Mecca Colliery and Coke Company, Morris Creek, near Montgomery, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1900
Description:
An electric haulage rail system at mine no. 2. An Africa-American miner is pictured in the conductor's seat on the train engine. Miners inspect the coal loaded into the carts before it is transported.
Store manager W. M. Pifer stands in front of the store entrance while his five employees sit on the stairs. An African-American man is pictured in a horse-drawn carriage to the left.
Dunglen Hotel Under Construction, Thurmond, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1900
Description:
Built in 1901, the Dunglen was a towering 4-story, 100-room wooden structure with a wrap-around deck. The Dunglen was known for the many parties it hosted, where huge dances were held in the elegant ballroom and symphonies would play through the night.According to Ripley’s Believe it or Not and the Guinness Book of World Records, the Dunglen housed the longest-running poker game, which stretched on through 14 years.The hotel was burned down by arsonists on July 22, 1930.
Coal Operators on Southside Train Platform, Thurmond, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1908
Description:
From left to right are C. C. Beury, unidentified, C. L. Garvin, Sr., Paddy Ryan, unidentified, and unidentified. The men are coal operators and are posing on the south side of the train platform.
The White Oak Railway was constructed during the early-1900's and came under the control of the New River Company. The short-line railroad was originally incorporated to provide citizens of the area a direct rail-connection between the primary business centers in Beckley, Mount Hope, and Oak Hill.The railroad consisted of two unconnected "pieces" that never were completely finished. The first section consisted of about 7 and ½ miles of track connecting with the C. & O. Railway at Carlisle, running from there through Oak Hill to Stuart. The second section was about 4 to 5 miles in length connecting with the C. & O. Railway at Price Hill Junction, running to a mine located at Price Hill.Under an agreement with the C. & O. Railway, the White Oak Railway operated passenger and freight trains along the tracks of the C. & O.'s White Oak Branch between Glen Jean and Carlisle. In 1912, the New River Company sold the locomotives and rolling stock of the White Oak Railway and jointly leased operation of the railroad to Virginian and the C. & O.