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Coal was discovered in Kentucky in 1750. Since the first commercial coal mine opened in 1820 coal has gained both economic importance and controversy regarding its environmental consequences. As of 2010 there were 442 operating coal mines in the state, [1] and as of 2017 there were fewer than 4,000 underground coalminers. [2]
The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield covers 31 counties with a combined land area of 13,370 sq mi (34,628 km 2), or about 33.1 percent of the state's land area.Its 2000 census population was 734,194 inhabitants, or about 18.2 percent of the state's population.
Eventually five coal mines were opened and operated in Van Lear from 1910 through 1946. The vast coal deposits were mined from five underground mines around the clock. The miners included immigrant Irish, Italians and Slavs, as well as Appalachians and locals. The mines were integrated; both blacks and whites worked underground.
In former years, it was common to see machines such as the "Big Brother" Power Shovel (pictured on the right) throughout the county. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Muhlenberg County was the state leader in coal production and sometimes the top coal producer in the United States. Strip mining was criticized in the song "Paradise" by John ...
On the morning of Aug. 4, 1917, a methane gas explosion at the Western Kentucky Coal Company’s No. 7 mine in Webster County killed 62 of the 153 men underground at the time. The other 91 men in ...
WHAT: Elk viewing tours atop reclaimed coal mines in Eastern Kentucky WHEN: September to early March. WHERE: The tour bus leaves Jenny Wiley State Resort Park at 419 Jenny Wiley Dr. in Prestonsburg.
The Kentucky Coal Museum is a heritage center located in Benham, Kentucky. Its focus is the history of the coal industry in Eastern Kentucky, featuring specific exhibits on the company towns of Benham and neighboring Lynch. It is housed in a former company store that was built by International Harvester in 1923. In June 1990, the Tri-City ...
East Kentucky flooding killed at least 37 people, but many in the region are now asking if the abandoned coal mines may have contributed to the water that swept through their towns.