Coal Mining

The above picture is the creek that runs through the hollows that was the original means on transportation throughout the hollows. It was also the main path of hauling coal from within the hills to the town. Grandpa was a coal miner, as with his brothers and his father, Oakley Picklesimer. Grandpa said coal become in demand around WW II when Kentucky let out it's prized secret: it held coal in it's rolling hills and a lot of it.

Grandpa explained that his family worked for small coal mining companies where they would get paid by what they mined. They would mine all through out the hills in little caves, only going about 500-600 feet into the hill. He recalls that, at that time, coal mining did not seem dangerous to him. Sure it was labor intensive, but it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter inside the caves. It was never really discussed the extreme danger associated with mining.

He told the story of a man they were working with one day in a mine shaft. They were using a machine to mine the coal, a huge piece on the side of the cave. When this man was using a lever to pry the coal off, the piece fell off and onto him. He died. They saw a man die from a huge piece of coal!

In the picture below, this is a mine shaft right off the side of the road! As we were driving through the hollow, Grandpa would point right before the shaft and say 'We used to mine at this shaft right here...'. I would think, riiiiight (sarcastically) but after driving a little more, there it would be - the mine shaft! Yes, many of the shafts are covered with vegetation but we found this little gem below.