ASHLAND, WV COAL MINING COMMUNITY INDEX
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Ashland is an unincorporated community located in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. Located on the headwaters of the North Fork of Elkhorn Creek, it is also the location of the national historic Ashland Company Store and the Ashland Trailhead for the Indian Ridge Trail, a part of the Hatfield McCoy Trail System.
Ashland was the location of the Ashland Coal & Coke Company, established by W.J. Richards, the chief engineer of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. Mining operations commenced in 1893 with the opening of the Ashland No. 1 Mine, focusing on the Pocahontas No. 3 seam. Coke production began a year later. In 1903, the Ashland No. 2 mine opened, and at one point, the town boasted 410 coke ovens. The company store and theater were destroyed by fire in 1943, and a new storefront was created on the first floor of the company's office building. In 1953, the Ashland Mining Company, a spin-off, took over coal mining, operating until 1979 when its mine into the Pocahontas No. 2 Coal Seam closed.
W. J. Richards was the chief engineer for the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. He also held bituminous coal mining interest in West Virginia. Richards was associated with the Mineral Railroad and Mining Company at one time. |
