My Raleigh County Adventure, Part 3: Visiting the Coal Mine Town!

I will now continue telling you all about my exciting field trip to the Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley! I know that you boys and girls are busy having summer fun in the great outdoors, so I am taking my time writing my posts to you while you are enjoying vacation time with your families. 

After we went inside the Slab Fork Coal Mine and the museum, we toured the coal mine town. Back in the day, entire towns were built around the coal mines. That means everyone (at least all the grown men) worked in the mines, with the exception of the dentists, doctors, barber, and store manager.Without the coal mine, these towns couldn't exist. These buildings were from different places all over West Virginia! They had be relocated to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and restored, so others could learn about life in a coal mine town. 

The first building we visited was the bachelor's shanty. If you were an unmarried man without a family, this is where you would have lived in the coal town. It was a very small "house" with just one room! There was a table, a bed, and a small place to cook your meals. It was just the right size for a little black bear, but it would be very small for an adult.

The Bachelor's Shanty

Let's go inside!

Some interesting information on the shanty.

Here I am - I told you it was small!

 

Table for one!

A very small bed pushed against the wall!

Here's the bathroom - you had to walk outside...
and use the outhouse!

Next, we went to the superintendent's house. The superintendent was in charge of the mine, making sure everything was running properly and that the mine was making a profit. He lived in a very nice home, but it was owned by the coal company. If the superintendent lost his job, he had to move out of this beautiful house.

The Superintendent's House 

You could see the coal mine from the front porch!

Getting a drink of water from the pail before
going inside (don't worry, I asked politely first)!

 

The kitchen

These are coupons to the company store!

This sifted out flour and cornmeal (it was stored in the cabinets)!

What does you refrigerator look like today?

This 1930 calendar is the same as 2014! 

This is a washing machine!

The dining room

A closer look at how the table was set

The sitting room - and superintendent's office space (that's his desk).

Have you seen a radio like this before?
Before televisions, this was the major source
of entertainment to families.

The parlor

The master bedroom

A "closet" in the master bedroom

A nursery 

 The upstairs of the superintendent's house was made to look like some of the other businesses that would have been in the coal town.

Inside a barber's shop! Did you know the colors on the
pole stand for blood (red), bandages (white), and veins (blue)?
That's because sometimes the barber had to function as
the town doctor, too.

Shoe shining in the barber shop

The post office - your mailbox would be one of these
small, numbered drawers!

A close up of the mailboxes

The doctor's office!

A close up of the scale and medical instruments

A wheelchair

I then went over to the school - yes, the children in the coal town had to go to school - at least until the eight grade. When the boys graduated from the eighth grade, they were expected to go work in the mines full time. I know some eighth graders...and they seem awfully young to have to leave school. I wonder what happened if you wanted to continue learning?

The School House

The side with the desks was the elementary school, and the
side with no desks (back then there were desks there, too) was
the high school.

Front of the room

Thinking about life as a child in a coal town

School library

Sitting at the teacher's desk - can you find the paddle?!?!

There's a pot belly stove...and a dunce cap!

Rules for teachers...they may surprise you!

Some of the punishments and number of times you would be paddled!

We then visited the church. This was a very important part of town life. Every Sunday, people in the town would come to church. They would celebrate weddings and special occasions...and sometimes sad things, like funerals. It was the hub of the town.

On the stairs of the church

This honored those who had served in the war.

Front of the church

Piano that would play hymns for worship every Sunday.

Playing my favorite hymn

Lastly, we peeked inside a family home. This is where a coal miner and his family would live. It was a very small house, but it felt very cozy - like you could feel that a family long ago had many special memories there.

A Family Home

The kitchen - those big pans are where clothes were
being cleaned with a washboard.

An ironing board and kitchen counter

The living room

Fireplace in the living room

A bedroom

Closet

Not a very good picture, but that is a baby stroller

The outhouse behind the family home. There was no
bathroom inside. Now - I was posing for a picture, boys and
girls! Berkeley was not actually using the outhouse!

I learned a lot from stepping back in time to learn about life in a coal town - but wait, there's more! I have one more post to share with you about my Raleigh County adventure, and instead of a step back in time, it was a giant leap! I promise that I will share it with you soon!

Until next time...