Montcoal
The village of Montcoal has a small working coal mine at the edge of State Route 3. The mine spews out a steady stream of coal from the mountain as trucks sit beneath loading up. It is the first working mine I encounter for miles after passing numerous abandoned ones. I am looking for the factory row housing of yore but all that remains is one sad stand of humble look-alike cottages, most of them empty, some front doors flung open, window lights out.
Montcoal is best known for the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster which occurred on April 5, 2010. Twenty-nine miners were killed instantly in a methane explosion that ripped through the mountain.The investigation in the years following the explosion revealed the company cut corners to increase coal production. Numerous safety violations resulted and Massey Energy never recovered from the disaster. The company was sold and its name disappeared forever.
Today a life-size plasterJesus stands like a visiting neighbor by the front door of one occupied house where the porch regurgitates junk and rubbish in every direction. High on the nearby hills, tidy log houses and a few modern ranch houses look down on the town where far too many structures are relics of another era before the mines took what they wanted and left the town in poverty.