(Click an item to proceed to it)
Some of My Memories
Early History
Disaster Strikes
McComas Area Churches
McComas Community
Collectables
Coal
Coal Timeline
Southern WV Revitilization
More to come...
Credits - many areas this data came from
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I'm Patricia Susan (Spicer) Smith
(Webmaster of this site) -- Patty Sue to many who grew up with me at
McComas. I'm the daughter of the late Bill and
Helen (Huffman) Spicer. After my
mother's early death at age 32 from cancer in 1957 my brother Mickey and I
were raised by her parents Robert and
Cora Mae (Stevens) Huffman who lived in
the Thomas Section of McComas. I graduated
from Bramwell High School in 1963 and unfortunately left West Virginia
seeking work during a time when employment was scarce at home. I've gone on
to marry, have 4 children and 8 beautiful grandchildren. I raised babies,
then teenagers, in additional to working many interesting jobs, traveled the
world with my Air Force husband for 22 years, met and made many lifelong
friendships during a time when I was pursuing my Bachelor's Degree in
Computer Science. Finally in 1992 I received that little piece of paper that
said I was graduating from the University of Maryland finally (it only took
12 years). We retired from the Air Force in 1985 and lived and worked in Pasadena, MD
for 18 years. Jim and I retired in 2002 and now live in Walkerton, VA a
little north of Richmond. We travel back to WV several times a year to visit
family and friends.
This website started as a small project which continues to grow daily. I'd
like to thank everyone who has responded via email in such a positive manner
after viewing these pages. It has truly been a labor of love which has given
me much pleasure to see other's enjoying all I've been able to compile and
present for THEM here.
This small southern West Virginia coal mining town of McComas was my home
from 1946-1964. It is located in Mercer County not far from the city of
Bluefield near the Virginia state line. I hope you'll enjoy this journey
down memory lane throughout these pages. My parents and I were born here but
my grandparents migrated into the area from North Wilksboro, NC and several
different neighboring counties in Virginia during the late 1700s (as early
settlers) and from the mid 1800s (as farmers) to the turn of the 20th
century to live and work in this booming coal mining region. One grandfather
(of German ancestory) told of their journey from NC in a covered wagon. He
was only 9 years old. The family was large - many of them walked the entire
journey. It took one week for their trip. Today you can travel the same
route in approximately 4 hours or less. This same grandfather worked in the
mines, as a waterboy, at the age of 9. He later worked for American Coal
Company as a teamster. He worked with mules and wagons in the earlier days
and drove a truck in his later years. When he and my grandmother married in
1912 they moved to the very end of what is now called "Pinnacle Hollow".
Their trip from Montcalm was either by train or if you had a vehicle there
were no roads built. They had their first car in the 1920s but had to leave
it parked at Montcalm sometimes because it was impossible due to
road/weather conditions to get it to McComas. They had to drive their car
along and sometimes on the railroad tracks to get into "the hollow" in those
days.
Families came from all walks of life and nationalities to make up this tiny
place situtated between the rough WV mountainside terrains into the hollows
of Sagamore, Crane Creek, Mora, Pinnacle, Pinnacle Hollow, Thomas, Conners
Mountain, Windmill Gap, Church Hollow, Thornhill and Crystal WV. Today we
could consider these many hollows to be termed the suburbs of McComas. We
all flowed from them to attend schools such as Prosperity, Crane Creek,
Sagamore, Conner Mountain, Pinnacle, Mora, Crystal and eventually McComas
High School. A black elementary was located at Mora. Children were bused
from around the area to attend this school. Schools were still segragated
when McComas High School was still in existance and the older black children
were in turn bused to
Bluestone High School at Bramwell, WV. I graduated from
Bramwell
High School in the class
of 1963 and segratation occured shortly thereafter. The old Bluestone
High School is currently being renovated with hopes it can be used for
another venture yet to be determined.
I attended my first grade class in the
"NEW" Pinnacle Elementary School in 1951, but I also sadly attended
McComas High School (1960) at the time it was closed due to low enrollment.
Approximatley 125 students from McComas were transported by school bus to
Bramwell, WV to attend high school. I remember Sherman Steel of Conner
Mountain drove the bus route from Conner Mountain, down to Thomas and
Pinnacle with additional stops on the River Road below Montcalm. Mr Brown
from Bramwell (father of my fellow Bramwell High School classmate of 1963
BettySue Brown Foster) driving the bus from Windmill Gap, Crane Creek,
Sagamore and McComas. It was definately a sad time for the community. Today
many other towns and school districts in southern WV have experienced the
same loss of their schools due to the dwindling number of children left to
support keeping them open. Schools are now built as a hub to bus children
from all around the counties. The tiny communities lose alot of their
community spirit and togetherness when this occurs. No schools remains open
at McComas today. Children attend Montcalm Elementary and High Schools.
McComas High School was torn down shortly after its closing - but the steps
leading up the hill to the school are still visible, which seems to resemble
a monument or symbol as to what once was. An "all" McComas High School
reunion occurs each year in the general area of Bluefield. They have
occurred in the Armory at Brushfork and at the Holiday Inn in Bluefield.
Anyone who every attended the school is invited to attend. Pinnacle
Elementary has been converted into a Church for the Pentecostal Holiness
Church (for several years it was a training establishment for the mining
industry). The (2) classrooms which housed the 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th graders
are now one large room containing the church sanctuary (which has been very
nicely renovated). I have been told the church recently replaced the old
roof and also replaced the old/probably original furnace. These church
members over the last several years have been very active and successful in
holding fund raisers to raise the money for these projects. The 5th/6th
grade classroom is now used as a Sunday School classroom. The lunchroom and
kitchen are still remain intact as I remembered them from childhood. In
mentioning this lunchroom I must sadly report two wonderful ladies who
cooked for the children of Pinnacle Elementary School have both recently
passed away. Lucille Eanes Wohner and Ocie Stevens both passed away within
the later months of the year 2000.
The large waterfall coming from the mountainside behind the Pinnacle
Elementary School is still there - it has been converted to run into a large
pipe but the water still flows swiftly out. I remember the days of playing
on the playground - during our many baseball games our balls would
eventually end up in the flowing down the creek. We would all make mad
dashes to chase the ball before it flowed out of our reach. All the games of
hide and seek, jump rope, jack rocks, and chase are still fondly remembered.
My teachers at Pinnacle Elementary were Ms. Hobbs (1st/2nd grades), Mrs.
Reed(3rd/4th grades) and Mrs Bailey (5th/6th grades). They have all left
fond memories of my days spent here.
I know life was hard for the miners and their families. But I feel as a
child I was sheltered and protected. I have good memories and good friends
I'll never forget. The mining industry build the homes, jobs, schools and in
essence the community. The people called this place home for less than 1/2 a
century before the economy and the failing coal industry caused a mass
migration from the region. Even though we don't live there anymore we will
always feel a part of the community and EVERYTHING we once shared
there. I still have family here and travel back several times a year. One of
my Aunts lives directly in front of the old Pinnacle Elementary School (on
the main road between McComas and Matoaka). She continuously has visitors who
stop and chat - they lived at McComas at some point and time in their lives.
She enjoys the visits and loves to share who she has seen and what they have
told her about their lives today.
EARLY HISTORY
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At the headwaters of the "Crane Creek" in the mid to late 1800s settlers
came to build a new life. I've read of a reference (by Barty Whitt
a very public spirited citizen of Wyoming and Mercer Counties in the
1900s) of the old "Mercer Camp Meeting Shed" which was build in the 1830s or
40s. This Shed was constructed as a gathering place and was used for old
fashioned revival meetings, which could last for a week when they occured.
This structure was located in a gap on the mountain above Giatto separating
the headwaters of Crane Creek from that of Widemouth Creek and being located
near a spring on a farm owned by RUFUS ALLEN MCCOMAS. In 1904
newly elected Congressman John Kee granted a petition to have the name
changed from Mannering to McComas. I'm not certain if this could be the
McComas that this small community name originated from - if anyone knows
differently please let me know.
Before the coal mining industry took a foot hold in this tiny community
several families had settled here. Around 1870 the Crane, Manning,
Thornhill, Taylor and Conner families had arrived. They settled along the
Crane and Pinnacle Creeks. A few cabins were scattered around. The families
farmed, hunted and trapped to exist. Mail delivery came from Princeton
several times a week by horseback. The wind powered gristmill built by
Thomas Crane around this time was not successful. It had been built on
Windmill Gap and when there was no wind they could not grind their grain.
Later the Thornhill family build a mill powered by water and it was
successful. Around 1902 W. H. Thomas started his Thomas Coal & Coke Company.
A coal tipple, 127 houses, a company store, church, payroll and a doctors
office were build at THOMAS, WV
(my birthplace) Mr. Thomas later started his Crystal Coal & Coke
operations at Crystal, WV. Crystal was a pet name Thomas called his wife
Annie. Thomas and his wife build a house and lived at Crystal until they
eventually build their "mansion" at Bramwell. Thomas died in 1918 and
his only son 2 years later - Thomas was well liked by everyone who knew him.
His family continued on with his operations having partnerships with the
Coopers and Bill Buery. The name was changed in 1940 to the Virginia B. Coal
Company (the name of the wife of Mr. Beury) which it remained for the last
12 years it operated. I remember the Company Store closing at
Thomas in 1957. Virginia Sigmon Gills was the store
manager. She had been there many years. The store had remained open several
years after the Thomas mine closed. The company had coal operations in
another location and it remained open to support them. I remember as a child
going to the store. It seemed very large at that time. A large porch wrapped
around 2 sides of the building with a large expanse of stairs you had to
climb up to get onto that porch. In the early evening hours as children in
this small community we would play on this porch pretending it was our stage
- many pretent productions were performed here. Once a day the train would
come up to the tipple to gather the loaded coal cars. The train also went to
the tipples at Sagamore and Crane Creek before leaving the hollow to return
to its destination which was probably Bluefield. Trying to travel the
highway during this time could cause major delays. The roadway was blocked
for long periods of time by the train collecting his "black gold". I
remember being told that the legal time limit they could block traffic was
15 minutes but I've experienced longer delays than that many times. A train
stop would occur at the Thomas Company Store to unload freight or whatever
else they carried. To the rear of Thomas Company Store was a large office.
This is where the doctor's office was located. There were apartments located
on the upper floor of the Thomas Company Store. I remember how large and
empty they appeared when I first saw them. In the 1950's no one rented them
as I recall (they were used for storage) but when the mines were operating I
know they were occupied. The store itself contained a deli section, meat
cutting, weighing scales (infants were also weighted on them), and bakery
items were located to the right when you first walked in. Canned goods and
other grocery items followed down that wall. To the rear of this room was a
section containing shoes. To the left side of the room was merchandise such
as clothing and other items. At christmas time toys would line all areas
around the tops of these shelves. I remember getting a doll I had seen here
around 1953. It was a "Betsy Wetsey". I was one happy little girl. The U.S.
mail would be delivered each day around 1 p.m. at the Thomas Company Store
from the Post Office which was located about a mile down the road at
"McComas". I also remember the Thomas Company Store have a flooded basement
on several occasions. The creek ran directly beside the store. When those
"sometimes" strong spring rains occurred - things flooded including the
store basement. The area known as McComas was home to the Post Office (this
building also had a doctors office), Methodist and Catholic Churches, Movie
Theater, Shoe Shop, Rail Road Station, and the Community Center (containing
several shops in its lifetime) - I remember Mr. Harrington's soda shop,
barber shop but I know in earlier days other stores were also there. Mora
Elementary and McComas High School were also located here. Houses dotted the
hillside around the area and were intermingled with all these shops. This is
the forks of the road. Coming from Montcalm, (through Godfrey, Crystal, and
Thornhill) follow the right hand fork in the road at McComas and go to
Pinnacle and on over Conners Mountain to Matoaka. Take the left hand fork in
the road at McComas and go up Sagamore, Crane Creek Hollows, then across
Wind Mill Gap into Crumpler.
DISASTER STRUCK Several major
disasters hit this small community.
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MCCOMAS AREA CHURCHES
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(These are Churches that I remember if anyone knows more let me know I'll
add your data to this list)
My mothers funeral was held in this church in July 1957. She had so many friends from her brief 32 years living at McComas - the church was filled that day.
I know the Pentecostal Holiness Church occupied the church in later years - but it was abandoned many years back. The roof is gone, the windows are missing, and only the brick walls appear to remain standing. It looks very dangerous when you ride by it. I've often wondered why the county has allowed it to remain standing in this condition - for safety reasons. I remember attending Sunday School in the classrooms in the choir belfry area high above the entrance to the sanctuary. The kitchen and dining area in the basement was also a Sunday School classroom for me later on. I remember dinners, parties, girl scout functions, youth fellowship meetings, and other functions occuring in this room. In the late 1950s the youth group from the church had a traveling basketball team. We traveled to many locations which were several counties/states away.
1953 Junior Choir of Thomas Memorial
Methodist Church (April 5, 1953 Bluefield Daily
Telegraph article supplied by Sis Laenen daughter of Virginia Sigmon Gills
March 2002) 
Prosperity Church Windmill Gap
McComas Catholic Church(taken in 1960s photo supplied by Tony Basconi)
New Morning Star Baptist Church
McCOMAS COMMUNITY
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This was a self supporting town supplying community services and
facilities)
Around the turn of the century according to statistics Mannering (later
McComas) had a population of about 6000 people making it the second largest
town in Mercer County. Access into the area was still difficult at this
time. It could literally take days to travel by train, vehicle, wagon or
horseback to neighboring towns or cities. The owners of the coal mines
supplied all items their workers should need through the "company store".
These stores were built at Thomas, Pinnacle, Sagamore, and Crane Creek.
These areas were "company towns," where the houses, stores, and recreational
buildings all belonged to whichever coal company operated the mine. The
miners were often paid in script, redeemable only at the company store.
Wages were low and the work was hard - primarily pick and shovel. Miners
used "script" as cash at the "company store"
Along with building homes, churches, and stores the coal operators also
provided entertainment through a variety of methods. A chain of movie
theatres were scattered throughtout all the coal mining communities. Early
admission to the McComas theatre would be 10 cents in script. When the
theatre was destroyed by fire in 1948 it was never rebuilt. I cannot
remember the theatre being at McComas - but I've heard my relatives speak of
it many times. The area which was directly across the street from the old
McComas Post Office which was used as a parking area - I'm told this was
where the theatre sat. The catholic church to one side and the community
center building to the other.
The carnival would come to McComas. I'm been told the area which is referred
to as the old baseball fields
down near Thornhill (just across the bridge from the waterfall) was where
the tents would be sat up and the circus performed. This was probably a
spectacular site with the elephants and circus animals and performers. I
never saw it but I can still imagine the excitement in the community.
Sports always played a role in the coal mining communities. The coal
operators sponsored baseball teams - which consisted of members of the coal
mining community. McComas was no exception. McComas High School also
produced many championship teams in basketball, baseball, and football.
School spirit for our "blue and gold" McComas Loaders was very high. The
spring of 1960 the Board of Education came to McComas High School and
refinished the gym floor. I can still remember the sheen/shine on it. It was
in great condition. By August the announcements were in the newspaper -
"McComas High School Closing". The school was sold and torn down very
shortly thereafter. Members of the community were invited in and given
different artifacts from the building and its supplies. Years before my
grandmother had given a McComas High School science teacher (who at the time
lived in an apartment in the top of Thomas Company Store next door to her
house) the remains of a kitten (one of her cats had given birth to) which
had been born born with two heads. My uncle found this preserved kitten in
the science lab at McComas High School. He took it to Bluefield State
College (where he was pursuing a degree). They now have possesion of that
"poor two headed kitten". My grandmother was surprised it still existed
after at least three decades. A cousin who still lives at McComas has also
told me he has retrieved bricks from the old school site and given them to
several ex-students of McComas High School over the years.
The area we call McComas was more the entertainment hub or center of the
community. The High School, Mora Elementary School, the Post Office Building
which contained a dentist and doctors office, the Catholic, Methodist, and
Black Churches, the train depot, shoe shop, and last but not least the
"Community Center" the largest facility
of them all. It had multiple shops over the years. I remember Mr.
Farrington's restaurant (soda shop to us in High School) and pool hall, a
barber shop, and a gas station (on the roadside in front of the Community
Center. Even though many of us lived in places such as Crane Creek,
Pinnacle, or Thomas we still considered ourselves from "McComas"
that was our mailing address.
The company stores carried clothing, shoes, toys, furniture, food, groceries
- essentially everything. If they didn't have it they would order it for
you. The trains that traveled into McComas Hollow to Thomas, Pinnacle,
Sagamore, and Crane Creek tipples would carry freight to the company stores
on their appointed rounds. The stores also provided office space for the
managers/operators of the coal mines. The superintendents, payroll officers,
and even a doctor's office were provided. I remember the facilities and
their furnishing as being very nice. One must remember the coal industry
made alot of money. Even though wages were low - the operators had alot of
funds to provide these services to the communties. The Coal Barons of
Southern WV built their mansions and lived at Bramwell, WV. Before the stock
market crash of 1929 occurred and the subsequent fall of the Bank of
Bramwell - there were 13 millionaires living there. Today the mansions
remain but these same Coal Barons are gone.
The company doctor was a person admired by all. They were hard working and
cared about their patients. House calls for an illness were very comman. I
would venture to bet that only a small percentage of children born at
McComas before 1950 could state they were born in a hospital. Home
deliveries were the norm. Each company store had a doctors office someplace
in its general vacinity, plus there was also one located in the McComas Post
Office building. These existed until the late 1950s or early 1960s.
COLLECTABLES
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SCRIPT
Because of the need for daily supplies from the company store, coal
operators improvised a method of paying their employees, using coal scrip.
The earliest coal scrip (tokens) dates back to about 1883. Miners could get
advanced credit on their earned wages (in scrip) to pay for goods from the
company store. This use of coal company scrip eliminated the need for the
coal company to keep a large amount of U. S. currency on hand. Each mine had
its own scrip symbols on the tokens, and these tokens could only be used at
the local company store. Many miners would use up or often times extend
their script limit before payday came. They were supplied their daily needs
from the company store but many times lacked having cash money in their
possession. Today, as with many other antiques, this same script money is a
collector's item. Coin shows frequently display it for sale. Whether for
nostelga/sentimental reasons many children of the coal camp era enjoy seeing
and collecting it.
MINING HATS and LUNCHBUCKETS
About three years ago my husband and I took our two grandsons to tour the
Beckley
Exhibition Mine. I had been there in the 1950s (Wow! 50 years
ago) but I highly recommend it to anyone. Its all newly renovated and nicely
presented. We all enjoyed it tremendously. They have the coal camp houses to
tour, a giftshop, and 2 museums in the parking lot area. During the tour
into the mine our guide was explaining about the old carbide lights
(including many different iterations of them over the years), scooters (hand
crafted by the miners to maneuver around - sometimes in the dark) in the
mine - remember many of the coal seams they worked under could be extremely
short, the lunch buckets (remember many had the water containers on the
bottom - with the lunch container area above it), tools used (from augers to
drill dynamite holes in rock to pick and shovels), just everyting related to
working in the mines. His lecture covered the fact that these items "we saw
so much in our youth" is hard to find anymore, thus, making them "collectors
items" today. Once I heard this I began looking for any of the items over
the past few years... and he was correct. You can't find them!
FURNITURE
I recently visited an antiques show (very large) near Baltimore, MD. They
had one hugh section labeled the post-WWII years. Everything my friend and I
saw we could relate to from our youth. She grew up at Charleston and myself
at McComas. It made us wonder are we "antiques" now ourselves. My answer
only if we want to let ourselves be. I know after the death of family
member all the treasures we found emptying out their house. So many old
family pictures (everyone please write names on them - we didn't know who
many of them were), literature (even 1930s Sunday School certificates), old
valentines, magazines, not to mention the furniture in the attic and
basement. What once was trash is now considered "treasures" to
antique collectors.
COAL
That magical burning BLACK
ROCK that built
and later abandoned McComas
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Although coal was known to occur throughout much of West Virginia, no extensive mining took place until the mid-1800s. Due to its remote location Mannering/McComas was not developed until a transportation system (mainly the railroad) was incorporated. West Virginia's southern coal fields were not opened until about 1870, though they were known to exist much earlier. One of the major southern coal fields was the Flat Top-Pocahontas Field, located primarily in Mercer and McDowell counties. The Flat Top Field first shipped coal in 1883 and grew quickly from that time. Operations were consolidated into large companies, and Pocahontas Fuel Company, organized in 1907, soon dominated the other companies in McDowell County.