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The Beginning
Southern West Virginia, specifically the Coaldale area, has a rich yet tragic history in its piece of the coal industry. In the 1880's, the first mining company was established in the Coaldale area when John Cooper and his two sons started the Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company. They started in an area now known as Coopers and eventually expanded to Coaldale after seeing success.
The tragedy
On January 4th, 1906, the Coaldale Mine was struck with catastrophe. Either a fire damp or mine gas caused an explosion taking the lives of 22 coal miners. In a special to The Washington Post, it was said that "the force of the explosion was terrific". To put it into perspective, there were three other miners who were injured due to the explosion, and all three were a "considerable distance" away. Two were at the mine entry, nearly a mile away, where one suffered a concussion and the other nearly suffocated.
The photo of the headline was written the day after the explosion. One body was later found to bring the final death number the 22.
In Rememberance
Our lodging accommodations each have unique titles. When all phases of the ATV TrailCamp is complete, The Fallen 22 will all have their name etched in a piece of our property.
The present
Our team at the ATV TrailCamp at Coaldale loves and appreciates our home state. Coal was and still is the pride of West Virginia, and the coal miners have always been some of our country's more underappreciated workers. Our team looks to celebrate The Fallen 22 and show our appreciation to all coal miners, past and present, across our great state.
