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| The Hiawatha Coal & Coke Company was given a native American name just like so many other coal companies and their communities in southern West Virginia. Hiawatha was an Indian chief whose name meant "He Makes Rivers". Hiawatha Coal & Coke was chartered on April 28, 1903 and leased 1,303 acres of coal laden land containing the world-famous Pocahontas No. 3 coal seam. The coal mining operation at Hiawatha changed ownership over the years. On November 13, 1913, the Ennis Coal Company took over the Hiawatha Coal & Coke Companies lease. Then in June 1936, the Hiawatha mining complex was taken over by R. D. Patterson who owned the Weyanoke Coal & Coke Company mine. Weyanoke was another native American name meaning "At The Bend" like the bend of a river. The Hiawatha mine then operated under the name Weyanoke Coal & Coke Company Hiawatha mine and did so into the 1940's when it closed out its mining operation there. Today, Hiawatha is a quiet little hamlet on the former N&W Railroad's Widemouth Branch where little evidence remain of a coal mining operation. The refuse (slate) dumps have been removed and reclaimed and a home and the Hiawatha Baptist Church now set on the location of that former slate dump. Many thanks to Alex Schust and his book "BLUESTONE - Norfolk & Western Branch Line for the information used here. |
