Book Description

Mary Stevenson's work chronicles--through photographs--the history of many of West Virginia's southern coal mining towns. For a time coal was king in West Virginia. Today, most of the mines have closed, and many of the towns are long gone. To tell the story of generations of hard working West Virginians--both coal miners and enterprising businessmen--we have mainly fading memories and old photographs. Volume 2 tells the story of Beckley when it was the "Capitol of the Coalfields." It also tells the story of many once vibrant towns, some of which no longer exist. Watch as West Virginia moved into a new century: as burgeoning coal towns filled with churches, schools, stores, and theatres. Read about coal barons, among them two brothers who came on foot from Tennessee to make their fortunes. This book contains all of the photographs in Stevenson's first two long out of print books, From Affinity To Winding Gulf and From Ameagle To Wingrove. This edition also contains over a hundred previously unpublished rare photos of Beckley and surrounding communities. ...These coal towns are portrayed as their residents saw them, in all their grit and glory. Whether large (Beckley) or small (Edwight), these coal camps and communities gave southern West Virginia its character. Readers will enjoy memories of bygone days brought vividly to life in the photographs of this book. Kenneth R. Bailey, Ph.D., Editor, West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly. Four-time president of the raleigh County Historical Society and cited by the state as a West Virginia History hero, Mrs. Stevenson has a keen sense of the historic. She has the talent to track down and preserve photographs from days gone by tha say to us: This is the way it was. Jim Wood, author of Raleigh County, West Virginia and Raleigh County Mine Deaths