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Gassaway
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Dundon
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Ansted
Gauley Bridge
Glen Jean
Mt. Hope
Thurmond |
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Alum Creek
Branchland
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Logan
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Davy
Iaeger
Kimball
Roderick
Twin Branch
War
Welch
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Historic Matewan
Williamson
Dingess
Red Jacket
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Itmann
Mullens
Oceana
Sabine
Wyco
Wyoming
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COAL RIVER - ALUM CREEK - BIG UGLY - BRANCHLAND
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HISTORY
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Lincoln County is better known for it's many gas wells and history in natural gas and for being the birthplace of the famous pilot Charles Yeager who broke the sound barrier than is for either coal or railroad but coal did have an impact on this county.
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| COAL RIVER HISTORY |
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The Coal River that flows through the county got its name because of the abundance of coal deposits along its banks. Development of mining enterprises in the southern West Virginia coalfields turned the river into a navigable waterway in the 19th century. A series of locks and dams supported commercial barge traffic using steam-powered sternwheelers. However, this system proved unworkable because of recurring flood damage to the wooden locks, which were later abandoned. The Coal River remains a federally-designated navigable waterway to this day. |
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| ALUM CREEK HISTORY |
| The town of Rom was founded at the junction of the Little and Big Coal Rivers in the 1890s. The town officially changed its name to Alum Creek in 1910. A constable policed the town, although without a vehicle, he relied on the generosity of locals to transport him from place to place. In 1922, a set of bridges were constructed across the Big and Little Coal Rivers.
It was also at approximately this time Union Carbide built a summer camp they called Cliffside on the banks of the Coal River. The town flourished for the next half century with most of its residents working in either the mining industries or chemicals until the decline of both these industries in the mid-1970s.
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| BIG UGLY HISTORY |
| Big Ugly is an unincorporated community located in Lincoln County, who gots its name due to the severe difficulty in surveying the land. It is also the southern end of the state's largest mountaintop removal mine, Arch Coal's Hobet 21. The mine stretches nearly 15 miles from near Julian, north of Madison in Boone County to right above the end of Fawn Hollow, which joins Big Ugly. |
| BRANCHLAND HISTORY |
| Location of the first coal mining camp in the Guyandotte River Valley. Coal mines were in operation here as early as the 1880s. |
| There is no formal interpretation of the rail/coal resources in Lincoln County, but one can still find some of the original coal camp housing can be seen on the first half mile of the Four Mile Road near Branchland. There are also two suspension bridges along WV10 that were in operation until the 1980s (State Route 10). |
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For an inventory of all the tourism related offerings in Lincoln County West Virginia, click here.
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Lincoln Economic Development Authority
P.O. Box 100, 21 Lincoln Plaza
West Hamlin, WV 25571
(304) 824-3838
www.lincolneda.com
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