Barthell is a former

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

in McCreary County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, United States. It was established in 1902 and was the first of 18 mining camps to be built by the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. It now serves as an open-air history museum, which is open from April through

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

History

During the 1880s-90s, a large portion of the land surrounding the Big South Fork was purchased by L.E. Bryant who began exploring the deposits of coal. In 1901, Byrant sent his associate, John Toomey, to lumber baron Justus S. Stearns in Michigan and convinced him to invest in the mineral rights of the Big South Fork area. By 1902, Barthell was established and work began in Mine No. 1. The first shipment of coal was delivered from Barthell in 1903 after the completion of the Kentucky and Tennessee Railroad from Stearns. During 1905 and 1906, operations expanded at Barthell with the opening of Mine No. 2.Chronologic History of Barthell
Retrieved on 2010-11-28 From 1923 to 1927, the Bryant lease was fully purchased by the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. Business boomed even during the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, with a record monthly coal production of 100,961 tons of coal in January 1930. The onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

further increased coal production at Barthell, requiring the addition of a second railway line. The decline of Barthell began in 1943 when the tipple at Mine No. 1 was destroyed by fire and was never rebuilt. Mine No. 1 was also closed shortly after the fire at the tipple. Coal mined from Mine No. 2 was then sent to the tipple at Mine No. 18 at the Blue Heron Mining complex. The dismantling of the coal camp began in 1952 and was completed in 1961. In 1984, the Barthell coal camp was purchased by the Koger family, who invested more than $500,000 of their own money into the revitalization of the community. Many of the community's original structures, such as the company store, doctors office, and school house have been renovated and can be toured. Fifteen former coal camp homes have also been renovated and can be rented for overnight stays.Points of Interest
Retrieved on 2010-11-28

References

External links

Barthell Coal Mining Camp
{{authority control Coal towns in Kentucky Ghost towns in Kentucky Museums in McCreary County, Kentucky Company towns in Kentucky Populated places established in 1902 History museums in Kentucky Open-air museums in Kentucky Mining museums in Kentucky 1902 establishments in Kentucky

History

See also

References

External links