I believe your teacher. I've had unsettling experiences with entities and also good experiences where you can feel comforting shoulder patting alerting you to a bad cave in spot, etc. It's wild down there. The miners called it "Tommy knockers".
I grew up in Man WV. My grandfather was manager of Pocohantas Coal Company back in the 40s and he had the first exibition coal mine built there. Not as impressive as the one at Beckley but I went through it several years ago with my son - his great grandson - and some of the older men there still remembered him - Bill German.
This was very interesting! Our farm here in Oregon has the same type of Young`s town kitchen sink shown in the supervisors home. We also have the same type of spittoon as well that my mother acquired when she operated an antique store. Our now passed neighbor, Jeanie, had given us the same type of trunk shown in the supervisors home. Always loved history! Was my favorite subject in school.The coal mine was interesting as well. Very well presented! Easy to understand as well. Good to listen to actual people who worked in the mines.
Went there in 1973, before 64 was complete, stayed at lake stevens met Johnny Cash who was staying the night. So glad this is still around. Worth every penny to visit.
Thank you for the tour. The coins and how the miners were paid was interesting to me. I guess just like the song goes...I owe my soul to the company store. Hard working folks. God bless.
you go digging around any old coal camp in WV and you’ll find plenty of script, it’s funny how people worked and died, slaving away to get a piece of copper and now it’s absolutely worthless, to the point I assume most people just let the children play with it
My great grandfather and grandfather were paid in script out here in southern California. One worked for the local railroad and the other for the chemical plant that owned the railroad. The company owned everything in town even all the houses.
Wow! I'm motorcycle touring every West Virginia county seat this Fall to snap pictures of courthouses. It'll take about a month and I've just added an overnight stay in Beckley so I can experience this cool and informative tour!
2:26, that’s where I work, doesn’t look anything like that anymore, the whole town is gone except for some remains and a couple warehouses, the job isn’t like a typical coal related job, it’s grinding coal into a fine powder and then selling it to rubber and tire manufactures, there’s a pretty good chance that the tires on your car are made with WV coal in them processed right in mountains, if you buy Bridgestone/Firestone, Toyo or Sumitomo tires then there’s without a doubt some of the product we make in them, those are our big name customers also the Carlisle tractor/atv tire manufacture buys product from us as well
I told my husband you liked his singing. LOL he said “What did I sing”. I told him “I think Amazing Grace”. I am gLad you loved his singing. You are the only one that has said that.
@@TrueSouthernAccent my pleasure, I sang right along with him and I’m sure many more have done the very same. The world certainly needs a little more of this 🙏🏼
These are the finest hardworking people in the world. I was Blessed to grow up in McDowell County and worked for U.S. Steel Mining Company until 1987, when the mines closed. A sad day, hundreds of miners had to move away to find work. I will always be a West Virginian! And yes I still have that accent!
I do understand how you feel as I went in the Navy right out of High School and moved back after I got out. I stayed there 4 years and could not keep a job due to places shutting down. I would finally get a job only to have the place shut down and have to start all over again. I finally left there and moved to Chesapeake Va. and have been here ever since due to no work at home. I do miss it and maybe when I retire go back but I really doubt it as my kids and grand kids are here now. It is sad what has happened to our state. I also will always be a West Virginian as well!!
I've been wanting to stop in Beckley for years to take this tour, but when I go through this area, I am at one end of a trip between Ohio and Florida so the timing is not good. I am going to set aside a special trip to do it. Thanks to this video, I know I am gonna take the tour. Love the video.
The great singer, Tennessee Ernie Ford, had a big hit: "16 Tons" ...."You know it's 16 tons, whada'ya get, another day older and deeper in debt, St. Peter don't ya call me 'cause I can't go...I owe my soul to the company store..."
thank you for taking the time to make & upload this. i visited Shenandoah this year & wanted to take a day to drive over & do this tour but the weather turned & it just wasn't in the cards. Really happy I could find this & really enjoyed how informative & thorough it was
You need to visit Stearns ky and the big south fork in McCreary County Kentucky they have a museum and some coal mining camps you can visit and trails and overlooks there
What a treat. I live in Vermont, and visited the Beckley mine in 1982. Even though I was an adult then, the only thing I remember is the ride down in, and water seeping from the roof. Nice to see it again.
I was born in Clay County W.V., I LOVE 😍 to be able to get to the point where I was born at, I miss W.V. my hearts 💕 will belong to the state. I live here for 1st. 7years and then we move to Indiana and hoping to get back there one day. 💞❤️🔥🖤
Thank You awesome video,my family worked in the limestone open pits at Calcite U S Steel in Rogers City.The Biggest open pit in the world.I have a lot of respect for coal mining as they would get Black Lung. The workers in limestone would get rock lung amazing the industry didn’t recognize 😉 Tragic for a lot of miners.I watched many family members die from it ❤️ Thank you! When I was 21 I’m now 64 I use to deliver a lot of Chrysler’s to West Virginia,that’s where I learned to drive and I didn’t even know what a Switchback was 😂😂😂😂😂 Much respect for Coal Bucket drivers,was told if you hear a Jakebreak stop because he wouldn’t stop or couldn’t 👍
Great Vid! Glad to see it In 'Anthracite' country. Major coal co's would leave coal pillars in place cuz they were strong and ya could bump into them. After the mine was finished the scavengers or 'scabs' (smaller coal Co's) would come in and replace the coal pillars with wood. (which would cause sinkholes and cave-ins down the line).
It looks fantastic from West Virginia; although, one of the best views of North Eastern West Virginia can be taken from Maryland. It's a few of Harper's Ferry. Sometimes you can find the shot in magazines. I've lived all over and nowhere is anyone's idea of perfection. Where you live is what you make of it. I lived in Hawaii and people complained. I called it our 4 year all expense paid vacation.
Thank you for this wonderfull Video And the Look in the past of a US coalmine and the live of miners and their Families. I am a miner guide too in the Rammelsberg mine in Germany in the town of Goslar near the Harz mountains. Thank you very much and take care Yours Frank Galetzka
Nice to meet you. Thank You I am glad you enjoyed it. It is my 2nd most watched video. I loved doing the mine tour in West Virginia USA. Thanks for commenting and watching my video.
I often wonder if they replaced my grandpas teeth yet. Between him and my father the tour used to be much more humorous and entertaining as well as informational. We put a lot of work in taking apart piece by piece and rebuilding those buildings there in Beckley. Very happy to see so many others enjoying it.
This is my most watched video. I am so glad I made this video. When I make a video I have no idea how good it will do. Thanks for commenting and watching my video. I have no idea where I said the wrong county. That is the thing everyone comments the most. The correction on the county. Sorry I said the wrong county.
GREAT info, my old GF lives in Beckley. People now days DONT know how hard people had to work daily to survive, all they do is complain without ever doing a days worth of REAL work
I'm from a bit further down (mercer/mcdowell) but live in beckley these days. If ya get back this way go check out pocahontas va, the town not the county in wv. Another exhibition coal mine and there was HUGE mine disaster there.
I was born in Beckley and went to Bible college near there. I enjoyed living there among its many beautiful parks and quaint little towns. During my time there, the exhibition coal mine was the only thing in that property but later, they built the town around it to resemble a coal mine "camp". A rural church I pastored was in one of these camps. The life of a coal miner was tough. They caught black lung desease and we're paid little for such hard work. Then they were forced to buy from the company store who would change outlandish prices for the goods so they paid the minors just to take away from them. Unions were better but still did little to help the families.
Pretty cool mueseum. West Virginia is one of the few places you can still get coal reasonably inexpensively to use for heating although you might have to provide your own transportation of it these days as a young boy I remember seeing the modified vehicles they used to drive in the mines being super cool
Yep, but if you know the right people with the equipment they can haul you a dump truck’s worth of it for $50 and a six pack lol or if you know some more people then you might even be able to get some coal for free, just might have to mine it yourself
I went there to work a lot. L love the people there but for some reason I felt hemmed in .? Was kind of a relief to get out. I know it's just me but on hot summer days I wanted to get out of the hollows. The Western mountains never affected me. I am a flat lander. Can see for miles were I grew up..tornado alley...
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR COAL MINE TOUR WVA COAL MINES!! I’M FROM BUCKHANNON WVA STAY SOME TIMES ON BAILEY RIDGE WVA ALSO I GREW UP MY VERY YOUNG YEARS IN MAPLE ST IN LAURA VALLEY WV WENT TO WEST MILFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ALSO STAY W MY GRANNY FRANCES ELLISON & GRANPA HARVEY ELLISON ON SCHOOL ST WEST MILFORD WVA !!
Anyone know if there's a connection between Fayette pa and Fayette wv both were large producers of coal around the late 1800s early 1900s wondered if both regions were named after the Lafayette family
I really enjoyed this video. I moved to West Virginia a couple of years ago. My husband became too ill for going around and learning about the history and culture. He died a few months ago. I am here alone trying to get to know where I am living. This tour was great. It was interesting and informative. When you consider the miners did the work and got paid with tokens good only at the company store it is obvious how mine owners acquired their wealth. I didn’t hear how the men who worked in the mines while their wife and family lived elsewhere were paid. I have to wonder if there was some payment of actual money. Again, this video is great. I appreciate you for creating it.
There was a Coal Barron (that’s the old folks term for the mine owners) name of Major Tams, owned actually several towns and several mines, he was a pretty interesting man, never had a drivers license he founded the town of Tams on horseback if that shows how long ago it was, he was a bachelor all his life, but he was the inventor of a lot of creature comforts that became standard for other coal mines to follow, he built bath houses for the men to shower and bathe in, paid miners more than Union pay to keep the union out, created a baseball team that played in the coal companies baseball league and he built several churches for the town. His towns were segregated but his logic was always that people tend to live amongst their own race, his school he built was integrated and when the African Americans of the town wished to build their own church closer to their side of the camp he donated all the fittings and furniture and the land company that owned the land gave them a parcel for free, he said in a interview in the 1970s that his company did switch out the script (company currency) for US dollars when asked by the miners. Usually so they could buy a automobile. He was definitely ahead of his time in terms of basically being the mayor of his own town, he built a movie theater and had a doctor and dentist the kids of the community always said he was nice to them, sometimes gave them some money so they could buy candy or a soda and asked them how their parents or grandparents were doing because he also knew pretty much everyone that lived there which is impressive given the size of the town, a picture of the town is at 2:26 just for a reference of the size and that’s only just the main area
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 WOW! Thank you for this. I grew up in Maryland. My mother would drive around the of Savage where there had once been a textile mill. I remember her pointing out the old 'mill houses'. She explained how the manager lived in a nice house, but depending on the job they had in the mill worker's houses would sometimes be not much more than shacks. She also explained the song, "Sixteen Tons," and the company store. I will look up Tams and check out this video again. 👍🏻
Thanks for loving and watching my video. I just wanted to tell you I am very sorry about your husband. I don’t want you to be alone. Find a friend to talk to and do things with. Your husband would love for you to do that. You will see him again. Until then have fun while you are here.
@@TrueSouthernAccent Thank you. You're sweet. I've always had people around me, but I had our daughter, and he was in the Navy so I was involved with things on Naval Station. I was a Girl Scout volunteer for 23 years. I tried doing it here, but one week I had a dead battery and another week I had a flat tire. Evidently those were signs of disorganization and parents complained. Mary complained too. There were only 4 or 5 girls at the meetings. I can see their school from my side porch. You're always a sister to every other Girl Scout; so why didn't one of the moms pick me up and take me to the meeting🤷♂️? Never a word from the paid GS person, nothing from the area manager. This did nothing to make me feel warm and fuzzy. I still live alone. A young man I know from Texas lives in Philly comes down once in a while. I can sit here moaning and wailing that nobody loves me, everybody hates me guess I'll go eat worms, but that is really pointless.
Interesting video. I read about the mines in West Virginia including Beckley in a 1983 National Geographic. Worked briefly in a coal mine in Britain. The underground tour in this is reminiscent in some ways of the tour at Apedale near where I live, except you walk down the tunnel at Apedale.
This is a really old mine it’s got the typical look to it of being dark and dank. The more modern mines would blow the minds of the old timers that worked in this one, the modern “big shot” mining operations in WV have overhead lighting for the most part, they are pretty dry and some of the more ingenious miners have rigged up standard power to run appliances like coffee pots and microwaves, even underground your coffee or you food never gets cold
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Where I worked at Hatfield was a large mechanised mine with fully lit longwall faces, shaft bottom was lit too but some roadways weren't. We weren't allowed to take anything electrical (or wrapped in aluminium foil) underground ourselves because of the methane. It was also very hot due to the depth, we were about half a mile below the surface.
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Yes the temperature was quite high due to the geology and the depth, some of the nearby mines were even hotter. Ventilation was pretty good but by the time we at the face or in headings it was a long way from the shafts. The headings always the worst as there's no circuit, just air blown in. Now the deep mines are all closed here they are being looked at for use in geothermal energy.
I owe my soul to the company store. Those coins could only be spent with your company in your company store so they basically had a version of indentured servitude. You made money with them. And then you turned right around and gave it back to them
I'll never forget my poor daddy had a lunch bucket identical to those and he would always manage to leave some kind of little snack in it every day to bring home to me. I will always remember how excited I would get when dad would come home from work. And to see what kind of little snack he had kept for me
Thank you for this video. My grandfather was a coal miner in W. Pennsylvania. 45 years in the mines. Black lung disease, pack of Kools a day. Whiskey in his coffee. Lived to be 95 years old. Died in his sleep. What a man.
Nonsense
WOW he was an amazing man.
@@johnritchie3237 There is likely some truth to what Milanos said about his grandfather. I’m from W.PA and I worked the coal industry for over 40 years and I knew some pretty old goats who were in their 80’s and still smokin’, chewin’ tobacco, and damn right, whiskey in coffee-couple of spoonsful of sugar please-A tough bunch of boys
@@bradbish4755 my dads living proof. 98 kool green shorts and a case of beer 5th or vodka every since I was a boy
Wow he really lived to 95 hats off to a true coal miner
Wonderful video. The sacrifices that our coal miners & their families have done goes unnoticed and under appreciated. 💛
I will sadly never be able to visit w.v. so thank you very much. I really enjoyed it ❤️
FIRST TIME HERE LISTENING! AS A SOUTHERN BOY, I THINK I'M GOING TO LIKE THIS! I USED A CASH REGISTER LIKE THAT MANY TIMES! (NOT YELLING BECAUSE OF CAPITALS, MY EYESIGHT IS POOR)
My great grandfather came from Poland in 1909. He had a small personal mine for the house. He mined for a company for 20 years. My grandfather mined as a boy for a few years. Went to WW2, came back and mined until 1960 when his mine shut down (Powhatan No. 1). My dad worked in the mines his whole life (Powhatan No. 4 and McElroy) for 45 years underground. I ended up in a coal fired power plant. Coal gave our family a great living.
I lived in West Virginia for a short time. Beautiful area, beautiful people. I once worked with a man by the name of George Daniels. George was a boss in the coal mines and then he retired and worked for Walmart for 18 years. George was quite the storyteller. He told stories about the coal mine and days. Really kind of sad actually. Those people had hard hard lives. God bless West Virginia
I think it would be awful to work in the mines. So depressing working in the dark except the light on their head. Thanks for watching my video.
@@TrueSouthernAccent yes I would agree. Though coal mining has become 'safer' over the years, you couldn't pay enough to go underground. I miss WV
Wow. My great grandparents came from Hungary 1900 and worked mines in West Virginia before heading to Canada to homestead. Very interesting video.
The coins you mentioned are called scrip. Beckley is in Raleigh county. I grew up in Beckley long before this exhibition mine became such a tourist attraction. It's nice to see the mine become such an interesting place to visit as coal becomes less valuable and less necessary for our energy needs. Politicians have little effect on the future of coal. They can't just force more production when the world won't buy it. Nonetheless, the coal industry played such an important part in our history.
That video is my 2nd most viewed videos. When I made it, I had no idea the attention it would get. Most comments are make are correcting me on the county. I have no idea where I said the wrong county. Oh well. Thanks for watching my video and telling me the information. I am glad they made it a tourist attraction.
My mother was from Beckley I still have relatives in Oak Hill. (The Smiths) My dad was a miner from 1914 to 1942. I still have his carbide lamp it still works but it's hard to find carbide now.
I was born in Beckley, we lived on Harpers Road. My Dad was in Construction, his job moved us to Charleston. Then we moved to Florida where I grew up. The coal mine is wonderful to your & surrounding houses & store. The views from the Mountains are breathtaking. West Virginia has gorgeous waterfalls, rivers & streams also. ❤Take me home country roads.
I grew up close to Beckley in the 80's ,I have been to that park 100 times. Never been in the mine. Thanks for the video.
Love hearing you talk, you sound just like my Aunt Mary Francis Honaker. Most of my people have gone home, that's what makes it so good to hear your voice. I can close my eyes and see everyone. Grandfather was killed in the mines in War, back about 1934. Thanks for a look at how he would of worked.
Born & raised in Caretta, WVa. My daddy, & several uncles all worked in the Olga Coal mine there! Beautiful memories of people and places! Judith Bryant Haught
Great video. I mined anthracite coal in central PA. I started in the coal business when I was 7 years old. I picked rock in the summer. Go to work with my dad and uncles. I had my own helmet, lantern, gas check light, and metal lunch box !!! The same mine my great grandpa worked in. Great memories.
Thanks for the video. Very interesting. It is amazing the condition the miners had to work and live in back then. Gives a new meaning to hard work.
Brother Rodney's voice!!! I love it!!!
He said Thank You. We listen to his Singing over and over. We were shocked how good it sound. I told him I was going to play that at his funeral.
@@TrueSouthernAccent thanks again for the wonderful response, and I look forward to seeing more great videos and Rodney's gospels.😍
When I was about 14 yrs old me and two friends snuck into the mine and played all night, rode all over the mine on those little scooters. They left the lights on all night then. It was a blast. This was around 1974. I grew up in Beckley.
I bet you never locked your doors just like we did back then too! A different time.
I never realized how hard this job is , I really appreciate all they do , they are good people and I hope that our government takes care of them.
I worked in the mines for 36 years, 8 different mines, in 4 different states, but I still enjoyed this video tour and some history. Things sure have changed since those days. Mechanization and computerization have made things much easier, but there's still a lot of hard work to go around. Thanks for the effort, folks!
This video brings back memories. My grandfather and great-grandfather worked in the coal mines near this place, 100+ years ago and I still have one of their picks. My other grandfather was killed in a mine explosion farther north. In the 1970s, I machined the gathering arms and gear boxes for the loaders.
If you are in the area they reopen for tours in April!
@@TrueSouthernAccent Thanks, I am too old and busted up to travel anymore.
Thank you for the video. I went there almost 30 years ago. I really enjoyed it. Only paid $2.00 for the tour and $1.00 for Christmas ornaments made from coal. They built a new entrance to the museum. We started outside on the little tram to go in the coal mine. I really enjoyed the houses. I always wanted to go back, but never have made it back that way.
West Virginia is so beautiful its breath taking i want to drive through the whole state
I'm doing just that this September on a motorcycle...
Haha! My husband's family has lived in Beckley for many many many years. He has toured the mine several times and much of his family worked it.
What a super cool tour. I've never seen a coal mine. Thank you for sharing .
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching my video and commenting.
Merry Christmas from north central West Virginia, wetzel county. I’m hoping to visit this place next summer. Loved the tour, thank you so much.
I have been on a coal mine tour in Scranton PA, I found it totally amazing just how Men and children, some as young as five years old worked in the mines digging out the Anthracite. Back in the old days no records were kept as to how many kids were injured or died due to accidents below ground.
The companies never kept track of the employees, a mine fire/explosion in the 1900s killed estimated 100 men in a WV mine, they had to estimate because there was no list of the manpower, but they knew how many company owned mules were killed
I went on that same tour myself 25 years ago! Really enjoyed it! I remember from the tour guide that that mine had last been worked in 1966.
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 nuts, isn't it?
@@judeodomhnaill9711 what’s even more nuts is a teacher of mine who was a coal miner telling me the story of when they broke into an old section of that particular mine and began to reinforce it he said he felt someone grab his shoulder and he turned around and a miner covered in moss with a carbide lantern asked him which way was outside, my teacher wasn’t a big story teller and was a very down to earth Catholic, didn’t hesitate to tell us that he saw a ghost down there
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 that's madness. I go into abandoned mines here in Pa. 18 years now. I believe your teacher. I've had unsettling experiences with entities and also good experiences where you can feel comforting shoulder patting alerting you to a bad cave in spot, etc. It's wild down there. The miners called it "Tommy knockers".
I grew up in Man WV. My grandfather was manager of Pocohantas Coal Company back in the 40s and he had the first exibition coal mine built there. Not as impressive as the one at Beckley but I went through it several years ago with my son - his great grandson - and some of the older men there still remembered him - Bill German.
Thanks for sharing. Thanks for commenting and watching my video.
That’s awesome!!!! Teach them young kids where they come from and history because it seems like history is being faded out in schools
Excellent presentation inside the coal mine! Love History!
This was very interesting! Our farm here in Oregon has the same type of Young`s town kitchen sink shown in the supervisors home. We also have the same type of spittoon as well that my mother acquired when she operated an antique store. Our now passed neighbor, Jeanie, had given us the same type of trunk shown in the supervisors home. Always loved history! Was my favorite subject in school.The coal mine was interesting as well. Very well presented! Easy to understand as well. Good to listen to actual people who worked in the mines.
Went there in 1973, before 64 was complete, stayed at lake stevens met Johnny Cash who was staying the night. So glad this is still around. Worth every penny to visit.
Heard a lot of cool stories meeting celebrities but that’s got to be the coolest one meeting Johnny Cash
WOW Johnny Cash. That is amazing. Thanks for watching my video.
I have been on this tour many years ago with my friends that lives in West Virginia ! I thought it was awesome !
love this video and all the comments here girl! your accent is soothing and your family looks super sweet.
Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed this video
Visited here in elementary school decades ago... it's still one of my favorite memories
Very cool thanks for sharing
Went on the mine tour on my first visit to Almost Heaven in 1973! I love West Virginia
Thanks for watching my video and commenting. Was the tour about the same?
My grandfather and my great grandfathers were coal miners in Lego and Besoco, near Beckley. This was so interesting to watch. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for the tour. The coins and how the miners were paid was interesting to me. I guess just like the song goes...I owe my soul to the company store. Hard working folks. God bless.
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you go digging around any old coal camp in WV and you’ll find plenty of script, it’s funny how people worked and died, slaving away to get a piece of copper and now it’s absolutely worthless, to the point I assume most people just let the children play with it
My great grandfather and grandfather were paid in script out here in southern California. One worked for the local railroad and the other for the chemical plant that owned the railroad. The company owned everything in town even all the houses.
Excellent tour of the mine n the property!!? Thank you for showing me how rough those poor people had it in the country back then!!
Wow! I'm motorcycle touring every West Virginia county seat this Fall to snap pictures of courthouses. It'll take about a month and I've just added an overnight stay in Beckley so I can experience this cool and informative tour!
2:26, that’s where I work, doesn’t look anything like that anymore, the whole town is gone except for some remains and a couple warehouses, the job isn’t like a typical coal related job, it’s grinding coal into a fine powder and then selling it to rubber and tire manufactures, there’s a pretty good chance that the tires on your car are made with WV coal in them processed right in mountains, if you buy Bridgestone/Firestone, Toyo or Sumitomo tires then there’s without a doubt some of the product we make in them, those are our big name customers also the Carlisle tractor/atv tire manufacture buys product from us as well
Thank You for the information I had no idea. I thought all the coal went to the power companies. Thanks for commenting and watching my video.
My grandfather and great-grandfathers worked in mines not far from this one, in Lego and Besoco. Loved this so much, thank you!
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I liked the singing, warm holiday regards from the South Bronx in NYC!
I told my husband you liked his singing. LOL he said “What did I sing”. I told him “I think Amazing Grace”. I am gLad you loved his singing. You are the only one that has said that.
@@TrueSouthernAccent my pleasure, I sang right along with him and I’m sure many more have done the very same. The world certainly needs a little more of this 🙏🏼
Born in Beckley in 1949. My heart will always be here
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I do concrete work my whole life hard work but these old boys back in day had it ruff coal mine great video 📸 new sub
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592pac union here I. Did both it's all hard work but underground is Abit more dangerous
These are the finest hardworking people in the world. I was Blessed to grow up in McDowell County and worked for U.S. Steel Mining Company until 1987, when the mines closed. A sad day, hundreds of miners had to move away to find work. I will always be a West Virginian! And yes I still have that accent!
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Aces! Keep it always!
I do understand how you feel as I went in the Navy right out of High School and moved back after I got out. I stayed there 4 years and could not keep a job due to places shutting down. I would finally get a job only to have the place shut down and have to start all over again. I finally left there and moved to Chesapeake Va. and have been here ever since due to no work at home. I do miss it and maybe when I retire go back but I really doubt it as my kids and grand kids are here now. It is sad what has happened to our state. I also will always be a West Virginian as well!!
I’m from Mingo county. Live near Charlotte,NC now. Used to work in the mines, before moving to NC. 14 years underground.
WOW thanks for watching my video.
Yes I’m retiring the first of the year, but I still kind of miss home some time.
Thank you so much for uploading the tour! I would love to visit and go on one eventually. So much history and so interesting to me.
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My heritage is Appalachia, West Virginia. I learned alot from watching your video. Thanx alot for sharing this.
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Fascinating. Love West Virginia.
I've been wanting to stop in Beckley for years to take this tour, but when I go through this area, I am at one end of a trip between Ohio and Florida so the timing is not good. I am going to set aside a special trip to do it. Thanks to this video, I know I am gonna take the tour. Love the video.
The great singer, Tennessee Ernie Ford, had a big hit: "16 Tons" ...."You know it's 16 tons, whada'ya get, another day older and deeper in debt, St. Peter don't ya call me 'cause I can't go...I owe my soul to the company store..."
thank you for taking the time to make & upload this. i visited Shenandoah this year & wanted to take a day to drive over & do this tour but the weather turned & it just wasn't in the cards. Really happy I could find this & really enjoyed how informative & thorough it was
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You need to visit Stearns ky and the big south fork in McCreary County Kentucky they have a museum and some coal mining camps you can visit and trails and overlooks there
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Great video. My son and I took the mine tour today, and also were blessed to have Gerald as our guide.
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My youngest son went to college in Beckley, many moons ago. My oldest son lives just "up the road" from where we live now. Love this State.
Fascinating!i definitely want to go to this museum now
Was in a mine once when i was little in Southwest Va. My daddy was a coal miner and he took me in a little ways on the man trap...
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What a treat. I live in Vermont, and visited the Beckley mine in 1982. Even though I was an adult then, the only thing I remember is the ride down in, and water seeping from the roof. Nice to see it again.
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The mine trip travels now all the way through the mountain Did it when you were there?
@@1952truck I don't remember. It was 1982 though. THAT I remember!
Glad you showed that I used to live in Welch West Virginia good show keep up the good work. 👍
I love your channel here. I was raised in eastern KY but also ended up in Florida. Destin and pensacola. Keep it up. I love this video.
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I have a lot of videos on Destin Florida. Go to my playlist for Florida videos.
My mother was born in Beckley in 1941, many coalminers on both sides of my mother's family. Hope to visit from Florida someday
It was very neat to see how they work and what things actually look like.
I was born in Clay County W.V., I LOVE 😍 to be able to get to the point where I was born at, I miss W.V. my hearts 💕 will belong to the state. I live here for 1st. 7years and then we move to Indiana and hoping to get back there one day. 💞❤️🔥🖤
My great-grandfather worked there 101 years ago he died in the mine. His name was Henry Painter.
He is a Irish artist so are you sure is your great grandfather
Thank You awesome video,my family worked in the limestone open pits at Calcite U S Steel in Rogers City.The Biggest open pit in the world.I have a lot of respect for coal mining as they would get Black Lung.
The workers in limestone would get rock lung amazing the industry didn’t recognize 😉 Tragic for a lot of miners.I watched many family members die from it ❤️ Thank you!
When I was 21 I’m now 64 I use to deliver a lot of Chrysler’s to West Virginia,that’s where I learned to drive and I didn’t even know what a Switchback was 😂😂😂😂😂
Much respect for Coal Bucket drivers,was told if you hear a Jakebreak stop because he wouldn’t stop or couldn’t 👍
Great Vid! Glad to see it
In 'Anthracite' country. Major coal co's would leave coal pillars in place cuz they were strong and ya could bump into them. After the mine was finished the scavengers or 'scabs' (smaller coal Co's) would come in and replace the coal pillars with wood. (which would cause sinkholes and cave-ins down the line).
Thank you and thank for the information and watching my video. I hope you enjoy more of them.
Going to have to take a trip to WV looks beautiful from Missouri.
It looks even better from New Jersey!
It looks fantastic from West Virginia; although, one of the best views of North Eastern West Virginia can be taken from Maryland. It's a few of Harper's Ferry. Sometimes you can find the shot in magazines. I've lived all over and nowhere is anyone's idea of perfection. Where you live is what you make of it. I lived in Hawaii and people complained. I called it our 4 year all expense paid vacation.
I've been here a few times whenever my aunt and uncle lived in beckley. I really enjoyed that city.
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Thank you for this wonderfull Video
And the Look in the past of a US coalmine and the live of miners and their Families.
I am a miner guide too in the Rammelsberg mine in Germany in the town of Goslar near the Harz mountains.
Thank you very much and take care
Yours Frank Galetzka
Nice to meet you. Thank You I am glad you enjoyed it. It is my 2nd most watched video. I loved doing the mine tour in West Virginia USA. Thanks for commenting and watching my video.
I often wonder if they replaced my grandpas teeth yet. Between him and my father the tour used to be much more humorous and entertaining as well as informational. We put a lot of work in taking apart piece by piece and rebuilding those buildings there in Beckley. Very happy to see so many others enjoying it.
Also Beckley is the seat of Raleigh county. Small correction but I enjoyed the video very much!
This is my most watched video. I am so glad I made this video. When I make a video I have no idea how good it will do. Thanks for commenting and watching my video.
I have no idea where I said the wrong county. That is the thing everyone comments the most. The correction on the county. Sorry I said the wrong county.
GREAT info, my old GF lives in Beckley. People now days DONT know how hard people had to work daily to survive, all they do is complain without ever doing a days worth of REAL work
Please add some more videos we love your videos my bucket list of places to visit is berkley
Thank you for loving my video. I have 2 videos of the famous bridge near beckley WV. New River Gorge Bridge.
Our Boy Scout troop just visited this mine this week. Thanks for posting this video!
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Nice!!! I worked in the mines for years here in eastern ky and miss it badly! Btw he has a great voice! Awesome video, thanks for sharing
I have never heard anyone say they miss it badly. I thought not one wants to work in a coal mine.
@@TrueSouthernAccent most people that has worked in the mines for a while misses it after they are out
Klamath falls Oregon is watching
I'm from a bit further down (mercer/mcdowell) but live in beckley these days. If ya get back this way go check out pocahontas va, the town not the county in wv. Another exhibition coal mine and there was HUGE mine disaster there.
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Very enjoyable! Thank you.
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great job brother Rodney!
That church was moved there in the early to mid 1990s it was originally in my home town of Pemberton Wva another coal camp at one time
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I was born in Beckley and went to Bible college near there. I enjoyed living there among its many beautiful parks and quaint little towns. During my time there, the exhibition coal mine was the only thing in that property but later, they built the town around it to resemble a coal mine "camp". A rural church I pastored was in one of these camps. The life of a coal miner was tough. They caught black lung desease and we're paid little for such hard work. Then they were forced to buy from the company store who would change outlandish prices for the goods so they paid the minors just to take away from them. Unions were better but still did little to help the families.
Try proof reading. Your bible college degree is showing. Unions did little to help the families? You don't know what you're talking about son.
Enjoyed the singing!
I’ve been here before. My mom grew up in WV and my Pawpaw works in the mines near there
Very interesting ! Thanks for the tour.
Pretty cool mueseum. West Virginia is one of the few places you can still get coal reasonably inexpensively to use for heating although you might have to provide your own transportation of it these days as a young boy I remember seeing the modified vehicles they used to drive in the mines being super cool
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Yep, but if you know the right people with the equipment they can haul you a dump truck’s worth of it for $50 and a six pack lol or if you know some more people then you might even be able to get some coal for free, just might have to mine it yourself
i love those mountains
I went there to work a lot.
L love the people there but for some reason I felt hemmed in .? Was kind of a relief to get out. I know it's just me but on hot summer days I wanted to get out of the hollows. The Western mountains never affected me. I am a flat lander. Can see for miles were I grew up..tornado alley...
Cool video I'm up by Morgantown but definitely gonna have to get down and take the tour there!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR COAL MINE TOUR WVA COAL MINES!! I’M FROM BUCKHANNON WVA STAY SOME TIMES ON BAILEY RIDGE WVA ALSO I GREW UP MY VERY YOUNG YEARS IN MAPLE ST IN LAURA VALLEY WV WENT TO WEST MILFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ALSO STAY W MY GRANNY FRANCES ELLISON & GRANPA HARVEY ELLISON ON SCHOOL ST WEST MILFORD WVA !!
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I actually enjoyed stuff like this absolutely love it thank you for sharing
This takes me back to my home state
Anyone know if there's a connection between Fayette pa and Fayette wv both were large producers of coal around the late 1800s early 1900s wondered if both regions were named after the Lafayette family
Dunno about that connection, but the town of Windber PA and Berwind WV are connected as they were both owned by the same mining company
I really enjoyed this video. I moved to West Virginia a couple of years ago. My husband became too ill for going around and learning about the history and culture. He died a few months ago. I am here alone trying to get to know where I am living. This tour was great. It was interesting and informative. When you consider the miners did the work and got paid with tokens good only at the company store it is obvious how mine owners acquired their wealth. I didn’t hear how the men who worked in the mines while their wife and family lived elsewhere were paid. I have to wonder if there was some payment of actual money.
Again, this video is great. I appreciate you for creating it.
There was a Coal Barron (that’s the old folks term for the mine owners) name of Major Tams, owned actually several towns and several mines, he was a pretty interesting man, never had a drivers license he founded the town of Tams on horseback if that shows how long ago it was, he was a bachelor all his life, but he was the inventor of a lot of creature comforts that became standard for other coal mines to follow, he built bath houses for the men to shower and bathe in, paid miners more than Union pay to keep the union out, created a baseball team that played in the coal companies baseball league and he built several churches for the town. His towns were segregated but his logic was always that people tend to live amongst their own race, his school he built was integrated and when the African Americans of the town wished to build their own church closer to their side of the camp he donated all the fittings and furniture and the land company that owned the land gave them a parcel for free, he said in a interview in the 1970s that his company did switch out the script (company currency) for US dollars when asked by the miners. Usually so they could buy a automobile. He was definitely ahead of his time in terms of basically being the mayor of his own town, he built a movie theater and had a doctor and dentist the kids of the community always said he was nice to them, sometimes gave them some money so they could buy candy or a soda and asked them how their parents or grandparents were doing because he also knew pretty much everyone that lived there which is impressive given the size of the town, a picture of the town is at 2:26 just for a reference of the size and that’s only just the main area
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 WOW! Thank you for this. I grew up in Maryland. My mother would drive around the of Savage where there had once been a textile mill. I remember her pointing out the old 'mill houses'. She explained how the manager lived in a nice house, but depending on the job they had in the mill worker's houses would sometimes be not much more than shacks. She also explained the song, "Sixteen Tons," and the company store.
I will look up Tams and check out this video again. 👍🏻
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I just wanted to tell you I am very sorry about your husband. I don’t want you to be alone. Find a friend to talk to and do things with. Your husband would love for you to do that. You will see him again. Until then have fun while you are here.
@@TrueSouthernAccent Thank you. You're sweet. I've always had people around me, but I had our daughter, and he was in the Navy so I was involved with things on Naval Station. I was a Girl Scout volunteer for 23 years. I tried doing it here, but one week I had a dead battery and another week I had a flat tire. Evidently those were signs of disorganization and parents complained. Mary complained too. There were only 4 or 5 girls at the meetings. I can see their school from my side porch. You're always a sister to every other Girl Scout; so why didn't one of the moms pick me up and take me to the meeting🤷♂️? Never a word from the paid GS person, nothing from the area manager. This did nothing to make me feel warm and fuzzy. I still live alone. A young man I know from Texas lives in Philly comes down once in a while.
I can sit here moaning and wailing that nobody loves me, everybody hates me guess I'll go eat worms, but that is really pointless.
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 thank you for the information. I'll read about him one of these days 🤔
Thank you. This was a very dangerous and hard work.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you!
Interesting video. I read about the mines in West Virginia including Beckley in a 1983 National Geographic. Worked briefly in a coal mine in Britain. The underground tour in this is reminiscent in some ways of the tour at Apedale near where I live, except you walk down the tunnel at Apedale.
This is a really old mine it’s got the typical look to it of being dark and dank. The more modern mines would blow the minds of the old timers that worked in this one, the modern “big shot” mining operations in WV have overhead lighting for the most part, they are pretty dry and some of the more ingenious miners have rigged up standard power to run appliances like coffee pots and microwaves, even underground your coffee or you food never gets cold
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Where I worked at Hatfield was a large mechanised mine with fully lit longwall faces, shaft bottom was lit too but some roadways weren't. We weren't allowed to take anything electrical (or wrapped in aluminium foil) underground ourselves because of the methane. It was also very hot due to the depth, we were about half a mile below the surface.
@@RW-nr6bh sounds like that was due to poor ventilation and for safety reason for being so far underground
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Yes the temperature was quite high due to the geology and the depth, some of the nearby mines were even hotter. Ventilation was pretty good but by the time we at the face or in headings it was a long way from the shafts. The headings always the worst as there's no circuit, just air blown in. Now the deep mines are all closed here they are being looked at for use in geothermal energy.
I owe my soul to the company store. Those coins could only be spent with your company in your company store so they basically had a version of indentured servitude. You made money with them. And then you turned right around and gave it back to them
I like seeing this kind of stuff. Something about this kind of living is so interesting to me
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Good ole WV ! I miss it .
Very interesting!
I'm from Princeton West Virginia Mercer County born and raised I used to live in Charleston lived on the west side place called Edgemont
You really give alot of information. Thank you!
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