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Brandon Ray Kirk

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Brandon Ray Kirk

Tag Archives: Slabtown

The C&O Shops at Peach Creek, WV (1974)

12 Monday Dec 2022

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Barboursville, Coal, Guyandotte River, Huntington, Logan, Peach Creek

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Appalachia, Barboursville, C.A. Coulter, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Newsletter, coal, Empty Yard, Gay Coal and Coke Company, Guyandotte River, history, Huntington, Logan, Logan County, Mount Gay, Peach Creek, railroad, Red Onion, Slabtown, West Logan, West Virginia, World War I

From the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Newsletter (June 1974) comes this history titled “The Shops at Peach Creek” composed by C.A. Coulter. This is Part 1 of Mr. Coulter’s account.

The railroad was first built to Logan in 1904, the first train arriving on September 9 of that year. The line was started at Barboursville, West Virginia, on the main line, and ran up the Guyan River for 65 miles to Logan. By 1913, rail lines had been run to the heads of all the main branches of the Guyan River in Logan County. As soon as the rail lines reached the branches, coal mines were built, and coal immediately began to move to outside markets.

The first shop facilities were built at Slabtown, a small settlement just north of Logan. Just when the shops were built, I have no record, but it was soon after trains had begun to arrive from Huntington. A short pit track, a shed track with a shed for the freight that was handled, a wye track, and a small yard of three tracks that held about fifty cars each were constructed. This yard is still in use, and is known now as the merchandise yard. Later, another yard was built just north of this one, with about three tracks; this was used to assemble the loaded coal cars. This yard was later lengthened and more tracks were added; it is now known as the Empty Yard. A yard office building was located along the main line between the two yards.

There was also an old bunkhouse located near the pit track at Slabtown, called the “Red Onion.” I have heard my father mention this many times, as he would lay up in it when he came in from the run from Huntington. I have heard him tell of how he would have to wait until someone got out of bed so he could get in and get a few hours of rest before being called back to Huntington. This was a long, hard run with the small, hand-fired G-4s, G-6s, and G-7s that were in use at that time. The trains were much shorter than they are today. By World War I, trains were lengthened to 55 loads for a single engine and 85 loads for a doubleheader. This limit held for many years until the Mallets and Mikados arrived, then the car limit was done away with.

The first carload of coal was run out of Logan County on Thanksgiving Day, 1905. It was loaded in wagons at the Gay Coal and Coke Company mine at Mt. Gay, about one mile south of Logan, and hauled and dumped into a coal car at Logan. The old coal loading records show that for 1905 about 55 carloads of coal were mined in the county. As the years passed, coal loadings began to boom, and by 1907 15 companies were operating in the county. By 1923, 148 mines were working in the county. According to the records, this was about the peak year for the number of mines in operation.

It was not long after the first small shop facilities were built at Logan that it became evident that a much larger one had to be built. The company finally decided to build at the present site of Peach Creek. Peach Creek was an old town, having been established as a small settlement about 1806. Quite a number of houses were clustered near the mouth of the small creek that emptied into the Guyan at this point. It is said that the town got its name from a small peach orchard that stood near the mouth of the creek.

I am not sure just when construction began on the new shops. It was some little time before 1916, as the company moved the shops from Logan in 1916. The town of Peach Creek was laid out in lots and streets at about the same time, as the town of West Logan, on the west side of the Guyan River. A swinging foot bridge across the river, near the site of the present highway bridge, connected the two towns. Soon, employees of the company began to build their homes in both towns.

Banco News 05.21.1926

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by Brandon Ray Kirk in Banco, Big Creek, Estep, Stone Branch

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Appalachia, Arkansas, Banco, Banco School, Basil Duty, Bernice Hunter, Big Creek, Big Ugly Creek, Charlotte Chapman, D.H. Harmon, Estep, genealogy, H.F. Lucas, H.T. Lucas, Hassel Vance, history, Hot Springs, J.A. Stone, Jennie Thomas, Jesse Justice, Joe Conley, John Hager, John Vance, Joseph A. Varney, Junior Vance, Kathleen Hager, L.A. Ellis, Logan Banner, Logan County, Marea Lucas, Mary Hager, Mattie Varney, measles, Nancy Duty, Needmore, Nella Varney, Ollie Varney, Peter Pinder, Slabtown, Spencer, Spring Dale, Stone Branch, Susie Thomas, Thomas' Circle, V.P. Conley, Virgil Thomas, West Virginia, Zella Chapman

An unknown local correspondent from Banco in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on May 21, 1926:

Hello, folks! Here we are again with a few items from our thriving little town.

Bernice Hunter returned from Hot Springs, Arkansas, last Monday and was the all night guest of his aunt, Mrs. John Hager, of Banco; then returned to his home on Big Ugly.

Mrs. V.P. Conley and little son, Joe, of Banco addition were calling on Mrs. D.H. Harmon of this place last Wednesday morning.

Hassel Vance is still driving the big team. Hauling from Spring Dale to Big Creek. Hassel doesn’t stop in Spring Dale very long even if there is some pretty girls in that town.

Wonder why Peter Pinder never calls in Banco any  more? We sure miss the great stories he used to tell us. We imagine he is telling the stories to his girl in Thomas’ Circle nowadays.

Mr. and Mrs. Jno. Vance’s small son, Junior, is still ill with measles, we are sorry to say.

Wonder when H.T. Lucas is going to make a call in Spring Dale? The roads are better to Spring Dale for joy riding, H.T., than they are to North Pole.

Mrs. Mary Hager and daughter Kathleen were calling on Mrs. D.H. Harmon last Sunday evening.

Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Stone were calling on their daughter, Mrs. Jennie Thomas, at Estep last Sunday afternoon.

Miss Marea Lucas was the afternoon guest of Misses Ollie and Mattie Varney last Sunday.

Jesse Justice sure does like the little town of Estep, especially while his old girl from Slabtown is there.

Miss Susie Thomas and little brother, Virgil, of Estep have been visiting their grandparents at this place for a few days.

H.F. Lucas and his father were out trying H.F.’s Ford last Monday evening.

Mr. Joseph A. Varney and daughter Nella were business callers in Banco last Tuesday evening.

Misses Zella and Charlotte Chapman of Estep were shopping in Banco last Saturday.

Mrs. L.A. Ellis who is making her home in Needmore for a short while was visiting Mrs. Nancy Duty at Stone Branch last week.

We are sorry to say but the doll of Needmore has forsaken all the girls of their town, also the girls of Banco, as he left for Spencer, W.Va., one day last week.

Basil Duty of Spring Dale was calling in Estep last Sunday. Look out, boys. Some of you are going to lose your L.F.O. Basil means business. He’s looking for his affinity.

There will be church at the Banco school house next Saturday night and Sunday. Everybody is invited.

Feud Poll 1

If you had lived in the Harts Creek community during the 1880s, to which faction of feudists might you have given your loyalty?

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Do you think Milt Haley and Green McCoy committed the ambush on Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

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Who do you think organized the ambush of Al and Hollene Brumfield in 1889?

Recent Posts

  • Sheriff Joe D. Hatfield, Son of Devil Anse (1962)
  • The C&O Shops at Peach Creek, WV (1974)
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Ed Haley Poll 1

What do you think caused Ed Haley to lose his sight when he was three years old?

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© Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com, 1987-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brandon Ray Kirk and brandonraykirk.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Appalachia Ashland Big Creek Big Ugly Creek Blood in West Virginia Brandon Kirk Cabell County cemeteries Chapmanville Charleston civil war coal Confederate Army crime culture Ed Haley Ella Haley Ferrellsburg feud fiddler fiddling genealogy Green McCoy Guyandotte River Harts Harts Creek Hatfield-McCoy Feud history Huntington John Hartford Kentucky Lawrence Haley life Lincoln County Lincoln County Feud Logan Logan Banner Logan County Milt Haley Mingo County music Ohio photos timbering U.S. South Virginia Wayne County West Virginia Whirlwind writing

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Writings from my travels and experiences. High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water. Mark Twain

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This site is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and promotion of history and culture in Appalachia.

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