Buy a cheap copy of the coalwood way book by homer hickam. Coalwood was a place for bituminous coal miners to live and mine in the olga coal mine. Home of the rocket boys coalwood is a small, unincorporated town tucked away in the mountainous landscape of west virginia, and hidden with it, a history that not many talk about. History of coalwood coalwood, west virginia and october sky. All of us have different ideas and perceptions of coalwood depending on our backgrounds. After 1 mile on coalwood glux rd, turn left into coalwood. Coalwood schools were operational, but now coalwood schools are not operational and were torn down. In 1998 the book rocket boys, written by native son homer hickam, jr. The author of torpedo junction, a military history book of the month club selection. Coalwood is located just off of the national coal heritage scenic highway. The people who know coalwood through the book rocket boys.
There were also lots of stores in the town, such as country corner. The olga coal mining company in coalwood, wv was one of the worlds biggest bituminous coal production centers. Score a books total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. Road to recovery volunteer driver west virginia wv ongoing road to recovery is an american cancer society program designed to help improve the quality of life and reduce barriers to care for cancer patients undergoing active treatment by. A history is widely considered one of the finest books ever written about our state. The onestory brick building housed a store, company offices, and a post office. Coalwood featured in newest issue of goldenseal magazine.
The clubhouses and apartments are boarded up and abandoned. The carter coal company store was a historic company store building located at coalwood, mcdowell county, west virginia. Sixteenyearold homer and his pals in the big creek missile agency are high school seniors, still building homemade rockets. The west virginia archives and history web site offers detailed information on the states history, outlines the documents available in the state archives, and provides. It received so much acclaim and interest, he was asked to write a book detailing the whole story. Find local coalwood wv aarp programs and information. In his clear, eminently readable style, williams organizes the tangled strands of west virginias past around a few dramatic eventsthe battle of point pleasant, john browns insurrection in harpers ferry, the paint creek labor movement, the hawks nest and buffalo. He was a wealthy person who was an industrialist who bought the land and started coal mining. A memoir, the story of his life in the little town of coalwood, west virginia. It was built by the carter coal company about 1912, and remodeled in 1922. The idea of a company town, at least in the strict sense that coalwood was, seemed like such a throwback to another era, that i didnt really think that such a place still existed.
My awesome wife chose to go with me despite not having read the books. A collection of the best books by west virginia writers or about west virginia. The author of torpedo junction, a military history book of the month club selection, as well as. See more ideas about books, books to read and my books. Navy in the turbulent years following world war ii. The reader of homers coalwood books are able to experience this spirit. Nature is reclaiming this one abandoned west virginia spot and its actually amazing. The tipple is gone, and the mine shaft has been sealed.
How he did his job was he hired a dentist and a doctor to provide service to his miners. There was also a gas station, convenience store, the big store, lots of little stores, and a doctors office and dentists office. This resulted in his first book, torpedo junction 1989, a military history bestseller published in 1989 by the naval institute press. Coalwood was owned by the company and provided houses and a store for free with a free doctor.
The person who was responsible for running the city of coalwood is george lafayette carter. I knew one day i would have to go there to see the place for myself. The onestory brick building housed a store, company offices, and a post office it was listed on the national register of historic places in 1992 the building was demolished on march 29, 2008, by. Homer hickam was born and raised in coalwood, west virginia. Get to know the real possibility of aarp in coalwood.
We provide answers to over 2 million searches every day, helping 35 million users. As of the 1990 censusthe last time the town was counted separatelythe population was 900. A history of the west virginia mining communities of. Browse photos, see new properties, get open house info, and research neighborhoods on trulia. Rocket boys is the book the movie october sky is based on. The town is the setting of the bestselling memoir october sky by homer hickam and the movie based on the book. In 1998, delacorte press published hickams second book, rocket boys. Jerry roger hatmaker has written five books in, what he calls, the clear fork. Mining continued in coalwood throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the years chronicled in hickhams popular books rocket boys and the coalwood way and in the upcoming sky of stone. The west virginia archives and history web site offers detailed information on the states history, outlines the documents available in the state archives, and provides assistance in conducting genealogical research. The people who know coalwood through the movie october sky. Apr 28, 2017 books, movies and tv shows about west virginia. It was listed on the national register of historic places in 1992.
In 1998, retired nasa engineer and mcdowell county native homer hickam published his boyhood memoir, rocket boys. The author of torpedo junction, a military history book of the month club selection, as well as numerous articles for such publications as smithsonian air and space and american history illustrated, he is a nasa payload training manager for the international space program and. The coal mine in coalwood reached its peak in the 1960s and finally shut down production on october 1, 1982. Coalwood is the second of 3 books that examine the history of community and coal mining in mcdowell county, west virginia. See more ideas about west virginia, virginia and west virginia history. Coalwood is a small, unincorporated town tucked away in the mountainous landscape of west virginia, and hidden with it, a history that not many talk about. In this followup to his bestselling autobiography rocket boys, homer hickam chronicles the eventful autumn of 1959 in his hometown, the west virginia mining town of coalwood. In 1956 the olga coal mine was conjoined with the mine in caretta via.
Sixteenyearold homer and his pals in the big creek missile agency are high school seniors, still building homemade rockets and hoping that science will. These visual time capsules help give some perspective to the lives and times of our mcdowell county people and places. They are a strange group, maybe even a separate race, and they, a history. The town is the setting of the bestselling memoir october sky by homer hickam and the. Mcdowell county, wv photo album here are some photographs of mcdowell county subjects contributed by researchers like you. Whitepages provides the top free people search and tenant screening tool online with contact information for over 250 million people including cell phone numbers and complete background check data compiled from public records, white pages and other directories in all 50 states. I noticed online that the closest hotel to coalwood was count gilu in welch.
Coalwood is an unincorporated community coal town in mcdowell county, west virginia, united states. Oct 29, 2007 put a new yorker in the coal mines of west virginia. The book recalls the waning days of coal mining in the town of coalwood, the dawn of space exploration in the late 1950s, and the lofty aspirations of a group of mountain boys. Road to recovery volunteer driver west virginia wv ongoing road to recovery is an american cancer society program designed to help improve the quality of life and reduce barriers to care for cancer patients undergoing active treatment by transporting them to. Coalwood, west virginia, where i grew up, was built for the purpose of. History of coalwood the history of coalwood has changed over time. Author alex schust started the project in 1999 and these books are the end result of his exhaustive research. I could not put it down nor the other two memoirs he wrote about his youth in mcdowell county, wv.
Coalwood, wv, the scene of three hickam books, appears as a prototypical small wv coal town once bustling when coal was king and now surviving. Coalwood was a rather prosperous mining town from the early to late 1900s. The author of torpedo junction, a military history book of the month club selection, as well as numerous articles for such publications as smithsonian air and space and american history illustrated, he is a nasa payload training manager for the international space program. Its one of those life lessons we need to share with our kids, model ourselves, and encourage in others. Put a new yorker in the coal mines of west virginia. Coalwood changed owners a number of times, mcgehee writes, and was briefly operated by the u. Charleston 8 books charles town 1 book chester 1 book coalwood 3 books darkesville 1 book deep water 1 book falling waters 3 books fayette 1 book friendly 1 book gauley river national recreation area 1 book harlem heights 1 book harpers ferry 94 books harrison 3 books jefferson 2 books kanawha 2 books levels 1. If you are wondering what exactly homer means by the coalwood way i encourage you to read the book. Im sure you could guess what they mined, but in case you were wondering, it was coal. Coalwood is also the home to the famous rocket boys of the late 1950s. I live in charleston and theres a group here that meets once a month to discuss a west virginiarelated book. We visited the annual october sky festival or the rocket boys reunion as it is know up there in coalwood. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. A tour of coalwood, west virginia, using images and drone video.
Coalwoods coal mine closed in the late 1980s and it declined steadily into the near ghost town it is today. Jul 07, 2018 a tour of coalwood, west virginia, using images and drone video. That company operated the mines and town at coalwood until consolidation coal co. There are actually four books in the coalwood series written by homer hickam, jr. The town of coalwood has been chronicled in homer hickams books rocket boys and the coalwood way. The history of coalwood olga was a working coal mine that provided employment to many people. Hickams memoirs show coalwood through the eyes of a 14 to 18 year old from 1957 through 1961.
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