The Mines Can't Stop

For the wife may sigh an' the children cry,

But the mine--the mine can't stop

Berton Baily
"Song of the Coal Miner

I was intrigued by specific comments by David L. Francis,President of Princess Elkhorn Coal Company Organization PECCO). He explained how the company could keep the mines running during severe weather that made the roads to the mines impassable.

Pecco strategically planned the coal camp of David, on Lick Creek in Floyd County Kentucky to ensure miners were always available to work. During the WWII effort, the demand was high, the profit was high, and the community structure was designed for success.

PECCO wanted at least 1/3 of their employees, especially foremen, to live in the camp so there always be a local labor force available.

I had never thought of this, but it took years to complete the cutting of a road through middle creek.The "first seven miles of the road was a WPA rock road", and the last three, pure dirt and mud. The only way to get to David was horse and wagon during the wet season.

Finally, about 1943, the year I was born, the road was graveled and then in a few years the State blacktopped the entire road from Prestonsburg to David.

Before the blacktop, however, those first miners were the key to the ongoing working of the mines at a time when the war demand for coal was at a peak and supply was critical to the War effort.

That's why they built a camp and came up with various and sundry ways to keep the miners available and working. I've often said it was a double-edged sword. The miners worked to sustain the many amenities and benefits the Company promised and provided the children.
The adults were trapped. All parents wanted a good life for their children.

The miners were trapped in the double jeopardy of providing for their families by working the mines.I think it was this entrapment that set coal camps apart from other communities and made personal dreams almost impossible. My parents gave up their personal & creative dreams for us--their children.

Charles Dickens said it best, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

Peace,
Judy