Burning Rock Off Road Park

Every once in awhile we share a bit of history from Southern West Virginia.  In a previous post, we shared an excerpt from Melody Bragg’s book, “Window to the Past – Part III” about Major Tams.  Here’s some history on how he got his start:

In 1904 Tams got his big opportunity and his first look at the coal fields of southern West Virginia when he found employment as a mining engineer with a man named Samuel Dixon.  On the surface it would seem that there was little in common between Tams and his new employer.  Samuel Dixon’s background was about as far as one can get from that of the descendant of a prominent Southern family.  He had received his early mining education as a trapper boy in the mines of his native England, while barely in his teens.  But like Tams, Dixon had come to the coalfields of southern West Virginia determined to carve out his place in the world, and perhaps something in the young engineer brought back memories of his early days.

Tams could not have chosen a more opportune time to come to the coal fields.  For Dixon was just setting into motion his plan to establish a giant mining company which would combine many of the smaller operations in his area.  Tams was on hand to see the birth and the organization of the legendary New River Company, which would dominate the coal operations of Fayette and Raleigh counties for the next six decades.

Although Dixon and Tams developed a lifelong relationship during those early years of the New River company, the ambitious young engineer did not long remain as Dixon’s employee.  In 1905, while Tams was working as an engineer for Dixon, he made an observation which changed his life.  When examining maps of the Beckley coal seam, he noticed that the seam of coal appeared to thicken toward the Winding Gulf section of Raleigh County.  It was his opinion that Winding Gulf might well be the richest section of the coal seam.

In December of 1905, Tams and a local surveyor made a journey to investigate the area which had seemed so promising on paper.  To reach the area, they had to travel sixteen miles by horseback through virgin forests.  That night, the two men found shelter in an isolated cabin owned by a mountaineer and his wife.  Although they had to spend the night on the hand planked floor of the cabin, what Tams found when he examined the seam on Winding Gulf Creek the next day made the trip more than worthwhile.  For he discovered a top seam of coal six feet thick and ten inches below it, another coal seam three feet thick.  It was truly a treasure trove of coal waiting to be harvested.

But like many young men, the 25 year old Tams had ideas and eagerness, but little money to invest.  He could do nothing until he had a lease against the coal land.  For once, Tams’ family ties seemed to pay off.  The property was owned by the Beaver Coal Company and Tams had a relative who was a former college classmate of William C. Bullitt, the president of that company.  With Tams’ relative as a representative, Bullitt agreed to give Tams a 3,000 acre lease on the property.  He would not have to begin the lease payments until a railroad was built to the property, which would make coal haulage possible.  For until the railroad reached the area, the coal rich seam was nothing more than black dirt.  It would not turn to cash until it reached the magic of the cities.

By the seventies, many of the mines in the Winding Gulf area had shut down.  Burning Rock is located in the heart of the Winding Gulf.

Do you have any memories of the Winding Gulf area?  Share them in the comments.