The peaceful mountains and valleys of the mine
operation show little evidence today that this area was a populous region
however the buildings do illustrate that there was a populous work force. After
coal was discovered in the 1917's two companies the U S Coal & Coke Company,
Lynch and the Wisconsin Steel Company, Benham opened their operations and a
third town was established Cumberland which served as a support site. Fresh
mined coal was dumped onto conveyors and their systems of belts carried the coal
into the tipple. Along these belts hand pickers, picked the slate from the coal.
The coal was then loaded into rail car gondolas where car droppers usually
controlling two gondolas manually connected these rail cars which would make up
a trip. In the 1950's a coal washer was constructed at Corbin, Kentucky and the
coal would be transported via rail there to be washed. Here it would be cleaned
and tested before it was sent on to the U S Steel mills. The coal washer plant
in Corbin is now closed and coal being mined in the Tri City area by Apogee Coal
Company is being cleaned and washed at the Cave Branch Preparation Plant in
Cumberland.
COAL A HOME HEATING FUEL - STOKER or BLOCK COAL was used as a home heating
and cooking fuel of the inhabitants of the town. 'Warm Morning' a brand of coal
burning stove; or the built in home grates provided heat. The cook stove
consisted of a high back appliance with warming drawers, an oven, a chamber for
the burning of fuel, a detachable iron cooking top and a water tank.
In Lynch,to purchase coal an order was placed at U S Steels payroll office window where an
employee took the prescribed information for a ton of coal: The mine workers
Name, Check No., Address, was recorded and he was charged $2.00 for the coal and
delivery. The charge was then subtracted from the bi-monthly pay that he earned.
COAL from the mines powered the blast furnaces of the parent company. [U S Steels Gary
Indiana Steel Works].
Rising production cost and the nuclear age were factors that brought to an end the coal
boom.