National Coal Heritage Area

Exploitation of coal in West Virginia began in the 1840s with the mining and refining of cannel coal in the Kanawha Valley. The principal coal fields in the Heritage Area include the New River, Winding Gulf and Flat Top-Pocahontas coal fields, of which the Pocahontas No. 3 seam was the most valuable. As the coalfields were exploited a network of railroads were developed, primarily by the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Norfolk and Western and the Virginian railways, the latter two associated with the Pocahontas and Winding Gulf fields, respectively. Large industrial corporations acquired extensive holdings as well, with U.S. Steel's U.S. Coal and Coke subsidiary controlling large portions of the Pocahontas and the New River Company and Winding Gulf Collieries controlling their respective regions.