The Bituminous Coal Heritage Foundation Museum

Coal was first discovered in Appalachia in what is now Boone County, West Virginia in 1742. Since that time, men have gone deep into (or, in more recent years, blown the tops off) mountains in pursuit of this dark matter. To recognize the legacy of coal in Boone County and West Virginia, the Bituminous Coal Heritage Museum was established and opened to the public in the mid-1990s, chock full of memorabilia, historical information, and interactive exhibits.

The Museum is on Main Street in Madison, the seat of Boone County. The entrance to the museum is unassuming and, at first, especially as this once-bustling main drag through downtown is a bit sleepier than it probably was 50 years ago. However, once you enter, it is not unlike mining itself, as there are treasures that tell the stories of the thousands of men (and a few women) who went underground to power a nation. In some spots, the sheer amount of stuff can feel overwhelming, but to take a few minutes to take it in and the story unfolds before your eyes.

Very unexpected from a small museum like this was all of the interactive exhibits. One interactive exhibit takes guests into the darkness of a mine and guests can actually handle the same type of equipment that used to mine coal before the era of the continuous miner (though they have one of those, too!). Another interactive exhibit allows guests to step into the locker rooms where miners would put their clothes in a basket and raise it up to the ceiling to keep their street clothes relatively clean as they donned their overalls.

Also somewhat unexpected is that, despite how quiet Madison feels today, in the United States, West Virginia is only second to Wyoming in terms of production of coal. Side note, I think that is interesting (or coincidental?) because there is a Wyoming County, West Virginia, also in the Southern Coalfields region. Automation in the coalmines means that production is up but employment in the mines is down. Therefore, while these areas are still quite productive in terms of coal output, they do not require the manpower of mines 100 or even only 50 years ago. Mountaintop removal mining requires even fewer men (at the expense of West Virginia’s stunning mountains).

What I think I liked most is that the Bituminous Coal Heritage Foundation Museum tells the human story of mining. The exhibits do not exalt Frances Peabody, Don Blankenship, or Robert E. Murray. Comparatively, it is easy to run the company, but underground danger and even death are omnipresent. It takes a special kind of person (or, some would argue, desperation) to spend your days in a mountain. Now, excuse me, I think I need to watch Harlan County, U.S.A. again.

The Museum is located at 347 Main Street in Madison, WV. The Museum is open from 12:00pm to 5:00pm on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And, while you’re there, stroll around Main Street a bit and check out some of the small businesses.