Find the records of at least 3 coal companies operating in the early 20th century in Virginia

For this assignment I had originally planned on using the Library of Congress or the National Archives. However, the government shut down and that was no longer an option. So, frustrated from there, I did what everyone does when they want to know something, I googled it. I typed exactly this “ 3 coal companies operating in the early 20th century in Virginia.

I clicked on one of the first results I was given:
lib.radford.edu/archives/findaids/VICC-records.html

That link took me to: The Virginia Iron Coal & Coke Company Records 1899-1965, that are stored in the McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections at Radford University. To actually look at the records I would have to go to the library and have them unlocked from the selves but, further down the intro page there was a hyperlink that said :

Digital Access
More than 100 maps and documents from the VICC Company Records Collection have been digitized and a the Virginia Iron, Coal, and Coke Collection on RU Digital Collections website.

This digital collection provided a good glance into the records of the coal company and the early 20th century coal industry in Virginia.

So… that was one of the 20th century coal companies I identified in Virginia.

After that I went back to google and found another link: www.miningartifacts.org/virginia-mines.html that showed me tons of pictures of mines in Virginia and the companies that ran them. I picked a couple of them that were listed. Including:
• Island Creek Coal Co. – Keen Mt., VA
• Panther Coal Co.- Grundy, VA
• Pocahontas Fuel Co. Mine- Boissevain, VA
• Panther Red Ash Coal Corp- Oakwood, VA
• Tom’s Creeks Coal & Coke Co.- Wise, VA

By selecting a couple of names from the site it made it easier to find records. Especially because I actually knew the names of the companies that may not have their records filed in the state of Virginia, due to the fact that the headquarters may be in a different state ect.

After maintaining the names and searching for them I came upon this site http://www.dmme.virginia.gov – which is the Virginia Department of Mines Minerals & Energy. I essentially hit the jackpot there. I was able to find records of many of the coal companies there.

When I began this research doing my research in finding these coal companies in Virginia… The results kept putting “West” in front Virginia so made it a little difficult in the beginning.

But, overall even though the government deterred my initial plan… I pulled it off!