Coalwood: Home of the Rocket Boys
Coalwood is a small, unincorporated town tucked away in the mountainous landscape of West Virginia, and hidden with it, a history that not many talk about. Coalwood was a rather prosperous mining town from the early to late 1900s. I’m sure you could guess what they mined, but in case you were wondering, it was coal. Coalwood, along with its nearby neighbor Welch, were both notable staples of the coal mining industry in the rust belt. The two towns combined brought McDowell County to number one in the United States for total coal production.
The town was founded by George Lafayette Carter in 1905. He arrived on mule, finding rich seams of coal, which led him into the decision to purchase 20,000 acres of land. He constructed a mine called the Carter Coal Company. He also built offices, houses and a schoolhouse. He even hired a doctor and dentist, who then provided services to his miners. The town was sold in 1922 to the Consolidation Coal Company. They then rebuilt the community and recruited new employees to work in the mines, but Carter regained control of the company when Consolidation Coal defaulted on their payments in 1933.
The town was also home to author and former NASA engineer, and current space council adviser Homer Hickam – writer of the best-selling memoir “October Sky.” If you have read the book October Sky, or seen the movie, you’ll be familiar with Homer and the others and their endeavors in rocketry.
During the peak of its years as a prosperous mining town, Coalwood’s population reached just lightly over 2,000. The mine had reached its peak in the 1960s, but as the mining industry slowed down over later years toward the end of the 20th century, demand for coal grew especially lower. The coal mine stopped production on October 1, 1982, though still remained open until being closed for good in 1986 when the Olga Coal Company was bought by the LTV Corporation.
By 1990, the town’s population had fallen to only 900.
Coalwood now remains a fading memory of when the coal industry was at its peak in the United States. Though to some it may not seem like much, the town is a nice and quiet place.
