Woody Duba, general manager of Beaver Coal Co. and developer of Burning Rock's coal heritage tours, shows visitors the entrance to a 1,400-foot ramp that took miners into the former White Mountain Coal Co. mine.
Early in the last century, nearly 15,000 people lived along a 15-mile stretch of Winding Gulf Creek, where an army of miners toiled in the surrounding hillsides, producing up to 20 million tons of high-quality coal a year from five major seams.
SOPHIA, W.Va. -- Early in the last century, nearly 15,000 people lived along a 15-mile stretch of Winding Gulf Creek, where an army of miners toiled in the surrounding hillsides, producing up to 20 million tons of high-quality coal a year from five major seams.
Some of the world's best coal for steelmaking is still being produced here, along the Raleigh-Wyoming County border, in a few large mines. But only a handful of the nearly 50 coal camps that once lined the creek remain standing and occupied.
Moss-covered foundation stones, solitary chimneys, and the crumbling remnants of churches and company stores are all that remain of some of the once-thriving coal communities. Powerhouses and ventilation units that made mining possible in miles of underground shafts are being eaten by rust and swallowed by brush.
The 8,000-acre Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park, with 90 miles of trails for ATV and off-road motorcycle riders, is situated in the heart of the Winding Gulf Coalfield.
To put visitors in touch with the coal-mining heritage found within and adjacent to Burning Rock's boundaries, the park is offering guided coal heritage ATV tours.
Burning Rock's trail system takes riders past the once-bustling coal towns of Stotesbury and Tams, where Walter P. Tams Jr. leased a tract of land from Burning Rock's parent company, Beaver Coal Co., in 1908 to open his Gulf Smokeless mine, one of the first in the Winding Gulf.
"The town of Tams was once bigger than Beckley," said Woody Duba, general manager of Beaver Coal, and the man responsible for developing, and sometimes guiding, Burning Rock's coal heritage ATV tours. "It had a theater, a swimming pool, and monthly competitions for the best-kept company homes.
Unlike its coalfield counterparts, the town of Tams had electricity and running water in every company house prior to the 1920s, and had a community bowling alley, gym and café.
Tams, known as "Major Tams" because of the rank he attained when he left the coalfield to serve in the Army during World War I, governed his namesake town "with an iron fist," Duba said. "But he was also known for being fair and generous. For example, he was the first coal operator to reduce the hours in a workday from 10 to nine, without reducing pay."
A recent tour led by Duba began at the Burning Rock headquarters, which, along with a campground and a row of guest cabins, is built on a reclaimed coal refuse pile that was converted into 60 acres of flat land.
"More than 95 percent of the trails we use were here already," Duba said. "They were either mine roads or roads used in oil and gas development or timbering."
An active surface mine on an adjacent tract of land is developing trails to add to the Burning Rock system as part of its reclamation plan. "We're thinking about possibly adding a motocross trail," Duba said. "They are able to custom build the trails we'd like to have."
SOPHIA, W.Va. -- Early in the last century, nearly 15,000 people lived along a 15-mile stretch of Winding Gulf Creek, where an army of miners toiled in the surrounding hillsides, producing up to 20 million tons of high-quality coal a year from five major seams.
Some of the world's best coal for steelmaking is still being produced here, along the Raleigh-Wyoming County border, in a few large mines. But only a handful of the nearly 50 coal camps that once lined the creek remain standing and occupied.
Moss-covered foundation stones, solitary chimneys, and the crumbling remnants of churches and company stores are all that remain of some of the once-thriving coal communities. Powerhouses and ventilation units that made mining possible in miles of underground shafts are being eaten by rust and swallowed by brush.
The 8,000-acre Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park, with 90 miles of trails for ATV and off-road motorcycle riders, is situated in the heart of the Winding Gulf Coalfield.
To put visitors in touch with the coal-mining heritage found within and adjacent to Burning Rock's boundaries, the park is offering guided coal heritage ATV tours.
Burning Rock's trail system takes riders past the once-bustling coal towns of Stotesbury and Tams, where Walter P. Tams Jr. leased a tract of land from Burning Rock's parent company, Beaver Coal Co., in 1908 to open his Gulf Smokeless mine, one of the first in the Winding Gulf.
"The town of Tams was once bigger than Beckley," said Woody Duba, general manager of Beaver Coal, and the man responsible for developing, and sometimes guiding, Burning Rock's coal heritage ATV tours. "It had a theater, a swimming pool, and monthly competitions for the best-kept company homes.
Unlike its coalfield counterparts, the town of Tams had electricity and running water in every company house prior to the 1920s, and had a community bowling alley, gym and café.
Tams, known as "Major Tams" because of the rank he attained when he left the coalfield to serve in the Army during World War I, governed his namesake town "with an iron fist," Duba said. "But he was also known for being fair and generous. For example, he was the first coal operator to reduce the hours in a workday from 10 to nine, without reducing pay."
A recent tour led by Duba began at the Burning Rock headquarters, which, along with a campground and a row of guest cabins, is built on a reclaimed coal refuse pile that was converted into 60 acres of flat land.
"More than 95 percent of the trails we use were here already," Duba said. "They were either mine roads or roads used in oil and gas development or timbering."
An active surface mine on an adjacent tract of land is developing trails to add to the Burning Rock system as part of its reclamation plan. "We're thinking about possibly adding a motocross trail," Duba said. "They are able to custom build the trails we'd like to have."
Before descending Tams Mountain to Winding Gulf Creek, Duba's tour went past a surface mine bench reclaimed decades ago with a pine plantation, now being augmented with hardwoods encroaching from an adjacent stretch of undisturbed forest. It also included a drive through a grassy, much more recent mine refuse reclamation site overlooking a portion of Stotesbury, and a look at a section of thick cable that once supported an aerial tram that hauled slate from mine entrances at creek level to a disposal site at the top of the mountain.
Other stops along the way included a look at the miners' portal and fan shaft for the White Mountain deep mine that closed in 2001 because of roof problems, a look at a 1930-vintage Civilian Conservation Corps bridge across Winding Gulf Creek, and a walk through the ruins of the McAlpin Company Store, which operated for more than 50 years until it closed in the 1970s.
On the steep hillside above McAlpin, Duba pointed out numerous foundation blocks and chimneys that once supported and heated miners' homes, but are now being reclaimed by the forest.
Between Tams and Stotesbury, a World War II-era powerhouse for a long-silent mine could be seen in a thicket of trees and brush. A short distance away, the collapsed walls and roof of St. John's Baptist Church, built in 1918 to serve the black community at Stotesbury Camp, gave a forlorn look to a peaceful hillside. Behind the church is a cemetery with headstones carved from local rock, their engravings often rendered illegible by time and weather.
Burning Rock is working with the Coal Heritage Highway Authority to develop a series of interpretive kiosks, featuring historic photographs and narratives, to place at key coal-related points along the trail system.
"We'll have at least seven in place next spring," Duba said. Visitors will then be able to take self-guided coal heritage trips, or if they want a more in-depth experience, they can travel with Burning Rock guides, who have all been versed in the area's coal history.
"The people who lived in the Winding Gulf didn't leave a lot behind," Duba said. "But they did leave us a story to tell."
For more information on coal heritage ATV tours at Burning Rock, call 877-683-9240, or visit www.burningrockwv.com.
In addition to ATV trails, rentals and guides, Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park offers a half-mile-long zipline with a 300-foot vertical drop, camping and cabins.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
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