Stonega is a

Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

and coal town located in

Wise County, Virginia Wise County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county was formed in 1856 from Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties and named for Henry A. Wise, who was the Governor of Virginia at the time. History The Cherokee conquered the ...

, United States. It is part of the

Big Stone Gap, Virginia Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,643 at the 2010 census. History The community was formerly kno ...

micropolitan area. The community was founded in 1895 to provide housing and coking facilities for the Virginia Coal and Iron Company before being leased to the Stonega Coke and Coal Company in 1902. The community was owned and operated as a company town until after

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 opposing ...

. Their post office closed in 2002.

History

Stonega was founded by J.K. Taggart in 1895 as "Pioneer," a name chosen because it was the first commercial mine and coking plant in Wise County. The name was changed in 1896 to reflect the town's proximity to Stone Gap, a pass through the mountains between Virginia and Kentucky. That same year, Taggart was killed during a mining accident. The town was owned and maintained by the Virginia Coal and Iron Company until 1902, when the Stonega Coke and Coal Company assumed control of the operation and leased the land. There were no major strikes at Stonega or the surrounding camps until 1937. "After being slowed by the depression of 1893, Virginia Coal and Iron Company began building Pioneer, its first and model Coal town, in 1895, around the mine opening at the headwaters of Callahan Creek. Built using local timber, Pioneer straddled the flat bottom land of the creek between Bluff Spur and Nine Mile Spur Mountains, which offered narrow, winding land on which to construct the upper coke ovens, railroad tracks, homes and service buildings needed by such a remote community. By 1896, the new colliery or coal mine opened and was renamed Stonega, a contraction of Stone and Gap. The company owned Interstate Railroad connected the mine with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, six miles away at

Appalachia, Virginia Appalachia is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,754 at the 2010 census. History The Appalachia post office was established in 1898. The community was named for the surrounding Appalachian Mountains. The Derby H ...

."Fisher, Terri L., and Kirsten Sparenborg. "Stonega, Wise County" In: Lost Communities of Virginia. Earlysville, Va: Albemarle Books, 2011. Page 213.

References

Unincorporated communities in Wise County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia Census-designated places in Wise County, Virginia Census-designated places in Virginia Coal towns in Virginia Populated places established in 1895 1895 establishments in Virginia {{WiseCountyVA-geo-stub