In the first half of the 20th century, the center of coal camp activity and life was the company store. Towns such as Dante, Jewell Ridge, Bishop and Amonate became model communities during boom times, often boasting a restaurant, pool hall, barber shop, movie theater, bowling alley, doctor’s office, and baseball field. Boom times for the coal fields came after the advent of the widespread use of electricityin the early part of the century, and during World War II. The background of this rendering depicts miners leaving their shift en masse in the 1940’s.
Ellen Elmes
PO Box SVCC
Richlands, VA 24641-1101
email: ellen.elmes@sw.edu
phone: 276.964.7205
fax: 276.964.7720