Mother Nature wasn’t kind in some respects on the drive down into Wyoming County to visit the coal camp of Glen Rogers, West Virginia.
Mother Nature wasn’t kind in some respects on the drive down into Wyoming County to visit Glen Rogers, West Virginia. After having explored Surveyor, West Virginia’s Trap Hill High School, noted in this earlier entry, I made the best of the wintry precipitation and climbed over several snow covered mountain passes and dived into the heart of coal country. You can’t get any deeper than Glen Rogers.
I drove down into the Trough Fork valley, snaking down a narrow two-lane blacktopped road and came across my first sight of the coal camp. The remains of a relatively modern tipple and the sight of a small inactive strip mine at Big Branch along the abandoned ex-Virginian rail line made me perk up, but it was not until the junction with County Route 3/Glen Rogers Road that I saw my first taste of the coal camp town: an abandoned high school.
But what made Glen Rogers notable in the grand scheme of coal mining in the state?
Glen Rogers was constructed by the Raleigh-Wyoming Mining Company in 1918, with the #1 mine opening three years later. Served by the Virginian Railway, the coal camp was named after Henry Huttleston Rogers who founded the railroad using $30 million of his own fortune. The Virginian was the combination of two railroads, and the newly formed company was able to reach the Atlantic Ocean in 1909. The railroad competed against two Class-I carriers: the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Norfolk & Western, and coal produced at Glen Rogers was sent along the Virginian, through the hills of West Virginia, to the power plants of the United States and the ocean vessels at Newport News, Virginia for export.
The railroad from Glen Rogers followed the Laurel, Milan and Marsh Fork valleys, and featured a tunnel at Polk Gap. At its height, the town was served by two schools, a hotel, a large two-level company store, an amusement hall and a fueling station. The mine, Wyoming County’s largest, employed over 1,000 by 1930, and produced over 867,000 tons of coal by 1933, which earned it the distinction of being West Virginia’s second largest mine.
But it was not rosy. Mining accidents were quite common in the early history of the coal producing counties, but the most notable at Glen Rogers was an incident that occurred on November 6, 1923 that killed 27 men and trapped another 30 at the #1 mine. The cause of the explosion was likely the ignition of methane gas from the back fire of a shot, or a spark set from short-circuiting wires.
In 1960, the Glen Rogers mine closed and the company, then the Old Ben Coal Corporation of Chicago, went bankrupt. By the time of its closure, a total of 160 employees were killed at Glen Rogers, making it one of the most dangerous places to work in the state.
Glen Rogers is notable in that much of the town still exists. While the multitude of company houses have been mostly demolished, the hotel still exists many years after its abandonment. Inside, the remains of crude toilets, marked with the crescent shaped carved into aged wood, call back to an earlier time. The reinforced-concrete building is still structurally sound, and the brickwork has held up remarkably well, but it won’t be long before it will become just another ruin in the coalfields. The company store is a partially collapsed mess, with only the shell remaining, and the amusement hall and fueling station is in a state of disrepair.
The elementary school, now an assisted living center, is still in use and in good condition. Adjoining it is the high school, constructed in 1951 to replace and earlier structure, although it is in poor condition for having been abandoned for nearly twenty years. Inside, some of its history remains: desks and schools are piled up in some of the rooms, while others are used for storage for the assisted living center. Water leaks throughout the building, and the second floor is all but sealed off due to a weak roof.
Glen Rogers is one of the more preserved coal camp communities in West Virginia, and was once one of the largest. It is notable also for its contribution to the Virginian Railway’s initial success and for the disasters that plagued the mines that gave the area such a poor reputation. But it’s not the last that will be covered.
There are more photographs and history of Glen Rogers, West Virginia and the Glen Rogers, West Virginia High School after the jump!
97 Comments
Add Yours →I would like to give the hunters of Glen Rogers a small gift. I used to hear the hunters tell people that if they wanted top kill a ruffed grouse or quail that you had to lead the bird by a foot to hit it. I tried to do that a few times and didn’t hit a bird, but one day up store hollow I was hunting with a friend, Donald Hall, and tried to lead the bird.
In my haste I noticed that I had shot when the bead of the gun was on the bird and thought that I had missed. But Donald yelled that I had hit the bird and he was right. I hit several of the birds over the next 3 years when I was there by not leading them. I would advise you to do the same. Practice on a can someone throws up for you, and you’ll hit the can the same way. These birds scare many, but they really aren’t that fast.
Laymond
I’m trying to find my friends biological grandmother ,her name was Ella Mae Thomas’s /Williams her and her 3 brother were abandoned by theirs parents a d the state took them can anyone help
Crystal: What do you know about her? Age, when and where she lived around G. R.. Did she have a husband or other relatives named Williams or Thomas? One of the most informative sources of information is the U.S. Census. I got into the Tidewater Historical Society for several censuses taken every ten years, and found out so much about people in Maple Meadow over into Raleigh County. I list some of the names there under another posting of Abandoned. A census agent was sent around to each household and information was taken from each every ten years. The notes I saw were even read and clarified for me to read. Old writing wasn’t easy to read. Various historical societies have these records, and they are often available in Mormon churches too. Good Luck, Covid 19 has stopped me from going back.
Laymond
Last summer I went back to visit Glen Rogers with the hope or reviving some memories and history
of the town i lived from 1941 thru 1959 and to fill in for myself some things I wanted to learn. I stopped in Bolt
to see if I could see the house where Little Jimmy Dickens was raised. I spoke with the Post Master who was nice
but learned very little. I went over the mountain to Glen Rogers and stopped at the Post Office and the Post Master there was nice but busy when people came in for their mailing business. The Post Office was right under my old house and the last on the old Cow Road around the old Spray Pond Hill. One of the patrons corrected me in saying that it was only Spray Pond Hill but no Cow Road. I began to realize that the town now and what they know
is a different reality from what I knew. All the old Cow Road houses are gone so the new inhabitants don’t understand what we knew then. Likewise, I didn’t know what they know about the town now. They weren’t friendly
and kind of repulsing as I’m sure I was the same to them. There are only a few who want to to talk with the older
set because it is a different town now even with street signs that I never knew. I wonder how long it will be until
it returns to a few old log cabins as it was when the mine was established.
Pineville was a nicer town. It still had some life. I went to the library and found a genealogy of the Shumate family
“The Ancestry and Descendants of William Riley Shumate” that I had lost. It was my Mother’s family. It is sad but I have to say good bye to Glen Rogers. Some of my heart is there, but the town now belongs to the present inhabitant–a town that doesn’t know the people of old Glen Rogers nor do I know those there now.
Good luck from the last G. R. High quarterback.
my parents bought the house directly above the post office, we lived there for most of the 1970s, until we moved to raleigh county. i knew it as spray pond hill.
Sherman,
I previously tried to give you the addresses of the two authors of the book, Reopening Glen Rogers. I didn’t know at the time that one had died and the other was senile. Allow me to try again. The book is apparently not copyrighted,
and you might be able to get a copy of it printed at a business store. Also, there is a booklet written by Carl Scholz,
The Story of Glen Rogers,who started the mine and named the town. It too is not copyrighted and can be copied. If you are still interested in copies get back with me.
My name is Robin Dawn Manning. My parents were Donald and Doris Manning, my brother was Fredrick Boyd Manning. We lived in the first house on Spraypond Hill next to the post office and Hayden Wolfe’s store. We moved there from Fairdale in late 1963. How many memories of a mined out coalcamp full of rich history and the good people who lived there are burned in my heart. I’m an old woman now however I speak of my southern coalfield roots quite often. Anyone who would remember me would recall I never really shut up. Some things never change! My son and I are the last surviving of our lineage for our family. I have tried to instill in him the tremendous character and morals of a time long past and how very important it is to always remember where you came from for it does so often tell where you go. May God Bless each of you who remember any of us and please hold those you love dear.
Robin: I apparently missed your arrival in Glen Rogers by 4 years. We moved from Glen Rogers in 1959 close to the time of closing. I knew Fred your grandfather and shopped a few times in his store. I knew you father, Don,
and went fishing with him a time or two. He was good friends with K.D. Sizemore, I remember. Fred’s store was the only one that bought ginseng though I never found enough to sell. His store was next to Yambo’s. I remember your
house too. Claud and Elsie Robison lived in it then on what you call Spray Pond Hill. We would have said that you lived on the first house on the Cow Road. You would never believe it now but there were 6 houses on that road over the spray pond. Emmet Harrington.(Francis’s brother lived in the 2nd house. The house that still stands there was
the one I lived in. We were the Norths, but the John Thomas family lived there before us. The third house belonged
to the Tackett Family. Waldo ran the payroll office, his wife was Margaret, and Betty and Curtis were their offspring.
The forth house had 3 families that i know of: Joe Lilly, The Jones family, and finally the Bunting family. The fifth house we earlier lived in until 1948, and then I remember John and Lilly Mae Sizemore lived in it later. That was pretty much the end of the Cow Road on the Spray Pond Hill. but the next house first had Davy Trump’s grand parents and later had Butch Graham’s family in it. There were houses along that dirt road though until you got to the old elementary school. Two of them burned down one evening and that end of the Cow Road kind of withered after that.
I have often wondered what happened to all those houses. I guessed that they were bought for lumber. The one thing that I see now when I go back is a town reduced of it treasure reclaimed again by mother nature. So when you
get old and want to go home to see the green green grass of home you may well find as I have twice done, that it’s no longer there.
I have one more hunting trick to leave with you. If you jump a rabbit, it runs very fast and is hard to hit. Don’t shoot!
The rabbit will usually run about 35 or 40 yards and stop to look back at you. Then grub the hare.
Those were beautiful butterflies it that town. I took photos.
Laymond North
I thought I would let anyone know that is interested that they put up a monument to honor the men who died in the Glen Rogers coal mine.
Raleigh-Wyoming coal miners remembered with new monument
A special ceremony took place today in Wyoming County. In the 1930’s & 40’s, the Glen Rogers Mine was one of the largest and most productive in the state.
wvva.com
Can you still get the book Reopening Glen Rogers?
My parents are from Glen Rodgers. My father was Donald Fletcher. My grandmother was Dorathy Fletcher. I lived there for a few years as a child in store house hollar. My great grandmother used to run the boarding house. She was a Sesler. My mother is Wiledene Cozort. She grew up in alog cabin in Davis Camp with elevin brothers and sisters. She grew up with the Mannings and Allens who i know personally since the all moved to Baltimore together. I remember Mrs.and Mrs. Richardson and a lady named Beulla. We all went to church together and I was only 5 or six years old. I remember a man called Bad Eye because he had a bad eye and was a close friend of my dad. Across the hollar from my granny lived Mr and Mrs Mosley in the former president of the mines house. My grannys house was the doctors house I was told. I used to play with Les Bailie who lived next door to us. My mother tells me that we are related to the Snuffers who originally settled the area in the 1800. Some of the snuffers lived in the same hollar as we did. When my mom passes she says she wants to be burried in the Snuffer family grave yard. I Remember the Wolfes who ran the post office and store. My mom would give me 15 cents every day and I would walk down there and get a poke of candy. I really miss Glen Rodgers. I went back a few years ago and was saddened to see it. I am very proud to say a spent some of my life there. Most people needed to get out of there I know my parents did but I couldnt wait to get there. I would play in the creek all day. I remember catching hundreds of Monarch butterflies drinking water in the pot holes in the road. I have never witnessed that again. We used to have to climb the mountain all the time to fix the antenna wire so we could get 3 channels. My mom lives with me now and she is turning 80. My dad passed away a few years back. Feel free to write me back with questions or info on friends or family.
Dave,
I read your comment with interest and have come across some information that might be of interest to you.
I have found with a lot of interest that what we think of as Glen Rogers today may not be exactly what it was thought to be when the mine was formed. The booklet written by Carl Scholtz about the early mine gives us some clues.
The lady in the photo of the old log cabin his booklet was named Lucinda Davis and the photo given in the Glen
Rogers Reopening page 2 says says that it was the only house standing in Glen Rogers in 1919. I searched out that
2 room cabin for years and finally found it only a few days ago. It wasn’t found in what we call Glen Rogers but
to Scholtz it was Glen Rogers. I found it in a couple of the U.S. censuses. In 1880 Lucinda is living in that cabin in
Slab Fork’s Maple Meadow. That’s where Dick Davis came from. He mined thousands of tons of coal from the mine in Davis Camp used for steam to open the first two shafts in Glen Rogers as we know it. She was living with her husband Moses and a one year old daughter. She was still living there in 1922 when she died. Scholtz considered Maple Meadow a part of Glen Rogers as well of Davis Camp, and it was just over a ridge from Davis Camp. I got a bonus as well. My great great grand father, Zur Acord was living on a nearby farm with his wife and
three children. I had a paper on him telling that he was a good farmer and hunter. In addition though I found a house in Maple Meadow occupied with John W. Davis, a wife and five children. He states too that they had been raising 12 children, and that reminded me of the your grandparents 12 children. I don’t know if it’s the same cabin,
but that’s a lot of kids to be raising in either case. Maybe it was something in the water.
So we find Lucinda Davis in Raleigh County what they called Glen Rogers. From what i’ve read I believe that
Scholtz wanted to bring the highway in from Raleigh County. He says it would have been 5 miles shorter from Beckley than going over Bolt Mountain. Remember it was named the Raleigh Wyoming Mining Company. Maybe that’s why they put those brick two family houses up near Davis Camp. He states that they asked both Raleigh and Wyoming Counties to build a road to the town. Scholtz states that a mistake of some kind was made and Wyoming County got to build the main road into the town, and the company even loaned Wyoming County their steam shovel to help build the road. I’m going to look over some more of the census data tomorrow at the genealogical society.
I see lots of familiar names on them in the Maple Meadow area: Allen, Shumate, Acord,Smith, Farmer, Massey,
Richardson, McGraw, Taylor, Lilly, Bailey, and McKinney. Find your people.
Laymond-(laynorth@gmail.com)
My Dad and Mom, Harvey and Ruth York, lived in GR for 32 years. My Dad worked in the mines there for almost 30 years. I can remember the town when it was ‘booming’. I had 2 brothers, Wallace and Dessalee, a sister Nancy. Before I was born my family lived across from ‘Spray Pond Hill’ back of the slate dump, they later acquired a lease down past Louie and Rubys store. I attended school up in camp until after the mine closed, they moved us to the high school and later to the black school. We were really good friends with the Gentrys, Becklihemers, Wesleys, Mannings, Wolfes, Sizemores, Frees, McClures, Harringtons, Durhams Taraczkozys, Welshans, and many more. I remember the company store, the theater, the club house with Dr. Cotrells office on one side and Dr. Zoliss on the other side. The ice cream parlor on the one side of the company store. My Mom and Dad attended the GR reunion until they passed, they always looked forward to it and had so much fun. I was 11 years old when we left there, and I thank God every day that my parents left when they did because of what it became later, but what a great childhood my siblings had, what a great little town it once was.
I lived there from 1945 until the mine closed. We lived on the hill just across from the entry to the mine. We also lived up the holler behind the theater. It was a clubhouse and I delivered the Raleigh Register and the Charleston paper there. I have some pictures that my mom had. I went to Glen Rogers High School my freshman year and we moved to Pineville after that and then to Bristol Tennessee where I still live. I still have my G that I earned playing basketball. Curtis Tackett
Hi Curtis,
Did you know the Brooks family? My mother is Sarah Sidney Brooks (Robertson).
Hi Gavin,
I knew the Robertson and Brooks families both. Claude and family(wife, Carolyn and your father Buzzy lived at the first house on the Cow Road. We the North family lived in the third house. I am Laymond North of the Halbert North and Violet Shumate North family(Lionel was Buzzy’s age, me(Laymond) and Charmen were younger. Buzzy and Lionel plus several of the service age group joined the Air Force when they graduated in 1952 during the Korean War. I remember that Buzzy wasn’t too happy with Air force though. He was tickled to death to get out about four years later. I used to rack balls in the pool room for Claude, but Dennis Greer did that the most. Mrs. Robinson and Mrs Tackett once made our family a pumpkin pie each for a holiday. Mrs Brooks taught me 2 years of algebra and a semester of plane geometry. She also make our Thanksgiving dinner one year when we didn’t have a cook. Carolyn was always around. Sometimes when her cousin came in we would play catch. Walter Brooks used to like Oldsmobiles, and I guess I rode in one of them all the way to Morgantown to attend WVU. Chub was already there getting ready to enter the Medical School. I wrote a little paper on Marion about a boyhood experience where he tied a tourniquet on a youngster’s arm when he fell on some broken glass. Walter ,of course, became Mine Superintendent and worked for years with my dad. Your Mother Sidney was I believe the Valedictorian of my brother’s class in 1952. I could go on and on, but I’ll quit. If I can help with something let me know.
Laymond
Laymond, Hi just found this website, very interesting. I am Ron Domi from Sabine, GRHS class of 60. I have been trying to locate Robert Clay. He was from McGraws,7 lived near Twin Falls, also in the class of 60. Think I talked to you during the 2001 reunion.
Many good memories of Glen Rogers, have always called it my home town. I am one of the five McClure sisters married young at fifteen to RB Herron were married almost forty nine years after he passed into his new life it was like a circle of life Clifford “Pete” Free who had been married to Pat Harrington for forty nine years went back to the Glen Rogers Reunion and soon my sister Jeanette and Jackie Welshan’s got to ring the Glen Rogers church bell with many of our old friends attending our wedding our friends had every thing ready for our wedding making another memory of our ole home town. My daddy, Richard McClure and family
members worked many years in the mines there the best place in the world for us children to be raised there–our home town Glen Rogers WV.
I really really wish SOMEONE had pictures of GR when it was flourishing. GR really was WAY ahead of it’s time for a coal town/camp. To think back in the 1920’s what all it did offer for many families that came there to work and build their lives. The company store offered almost anything anyone wanted or needed. There was a barber shop, beauty shop for the ladies and the pool hall and the theater. I stayed a lot with my Mother’s parent in Bolt (Quince and Maggie Dickens) but would come to GR to spend time with Ma. (My Dad’s mother Julia Simpson-my Grandpa had passed). It was a great place back then otherwise all of us wouldn’t be interested or writing about GR.
PLEASE IF ANYONE HAS PICTURES OF GR PLEASE SEND THEM. YOU COULD EVEN PUT THEM ON YOUTUBE INSTEAD OF SENDING THEM TO INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE OR THERE’S LOTS OF WAYS TO PUT THEM OUT. IT HURTS MY HEART TO REMEMBER THE WAY GR WAS AND TO SEE THE EARTH TAKING IT BACK IS SO SAD.
My husband Charles & daughter Vicki went to Glen Rogers in October We road all the way to the creek in Davis. Camp Stopped & took pictures. Our house grandparents house & both of the houses where two of my aunts lived were gone(Elbert,Cindy Herein Willie Herron & Pauline Taraczkozy). Got a brick from the company store though
I went to the Glen Rogers Reunion in July(2014) and had a nice time. However, I also went back to the town at which I was raised and found that there were some
observable changes. For one thing the High School was bulldozed after a fire. Secondly, as I drove up toward the town, I noticed a “No Trespassing” sign beside the
road telling me that land was being sold to private individuals. I had not seen this when I went back to the town three years ago. Too, housing has gone up in the town since the last time that I was there. There were lots of trailers in places that I had not expected to see them especially around the area of the old elementary school. Things seemed to be building up rather than going down. I do worry that flooding may get to some of the new buildings as there was a history of flooding there. Also, there were simple street signs around the town; something I never saw before. Lastly, let me say that I was surprised to see that I hardly recognized the town, I recognized the old Company Store and Store Hollow, but beyond that I was lost and much of what I remembered was just out of scale.
Laymond North
I was born In Glen Rogers in 1946 I went to the grade school. My brothers Darvin and Jim went to the high school 1959 -1960 would love to hear from people from there . I remember trosky and bad eye greer. I live in Eugene Oregon now
20 PRINCE JAMES DR
Margaret: I expect to see you and Darrell at the reunion in July as well
as many of the others.
Laymond
My family moved to GR when I was around 3. Laymond you are right about the “club house”. Does anyone remember Davis Camp? My dad came to GR to work for Mr. Davis in his saw mill. When he passed away Dad worked around the mine go about 10 yrs. My mom Blanche cooked for GR schools for 30 yrs.
Margaret,
we lived in Davis Camp for many years, and I am sure I knew you and your family. My parents were Bud and Ruby Brooks, and my brothers and sisters were Betty, Billy, Carol, and Junior. We all attended Glen Rogers Elementary School.
James
My dad, Claude Bailey, pastered the church in Davis Camp many years ago. I remember the Alderman family.
I was 13 years old when we moved from McGraws to Cheyenne, Wyoming in April 1957. My brother Tom and sisters Betty, Jackie and Judy attended Glen Rogers High School. Judy graduated from Cheyenne Central High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I can vividly remember watching my brother play basketball and football for Glen Rogers High School. In October 2002, I returned for a visit to McGraws and Glen Rogers along with my wife Sheryl. To walk into the John McGraw School building and show my wife the exact desk location for my very first grade brought back so many memories. To view what remained of the Company Store at Glen Rogers brought back the times i would walk in to buy something when my Dad worked as a miner at the Glen Rogers mine. Cousins, and close school friends have never been forgotten in all these years. I am retired now but in all the years since moving, i was able to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Radiography at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and a Masters degree in Business administration from the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. I will be contacting a couple of very close grade school friends that i had at John McGraw School but if any of this information rings a bell or jogs anyones memory this please feel free to post on this blog. You can leave the hills and hollows but you never forget all the people that you knew and remember.
Jim
I was only 5 when we left Glen Rogers but as I said in a previous comment, several of my mom’s family lived there until the mine closed in 1960 so we visited there often I recall mom and dad (Jake and georgia herron graham) speaking of lots of the names that are on this site. I married and moved to Cleveland, Ohio and was forturnate enough to get reacquainted with some of the Taraczkozy’s and Bailey’s that had lived there. As I get older I so wish that I could call my parents back for just a day and talk with them about the times in that coal camp
3218 bluegrass lane Iron Station,NC 28080
I’m not from glen rogers, but love reading all stories about glen Rogers and all the coal camps, most of these towns never heard of, until I was transplanted to beckley from Charleston. So different from where I grew up. Drove a produce and grocery truck to these areas in early 80’s, maybe someone remembers the company its hard not hard- crooks produce, got ribbed a lot due to name. Glen rogers , at the end of holler, tough in winter to get to, had a few sweet young ladies all wanting to help unload my truck. Seems so sad to see school and all the other coal towns. Small communities have such a closeness , not like the bigger towns
Did you know my mom, Mary Alice Trump?
I remember her talking about a Thomas Gwinn! She’s passed away in 2007! I lived in GR in the 50s-early 60s. Mom had many stories of GR and the people she grew up with!
My Father Earl Day & his brothers & my Grandfather worked in the mines. There was Earl some called him Irvan, Frank Day Bill Day My Grandfather was Finance Day some called them the Day Boys. They worked in the coal mine for many years back in the early 40’s does anyone know where I can get any pictures of the workers or does anyone know them. I would love to hear from you Teresa Day teresa.downey@ang.af.mil
just looking for ol buds like john brown curtis brown bill brown ,stevens,
I was principal of the high school in Glen Rogers during the first semester of the 1965-66 school year. This was well after most of the mining industry had shut down and Glen Rogers was well on the way to becoming the ghost town of today. I mourn the passing of all the communities like Glen Roger, especially those in which I had invested time and devotion, but apparently this is a sign of the times. The people of Glen Rogers were great to me and all my memories of the community are positive.
g
but glen rogers has produced a lot of very good people thru your help as a teacher , principal. a governor , bill martin doctors , dentist,teacher and a lot of good people and some bad
This is great history. My neighbor(who also works for me) grew up in Glen Rogers. I have listened to so many stories from the 30’s and 40’s there. I asked him if he knew most of your names and he knew almost all of them. His name is Bernard Summers. He could not believe the pictures of all the abondoned building.
Tom, ask Bernard if he remembers a girl by the name of Lois Herron who lived there about the same time he did…..we dated each other. (HIGH SCHOOL)
Lois, I remember you! You had one brother by the name of Virgil. I always thought you and Bernard got married! You seemed to be the perfect couple. James Brooks
I LIVE IN GLEN ROGERS NOW, AND I GRADUATED FROM GLEN ROGERS HIGH SCHOOL. MY MOTHER WAS RAISED IN GLEN ROGERS HER NAME WAS PHYLLIS PERDUE. THINGS HERE HAVE CHANGE GREATLY JUST SINCE I MOVED HERE. ONCE IT WAS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE, BUT IT SEEMS ALL THE GOOD FOLKS ARE DYING OUT AN NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE ANYMORE.
I am looking for pictures of children from Glen Rogers coal camps. It can be of them playing, working, even group pictures around some of the former buildings in the camps. Would appreciate any feed back you can give me. Thanks.
I was born in Glen Rogers, 1948. My parents are Rheda and Arthur Kincaid. My moms parents are Speed and Gertrude Bailey. My aunts and uncles are Kermit, Eugene, Junior, Estle, and Nila. I was 10 yrs old when dad moved up to Va. For the past 30 yrs have lived in Charlestown, Eastern Panhandle.
Hi … Your family lived just in front of us. I remember your Dad better than your Mom. He was my Sunday School teacher for awhile. I was a few years older and remember you as a little boy. I think you moved from that house when you were about four. Our dads really didn’t like each other very much. But they became very good friends … each respecting the other.
Hi my name is Kathy Lafferty Whitlock, I went to grade school and high school in Glen Rogers. My dad and mom were Harry and Onva Lafferty. I have relatives who live there now. My grand parents also lived there for a few years, Anthony and Inas Lafferty. All of us lived in the areas surrounding Glen Rogers, Trough Fork, Ravencliff. We lived about half mile below Glen Roger's High School. I loved going to school there and had many many friends there. I can remember when I started to school we all went to the grade school that was in the upper part of the community across from the slate dump while I was attending that school they decided to move us to the school up on the hill in the lower part of the community we had to attend the high school for a short while so they could finish getting the school fixed for us to attend at the time I can remember they called the school (the old colored school) it was built for the African American community. I attended that school until I went to the high school. There's a lot of people I would love to know where they live and how their lives are these days. I also used to see the Dentist Dr. Cottrill who practiced in the big brick building up on the hill from the post office. Loved him he was a very nice man. There were so many names of people that I remember Ellis, Hall, Cozort, McMillion, Lafferty, Burgess, Wolf, Sizemore, and Shumate just to name a few. And also does anyone remember the little strip that had the store/beer joint called Mike and Ann's? I was in there once. There was also a lot of people who migrated to Glen Rogers to work in the mines. I think that's how Mike and Ann came to be there I am not sure where they came from but they were Italian or Polish not really sure. Kathy Lafferty Whitlock.
I went to grade school there as well…maybe 1955 or so…only went there 3 yrs when we moved to Va. My Aunt Lois Bailey still lives there..my parents are Rheda and Arthur Kincaid. Mom was Bailey, plenty of them in Glen Rogers for many years. I do remember Dr. Cottrill and a few others you mentioned.
Glen,,,, I am Gayle Shrewsbury….visited your family once with my aunt and uncle…..Edna Jo and Eugene Baily…. Know Uncle Eugene was your moms brother…..also knew Kermit. and Estel…..also your Grandma and your Grandpa Speed….Loved the whole family……Aunt Jo was my Mothers baby sister and they were always close….Doc Cottrills daughter was a close friend of mine in high school WE were cheerleaders together….I was raised in Glenfork…..gaylewilliamson@rocketmail.com
I was born at Glen Rogers in 1945 my only sister was born there in 1948. My dad Jake Graham worked in the mines there for around 30 years. He contracted the "Black Lung" disease and we moved from the coal camp in 1950. However my Uncle and Aunt Alex and Pauline Taraczkozy lived there until the mine closed in 1960. We visited there often during those years. My grandfather Elbert Herron worked there and retired around 1950 as well would like to see a lot more pictures of my birthplace.
Do any of you remember any Richardson's? My dad was from there his name was Nelson…….son of Lundy and Jenny Richardson. he had brothers Henry & Melvin, sister Jenny. Cousins John, Pate, Lucian, Woodrow,John also Richardsons. Dad was born in 1917 and his whole family worked the mines. I would treasure any pictures you coul email me. Judy Brewer
Judy I just happened up on this site, I knew a lot of the Richardson's. The names you have mentioned sound familiar. I knew John Richardson (a preacher) don't know if it's the same one you are talking about? I also was good friends with Sue Richardson and Becky Richardson. Are you related to them. Kathy Lafferty Whitlock.
I am Woodrow’s daughter. I suppose we would be cousins. My mother, Mary (Tootsie) still lives in Glen Rogers. You can email me @ donnartilley@yahoo.com
Hi Judy, I am married to one of Henry's grandsons. My husband's mom (Henry's daughter) is Alice Ellis. She lives beside Uncle Melvin's house and we live on the hill above it. Uncle Melvin and Aunt Ann's house is now empty. If you want to contact me, you can through Facebook.
The cousins you listed were my grandmothers brothers. Her name was Hettie.
i also was born in glen rogers in 1962 my father was born there also all my brothers and sisters , my father passed in 67 in west virginia and we moved i went back foer many a years but not for some time now miss the place and been looking to take my family to see where i wass born, any one no what kind of shape its in or how its doing back then my family name is allen you can contact me a tjohnny5196226@yahoo.com i am very interested to no any thing
my Mom talked of a "weedy" allen an I remember us visiting Charlotte Allen were they kin to you?
weedy allen was the contibul for glen rogers
i have lived in glen rogers my whole life. its amazing the history is has.
i also ewas born in glen rogers in 1962 my father and whole family lived there my father passed in 67 and my mom moved i went back for many years , miss the place alot been thinking about taking my wife up to the holler to see what hell really was any body no what shape its in now , my family had alot of ken back then last name is allen any no anything please contact me johnny196226@yahoo.com , i am very interested
I have been searching for information about a mine explosion that occurred in Glen Rogers on June 9, 1929. My husband's grandfather was killed in it. His name was Charles Perdue. If anyone knows how I can find out information regarding this, I would appreciate it. I can be reached at perdue_beth@yahoo.com. Thank you very much.
Beth,
Ron Kuklish answered you above, I hope you saw that.
"I have a copy of the paperback book "REOPENING GLEN ROGERS" (156 pages) written by Bud Perry and Karl C. Lilly III. It does not have a publish date. I received my copy in 1997. The book covers the history of the mine and town from about 1920 until the mine closed in 1960. In those 40 years 160 miners died. For 1929 there were 7 fatalities. Four of them, including electrician Charles Perdue (age 34) were killed in an explosion on June 9. On Sept. 29, 1953 "
Karen, is the book still available for purchase?
Sherman: You asked some about the availability of the Reopening Glen Rogers book. I too have a copy of the book and it is a good record of the town. The two authors in the book offer the book for sale, but that was some time ago. Their addresses given are:Bud Perry, P.O. box 256, Tad, WV 25201. Karl C Lilly III, 1809 Oakwood Drive, Sissonville, WV 25320. You will have to write them to see if any of the books are available today and what the cost will be. If they are available please
give the updated names and addresses as well as the terms. Other people would like to have copies too.
The price then was $15 plus $2.50 for shipping and handling.
laynorth@gmail.com
Glen Rogers Coal Mine Accidents
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1549343648423191&id=108119495878954
On Monday, June 19, 2017, at 10am there will be a monument dedication for the 160 miners who were killed in the Glen Rogers mine. The ceremony will take place at the old glen rogers grade school field.
The first death occurred on September 8, 1921: Hugh P. Seagle from Hickory North Carolina was killed at 4pm. His cause of death is listed as “accident in mine shaft.”
The last death in Glen Rogers mine was on June 19, 1959: Isaac J Richardson, 58 years old, from Harper West Virginia. The fatality report said he was a main line motorman killed at 8:45pm. The deck and front end of a 13 ton Jeffery locomotive derailed knocking out header legs causing slate to fall killing Isaac instantly. Isaac was married with ten (10) children under 18 years of age.
The two (2) black monuments list the date of death, name, and age of 155 men who died there. There are five (5) unknown miners, and they too are shown. Eight died in 1922; 29 died in 1923, of these, 27 were killed in an explosion on November 6th of that year; 7 died in 1929; 12 died in 1931; 9 died in 1935. There were five deaths in each of the following years: 1927, 1934, 1938, 1941, 1952, and 1957. Many of the deaths were attributed to slate falls or transport accidents.
58 years after Isaac’s death, we remember them all.
Partners include: Friends of Milam Creek/the Wyoming County non-profit leading the project, Wyoming County Board of Education who donated the property, Coal Heritage Highway Authority and Mountain Resource Conservation & Development provided partial grant funding, Southern Conservation District provided the flowering trees and road cloth. EnerVest provided the gate. The University of Connecticut’s EcoHouse Spring Break Group has done much of the manual labor. Pat’s Fashions bought the concrete. This project would not have been possible without the numerous other financial contributors and volunteers.
In Remembrance Of
9/8/1921 Hugh P Seagle 20
2/12/1922 Bartley Redden 28
2/12/1922 Martin M Ward 50
9/23/1922 Lewis Collins 30
9/23/1922 John Gasparac 18
9/23/1922 Dave Johnson 60
9/23/1922 Steve Maslanto 28
9/23/1922 Wm Clay Vaden 31
10/18/1922 Lafayette Trump 50
1/16/1923 Adam Mack 26
6/9/1923 M E McNeal 24
11/6/1923 Eula E Ailiff 24
11/6/1923 Billy Bowden 46
11/6/1923 Roy Brown 33
11/6/1923 Robert Clair 22
11/6/1923 W A Cook 53
11/6/1923 James Doyle 53
11/6/1923 Joe Gurak 36
11/6/1923 S P Gurrout 45
11/6/1923 William Harrington 25
11/6/1923 D E Hill 19
11/6/1923 David Hill 41
11/6/1923 Thomas Holly 34
11/6/1923 Harry Ivey 22
11/6/1923 C E Johnson 23
11/6/1923 Ernest King 24
11/6/1923 Oscar King 22
11/6/1923 Paul Patts 30
11/6/1923 Clarence Puckett 20
11/6/1923 James Robinson 22
11/6/1923 Howell Samuels 23
11/6/1923 Robert Sherrane 45
11/6/1923 Thomas Sims 23
11/6/1923 Will Stokes 28
11/6/1923 Herchell Sturm 21
11/6/1923 Rufus Twitty 17
11/6/1923 Emiel Unger 34
11/6/1923 Harry Wright 40
7/28/1925 Willie Streets 33
10/24/1925 John Thomas 29
Unknown
7/29/1926 Mack Phipps 20
Unknown
6/3/1927 Andrew Hall 17
8/4/1927 William McCoy 27
10/17/1927 Joseph J Hartley 29
10/18/1927 Fred Crawford 36
11/4/1927 Lake Brill 22
Unknown
Unknown
7/17/1928 James Turner 23
Unknown
6/9/1929 Benjamin T Morris 30
6/9/1929 Charley A Perdue 36
6/9/1929 Louis Prey 34
6/9/1929 Mirt R Stafford 39
8/12/1929 Charles Lee Brooks 23
8/29/1929 Alton Butler 26
10/11/1929 James E Bettis 34
5/11/1930 John Dyer 28
7/7/1930 Ernest Lee 25
10/3/1930 Monroe Dalton 24
1/6/1931 Bruce Davis 40
1/6/1931 James Fernandes 42
1/6/1931 Colonel Martin 41
1/6/1931 Howard Rainey 26
1/6/1931 Benny Santo 29
1/6/1931 B H Smith 57
1/6/1931 Frank Taylor 27
1/6/1931 John Tuck 45
1/17/1931 David Peoples 39
1/17/1931 Nathaniel Russell 21
1/18/1931 John Tanner 34
8/21/1931 Stanley Clem 40
10/12/1932 Jessie Commer 42
11/5/1932 Walter H Stepp 49
11/12/1932 Dutch Daugherty 29
7/17/1933 Lee Mack 37
7/27/1933 Charles Edward Dawson 33
12/13/1933 Dewey Quarrels 33
2/21/1934 William H Branham 32
2/21/1934 W M Covay 49
2/21/1934 Alba Smith 18
2/21/1934 Drewey Smith 24
9/26/1934 James M Davis 26
1/3/1935 Orville Bragg Williams 21
1/4/1935 Robert Hall 40
2/9/1935 William E Cook 21
5/9/1935 Morgan Carr Simpson 18
5/21/1935 Robert Cox 48
5/21/1935 Robert Clemon Shinlever 41
10/2/1935 Hubert Newton Price 30
10/25/1935 John Kuklish 23
12/7/1935 James Horace King 23
2/2/1936 Charles Ross 24
5/15/1936 Jacob Halovich 48
6/16/1936 Joe Taylor 26
12/17/1936 Raymond Revels 23
4/27/1937 Mansel Monroe McKinney 45
6/23/1937 George Skoljak 51
9/4/1937 Charley Stevenson 33
11/17/1937 Earnest Symonds, Sr. 61
4/2/1938 William Ciol Age 32
9/7/1938 George Basich 44
9/28/1938 Syble Franklin Hendricks 26
10/6/1938 Ivo Kenezvic 41
11/4/1938 John Preston Willis 62
7/19/1939 Virgil Nathan Shumaker 27
11/27/1939 Mike Cekich 44
11/27/1939 Antonio Micaz 46
11/27/1939 Eli Pesut 42
1/2/1940 David Jones 25
1/11/1940 James Walter Bellamy 37
2/17/1940 Kosta Jukich 50
8/19/1940 P F Wray 57
1/24/1941 Frank Korelc 56
3/7/1941 Emory Bud Fleming 34
6/16/1941 Ott Brooks 30
7/30/1941 Walter Neal 50
10/20/1941 James Edward Thompson 23
7/29/1942 Nick Rodich 27
10/21/1942 Walker Evans 60
12/4/1942 Ray Preston Grant 41
2/17/1943 Milan Milecevich 51
12/13/1943 Perry Bennis 45
7/11/1944 Roosevelt Sowell 33
10/19/1944 Charles Smith Greer 50
10/28/1944 Louie Barta 64
10/31/1944 Harvey Holloway 48
1/6/1947 Victor McMillian 48
8/7/1947 William Clem Trump 60
12/11/1947 Tomie Fisher 45
10/26/1948 Zenne Ray Bailey 42
1/30/1949 Frank McKinda 62
4/7/1949 Clarence Bernard Jones 23
8/1/1949 Juventino Garcia 45
1/23/1950 Stanley Ynuitis 52
9/14/1950 Adoph Tesen 75
10/10/1950 Joseph F Taraczkozy 36
10/20/1950 William Lewis 34
8/27/1951 John Henry Harrison 42
3/1/1952 Coy Keaton Hendrick 28
4/10/1952 Willie Lee Green 45
7/9/1952 Lloyd Darrell Vaught 31
7/28/1952 Frank Grdich 59
8/12/1952 Fred Douglas 53
6/24/1953 George Tucker Hairston 35
9/29/1953 Raleigh Iveno Wright, Sr. 46
7/20/1954 Clyde Sheppard 48
8/6/1955 Howard Cozart 48
7/20/1956 Fred Smoot 41
9/5/1956 Homer Hersal Farley 35
12/9/1957 Wayman Carl Acord 45
12/9/1957 John Coleman 52
12/9/1957 George Clinton Durham 29
12/9/1957 John E Lomax 36
12/9/1957 Thomas Noel Trump 51
3/30/1958 Tweley M Walker 63
1/7/1959 Carl Clay 53
6/19/1959 Isaac J Richardson 58
My great-grandfather, grandfather, and uncle died in three different mining accidents!
LaFayette Trump 1922 Great-grandfather
Thomas Noel Trump 1957 Grandfather
Andrew Hall 1927 Uncle
My Grandma was a Trump. Virginia Trump before she was married and she married Lundy Richardson. I am on Facebook. Judy Richardson Brewer
My grandfather lost in 1953 Raleigh Iveno Wright, Sr.
Hello Perde,
My name is Kenner Fortner, I was raised in Glen Rogers and Graduated from Glen Rogers High School in 1964. I have a couple of books that was written by Mr.Lacy Dillon. It has been years since I have read them, however I think they might have good informatio also, Two men wrote a book called Reopening Glen Rogers. They are Bud erry and Karl lilly III. The first book by Mr. Dillon is (They Died For King Coal the Library of Congress # 85-071199. Mr. Dillon was an Engilish Teacher in the Glen Rogers High School. My favorite book was Reopening Glen Rogers, these boys did not leave out much about Glen Rogers. My e-Mail is kennyssdd@aol.com if you need more information.
My name is Amy Welch. My grandfather Charlie Welch lived in Glen Rogers with his wife Alice and their sons Patrick and Charles. Patrick was my father. Dad was born in 1922, Uncle Charles a few years earlier. I believe my dad went to the high school. He took me back to look at Glen Rogers before he died. Does anyone know anything about my family?
My name is David Goodwin, my family moved to Glen Rogers in 1968 when i was 2 years old. I graduated from Glen Rogers High in 1985. I moved to Va in 1987. I go back pretty often. Its sure has run down sense I lived there. It really is sad to see it now.
when was last u where there
At this point, two years ago in early January.
@ Ron Kuklish-I sent you an email after I read your blog on here. We are relatives. Your Aunt Mary is my Aunt Mary and was married to my Dad's brother Buck Simpson. Aunt Mary was living here in Victoria, Tx when she passed away and her children still live here. I lived in Bolt, WV with my Mom's parents when I was about 5 yrs old and used to stay in Glen Rogers a lot also at Ma's house (Dad's mother). I never received a reply from the email I sent. I hope you see this message and contact me.
Etta,
My grandfather and grandmother had the store and "beer joint" across the road near the creek. There was a gas pump at the store and a couple of rental houses on the hill behind the store. Grandpa died in 1956, I believe, when he suffered a heart attack after a confrontation with one of the borders renting from him. His son, my uncle Louie, ran the store during and after that and the woman who helped him was Ruby Cook. He and Ruby later married and remained together until he died about 8 years ago. Ruby had a nephew that they pretty much raised from his early years until he got out on his own. Since I was fairly young and we had moved away I don't know much about him. Aunt Ruby passed away earlier this year. Uncle Louie always liked to cut up with people and have fun. I remember him having a big Packard and a motorcycle. He got in trouble one year for selling fireworks to kids for the 4th of July.
I sent you an email about Aunt Mary. We are relatives and I would love to talk to you. Please contact me. My email in texasblueslady@yaoo.com
Hi Rob,
My grandfather, Claude Robertson, ran the pool hall across from the company store and they lived behind it, up on the hill. My parents are Glen “Buzzy” Robertson and Sarah Sidney Brooks. My other grandfather, Walter Brooks was the supervisor of the mines just before it was closed. Later, Claude & Elsie moved to the red house, right of the boarding/hotel/club house. I loved visiting there as a kid and hearing the stories of what it was like before the closures and the company store fire.
TO RON KUKLISH
IM NOT SURE IF IT THE SAME STORE BUT IS YOUR UNCLE THAT RAN THE STORE AND HIS NICK NAME WAS PAPA LOUI. AND HE HAD A SON OR NEPHEW EVERYBODY CALLED HI COOK?
I have a copy of the paperback book "REOPENING GLEN ROGERS" (156 pages) written by Bud Perry and Karl C. Lilly III. It does not have a publish date. I received my copy in 1997. The book covers the history of the mine and town from about 1920 until the mine closed in 1960. In those 40 years 160 miners died. For 1929 there were 7 fatalities. Four of them, including electrician Charles Perdue (age 34) were killed in an explosion on June 9. On Sept. 29, 1953 Raleigh Wright, 45, face foreman for 13 years, was killed when an errant Cardox shell came a distance of 144 feet and hit him in the arm and chest. This was considered a blasting accident. Additional books were available (???) from Bud Perry, P.O. Box 256, Tad, WV 25201 OR Karl C. Lilly, 1809 Oakwood Dr., Sissonville, WV 25320
Hopes this helps a bit. I don't know if books are still available.
For specifics on mining disasters or fatalities, your best bet would be the local papers.
If you know of a specific date, try Welch Daily News or the Beckley Register-Herald.
West Virginia's Office of Miners' Health Safety &Training may have more at 304-558-1425.
As for a 1953 death at Glen Rogers, Mine Disasters in the United States may have more, but it lists none for 1953 at Glen Rogers.
I am looking for information on my grandfather, Raleigh Iveno Wright, Sr., who died in Glen Rogers in 1953 in a mining accident, but I do not know the name of the mine. Was this the only mine there? He was only 46 when he died there. If anyone knows that name or other info my email is whisper43947@yahoo.com. Thank you.
My Father-in-Law grew up in Glen Rogers back in the '20's. His father, Charles Perdue, was killed in a mine accident in 1929. I have searched for information about that accident and have not found anything articles about it. Any suggestions of where to look?
i went to school with a drema perdue that was killed in a car wreck at medow bridge around 1959 -1960
she was in my class , jim trosky
Elizabeth: I just tried to look a place for you to find out about Charles Perdue. At: http://www.wvgenweb.org/wvcoal/find.htm I found a place that should be able to give you some information.
Enclose $5 in some fashion and a long self addressed and stamped envelope to
Archives and History Library,
The Curtural Center,
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East,
Charleston, WV 25305-0300
Give the name of Charles Perdue(included m. initial and nick name)
Name of mine and county as well as the date he was killed
I know this was written four years ago, but is his name Charles Henderson Perdue…the one killed in the mines? I just ran across this message and was curious. I had a great-great uncle named Charles Henderson Perdue that was killed in a mine explosion. He had a sister named Ella Mae Perdue Brooks. I think I may have a picture of him…
THANK YOU RON
I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU CAN FIND. MY EMIAL IS etaylor2864@sbcglobal.net
LIKE I SAID IT WOULD MEAN SO MUCH TO ME.
THANK YOU
To Etta Taylor,
We had to be there at the same time. I haven't been through the old pictures yet because we recently moved and all of the old stuff is still in boxes. We probably don't have many pics of the black community because, as you said, things were different then. As I go through the pics I'll let you know if I have some that you might be interested in. Send me your email address so I can contact you at that time. My email address is in my previous posting. Take care.
To Mr Stanton
Thank you for your comment, I was born in 46 and my family and left in 59, I've only been back once and GlenRoger in the black camp (where i grew up) was very sad.
Ron sounds like you and I are about the same age but I'm sure we passed ways at school games or maybe at the company store with our parents(smile) Ihave 2 kids and 1 grand baby and I would love to show them how different it was when I was growing up.
THANK ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS, I GUESS I FORGOT TO MENTION WHILE EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW, BACK THEN WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LIVE IN THE SAME AREA TOGETHER. I AM AFRICAN AMERICAN AND IM GLAD FOR THE CHANGE.MY FAMILY AND I LEFT GLEN ROGER IN 1959.
I LEFT GLEN ROGERS WHEN I WAS 14 YEARS OLD WITH MY MOM AND DAD AND MY SISTERS AND BRO. MY DAD WORKED IN THE COAL MINES FOR ABOUT 28 YEARS. WHEN OUR BASEMENT FLOODED IN COLUMBUS WHERE WE MOVED TO ALL OF OUR MEMERIES WERE DESTROYED.WE LEFT GLEN ROGERS BECAUSE OF THE MINES CLOSING.IT WOULD MEAN SO MUCH IF THERE ARE PICTURES OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY. I REMEMBER OUR HOUSE NUMBER WAS 57. WE HAD A LOT OF GOOD MEMORIES, IF YOU CAN HELP OR KNOW SOMEONE THAT CAN IT WILL BE A BLESSING.
THANK YOU
Etta (Dillard) Taylor
I lived in Glen Rogers from 1947 until the mine closed in 1960. My dad worked mostly around the outside of the mine (crane operator, etc.). My brother Mike and I have great memories of growing up there and all the kids we knew. I have often wondered how the other families made out after the mine closed, but there doesn't seem to be a good way to find out. We (my wife and 2 kids) have made two trips back and it was both interesting and sad. Our house was still there but looked much smaller than I remember. Back then we didn't buy much from the company store because my uncle(Louie Daraban) and grandparents had a small store and beer joint down the road about a mile from the co. store.I have several boxes of photos from my parents that I haven't been through yet that might be worth sharing?? My email is twoalleykats@yahoo.com
i knew your mom and dad my name my mom and dad was shoe bill trosky they were good friends with your family, jim trosky pa
Jim, I was twelve when we left Glen Rogers in 1960 but I remember our families being good friends. Hopefully all is well with you. My email is twoalleykats@yahoo.com
Ron Kuklish
Ron, either you or your brother was a friend of my brother, Curtis, and I have a great picture of a "gang" including John Sizemore, Jerry Wolfe, and a couple of others including you or your brother. Did you know we have a Glen Rogers Reunion every two years and 2013 is the year. Would love to have you come. Email me at: wva_lady@verizon.net.
I lived in Glen Rogers from 1942 through 1949. I have pictures of what you call the Glen Rogers Hotel. At that time it was called the boarding house. Single miners lived here. One had to have a family in order to get a house. I have a picture of the country store taken from the front porch of the boarding house.I have a picture of the amusement hall and fueling station taken from the front porch of the boarding house. It was called the pool hall. Inside, in the center was the long "u" shaped bar. One side was for the blacks and the other side was for the whites. Attached to the back of the pool hall was a theater. The old theater was to the left of the country store. The theater burned down on a Christmas evening. I don't remember the year. I have a picture of the school house built as a WPA project. I was two weeks into the sixth grade (1949) when I was moved to Tennessee. I have several pictures of one room shacks that housed miner families. Underneath the left part of the boarding house was the doctor's office. I have never been back but I am going to visit Glen Rogers at the end of this month. (April, 2011)
This comment is for Etta Taylor (Dillard) or anyone who would like to contact me that lived there between 1942 and 1949. My name was Danny Jones. I took the name of the foster family that took me in. My real name is Danny Stanton. My email is oncearound@hotmail.com. My address is Daniel Stanton, 629 La Melodia Drive, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88011. I would like to swap memories, stories, photgraphs, or just conversation.
I was Betty Tackett back in GR days and we were neighbors. Mrs. Jones sewed doll clothes for me and made me a majorette outfit one year for Christmas. I remember you. We visited the Jones family in Chattanooga, Tenn. once. I have very fond memories of Mom and Pop Jones and also remember Madge. I also have some pictures.
Hi Danny,
I saw your comment on the internet site about Glen Rogers. I was born in a coal camp at Gary in 1944 in McDowell County near Welch. I graduated from Gary High School in 1962. I visited Glen Rogers about seven or eight years ago and even have a few old pictures of it in the early days. It had been a large coal camp at one time and reminded me a lot of my years growing up in Gary. I also have lots of old pictures, probably totaling close to a thousand now of Gary Hollow and McDowell county. Times were pretty hard in some ways back then compared to today but I still have many wonderful memories of growing up there too.
Buddy
Daniel,
Just one comment: What you refer to as the Glen Rogers Hotel we called the Club House. Does that ring a bell with you? I'll expect to see you at the Glen Rogers Reunion in May. I hope that you get to attend, but I'll let you know that the number of people who are still alive have dewindled a great deal.
Laymond North
Im looking for pics of the town of glen rogers
I was born in Glen Rogers Wva. My dad worken in the coal mines for 28 years. My pictures were ruined in a flooded basement/. I would love to have some pictures of the coal miners houses that I grew up in.
or maybe someone knows where I might be able to find them,
thank you
find llyond north he has a great selection, jim trosky taraczkozy
Great find and wonderful write-up, Sherman!