Living in a Coal Town

A brief documentary of coal mining in America. Hannah's school project for summer enrichment program.

[@RobD-jq7ry]

My mother was one of the first female coal miners. Started in 1982. She was a very hard worker who had a sharp tongue and did not take any shit from anyone. She had a great sense of humor and got along great with the guys. She was truly a wonderful unique individual. I lost her in June 2021. She was my best friend.

[@rebaaustin986]

My father was a coal miner. He worked for the Stonega Coke & Coal Company in Stonega, Wise, Virginia. We moved away when I was 8 years old. There were 8 children at that time in our family. We moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee. Stonega is still safely tucked away in my heart. We won't forget.

[@midnightrunner684]

My Dad worked down in the Robinson coal mines in Ernest Pennsylvania back in the late 1960's early 1970's. There was a Bad Cave in and Many Miners died and My Dad told me it took over 6 months to recover some of the bodies ..He said there are still Bodies and Machinery buried down in that mine ..They sealed that mine off ..My Mom Made my Dad quit the mines after that .We then moved to Ohio and lived there till the early 1980's. .My Dad couldn't breath anymore and couldn't take the Cold of Winter in Ohio so we moved to Florida where he passed away at 49 years old .Doctors said he had Black Lung

[@marchevka22x]

@Midnight Runner 68 ... I'm familiar with Ernest PA in Indiana county which closed around 1965. Where was the Robinson mine? Was this a town? or just a mine? There were several mines near the Keystone Power Plant - mostly around Brick Church. There was a Robinson, PA (actually 2), both on the Conemaugh River.

[@fergspan5727]

Up the Molly maguries

[@inthelionsden6335]

I really enjoyed this presentation. My great grandfather was a coal miner in Western Penn. His house looked just like those in the picture you used. He lived in Hannastown and I'll never forget him. He was very old when I was a boy in the 70's. I remember how difficult it was for him to breath. Thanks for sharing.

[@jimbell4864]

Well done Hannah, from a retired Scottish coalminer

[@larrygallup5132]

If you have an interest in this,should you ever be in the Scranton Pa. area visit the Lakawanna mine,plan to spend some time as there is much to see,one can ride down the slope to around 350 feet underground into the old workings,when I was there some time ago the tour guides were often former miners,and each had his own stories to tell(sadly with the passing of time I fear they are becoming fewer and fewer,bless them for the contribution they made to this nation !) the museum is also well worth the seeing,and the two give a very good idea of what it was all about, on one of my trips below in the mine there was a group of vacationing Polish salt miners with us,listening to them compare notes,and swap stories with our former coal miner guide was priceless !

[@MrRp25]

I did that with my young son. He received an honorary coal miner certificate which we still have

[@butter7734]

Ashland also has the same.

[@Siren851]

Wonderful documentary, well presented. Hannah deserves an 'A'! Vic Minetola

[@vegas4dog]

That was a great video and very informative!! Thank you from a city-fied grandson of a Western Pennsylvania coal miner!!

[@amareshroy7732]

Video takes me to 1977 when I joined a coal mine underground in India. Enjoyed full.

[@themidnightracer9937]

I did this in my school as a project got all my information from the town i lived in .

[@butter7734]

I live in Anthracite region in Pennsylvania and we call open cast mines strip mines over here. We have quite a few abandoned ones filled with water.

[@_The_Worst_]

Great video...👍🏼 I'm happy to be more educated on these matters now...👌🏼💯✔

[@markjeffels3327]

This is very similar to what was going on in the goldmine towns here in Northern Ontario, Canada. It changed greatly after WW2!

[@daisysoup158]

My dad lived in a mining Town. My grand dad was a miner as were all my uncles. And most of my aunt's married miners. My grand dad was German my gramma was Irish my dad was the only brother didn't who never went down the mine. My Aunt Alice used to talk about how embarrassing it was got go to the company for credit. Oh their mine was in southwestern pa.

[@michelesoutherd3345]

Well-done! You did a great job of describing the work that was done and many of the issues of living and working in mines.

[@leeturner1838]

was your family from a coal town?

[@larryunsworth9573]

My great grandfather died when he set a charge that didn't go off. The foreman told him to go back in and fix it and when he entered the mine it exploded. He wasn't killed instantly and was brought to his house and laid out on his couch where he died. My family has been deep mine coal miners going back to Manchester England when they migrated here in the 1800's . My father broke the tradition along with his two brothers and stayed away from the coal mines.

[@erin19030]

Well done young lady .My folks were hard coal miners in Northeastern Pennsylvania

[@bradklingensmith]

It's been many moons since you did this, but, great job.

[@ravindertalwar553]

Congratulations 👏 and Love ❤️ for this Wonderful presentation

[@julies1ify]

Great Job, very informative ! I went on a mine tour in Beckly WV with a former miner as the guide, what great & disturbing stories he had, well worth the money

[@franniebayne6470]

My Pop was a coal miner back in the mid 20s in and around the Allegeny River. MANY years ago when we went back to PA, he took me into a few of the mines that were still running, and they happened to be the ones he worked in back then. I’m sure Thankful he didn’t have Black Lung, but he did loose many friends back then.

[@marchevka22x]

Not too many mines left on the Allegheny River these days ...the Logansport mine, Clinton mine, and Kelly's stations mines - all Rosebud - have been closed. I think some of the last original mines going were at Cadogan and Logan's Ferry.

[@johnste]

You did a LOT of work! Well-organized. I would have liked to have heard a little more about the health conditions - black lung and its many synonyms, leptospirosis, etc. Most of my male coal miner ancestors died from 'black lung', and the gov't finally gave benefits for black lung in the 60s. The best part was interviews of your relatives.

[@EverPaintP]

"You load 16 tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in dept..."

[@Kittydoc90]

Well done-very informative in a compact presentation. And there's nothing like hearing it from someone who has a real connection to the subject matter.

[@tayninh69]

A very informative presentation, nice work.

[@ronaldbobeck1026]

My great grandfather, grandfather and father. Were Anthracite coal miners from the Wyoming Valley of NEPA. The towns of Edwardsville ,Larksville,

[@aimeedomines5717]

This was an Awesome video Hannah!! I am from NE PA and live in NM now. I want you to know that I am using this to show my students about coal mining. Thank you for taking time to create such a great video! I am sure your teacher was very impressed with your work!! Excellent job and thank you so much for sharing!!

[@wvwoodslabs3018]

Very informative and well thought out! Thank you......

[@randygenasetzer9130]

My dad was a miner in Herndon, wv. He had black lung. We moved to nc in 87 due to no work, he died in 2005 , he had moved back to wv just 9 years prior

[@hidhawkes]

I’m from Canada. I just travelled through Virginia and West Virginia. I was wondering what kind of rock was black I could see in layers while driving on hwy 77. Then it occurred to me. Wow that’s coal. Not to long after I saw what I think was a mine before I drove through Charleston. West Virginia is has a rugged beauty.

[@Milleymusic]

Great job Hannah ! I grew up in a coal town and company house and you hit the spike right on the head.

[@michaelbragg6903]

Terrific documentary. I live in a mining town in southern West Virginia that was established by a man named Thomas McKell called Glen Jean.

[@ryr1974]

I see it is a few years since you produced this video but I just discovered it today and wanted to say how interesting I found it. I was named after my mother's Father who was a miner in the central PA area and died before I was born. He had gone blind and died from black lung disease. While I was raised with stories from my mother and grandmother I haven't heard much about the life of the men in the mines. Thanks for your help with the life of men in the mines and the different methods used

[@leeturner1838]

where in central pa?

[@ryr1974]

@@leeturner1838 My mom mostly remembers when they lived in Mahonoy city but they lived in some otherpatches before that. The maternal line started out on Potstown-- My dads side of the fiamily where more involved in the iron production and where much more the management group they mostly worked for others but tahts side did own a smelting furnace for a brief time i forget the name but it is on the western nend of the yellow breaches river right where it runs into a man made lake. there was a train that went through near there and tyook you up towards Gretna with lots of vacation spa related spots along the way - reteraunt- nature trais dance halls. The furnace was right there. The first house she remembers was in a company town and every one got a house with packed earth floors and no glass or screeens in teh windows you also got an out house bbut had to didg your own lutrine. Houses had two rooms and a stove for cooking and heat cenyered on the dividing wall. She says they found it rather posh because they had a special new model where teh water pump wwas ;located inside and drained into the kitychen sink oooo lal la

[@leeturner1838]

@@ryr1974 ok

[@WootTootZoot]

Back in 1975, I was driving through Pennsylvania and got off the Freeway looking for gas. I ended up driving through what looked like an old coal company town. The town was all but closed up, and I didn't find anyplace open to get gas so I got back on the Freeway to look for another town. When I stopped at the next town for gas, I asked the gas station guy about the town. He said he wasn't exactly sure about the history of the area get the name of the town and have often times wondered more about its history since he's just moved there, but told me a bit about the company towns that still existed in the area. I completely forgot to get the name of the town, and have tried a couple times on Google Earth to find it without any luck. The town was set in a hollow, basically with most of the buildings on one side of the street. The buildings were old and had no paint and the wood on them looked blackened by age and the dampness of the climate of the area. All of them seemed they were closed up, maybe even empty. It was an odd but peaceful place, seemed like there was a nice enough life there at one time but was somehow just bleak enough to not be a place many people would want to stay. Still, I found the place fascinating, but wish I had had more time to explore the area. Now I'm way out west and really can't get there. Anyway, it's a fascinating history of how these towns existed and how people lived there. Thanks for the work you did on your documentary.

[@marchevka22x]

What part of PA were you in? I79 has a section like this just North of Morgantown, WV.

[@yauwohn]

I grew up in a city with several large coal mines and surrounded with coal mines, we were lucky though when we left school in the early 1960's. we had several large industries we could pick and choose to work at. I chose to sign on as an apprentice elec at one of the coal mines. Our coal mines were owned by the government, so we had the best equipment and training available, plus stiff mining regulations to keep us safe.

[@acousticengineer]

Very good, and very interesting indeed. Thanks for posting this :)

[@devwreck192]

Excellent work. Very informative.

[@kickthecan6253]

Coal. Mining. Is. The. Most. Interesting. Industry. There. Ever. Was. . All. Of. The. Coal. Mining. Museums. Is. Proof. Of. It .

[@reathpd]

Thank you. Very informative.

[@9567kwik]

Very well done. Thank you.

[@marcoceccarelli6415]

my grandfather was an immigrant from Italy who died in the coal mines in Scranton PA they placed his dead body on my grandmother's porch the mining companies did not care at all about you

[@novemberjohn]

Awesome job.

[@gilley27030]

Wonderful video!

[@husbandandwifeteam]

Very well done!!

[@taylorarcher9691]

That would suck having to by own tools and losing them... I always find my tools underground...

[@turtlemcclintock5321]

Well done.

[@whitbywv]

Well done!

[@ilililhy1]

Life working in any mine was and is now, hard work,just in my county, Silica sand mines are still all over and many many people died because of beathing the fine sand dust as it filled their lungs, there was no way to get it out,they use silica sand for Glass Making.

[@mikelawson1730]

It was a great video and being brought up and raised in one of these towns I can say that you did a fantastic job. I would like to ask if they still teach that global warming is caused by smog. I would suggest some more research into objective environmental causes of global warming since it is caused by a natural process. They were worried in the 1970's about the comming of a second ice age. But I do not know if public schools have updated there text books. Please comment about textbooks.

[@melvynmills7461]

good work

[@Ilovechocolatelabs]

A++

[@navajo6931]

Sorry to heard this

[@Midnight9400]

I'm trying to do a project on Coal towns too. Where did you find all of your information?

[@zacktube100]

Midnight9400 Just curious, did you get anywhere with you project? I thought about it, too.

[@PntrGrl]

check the mines in Logan County, WVA

[@m3k886]

I used to live in waterman village pennsylvania

[@seekthetruth2862]

Couldn't watch it all....the music was drowning out the voice.

[@jonimichalski69]

Pennsylvania

[@greenspiraldragon]

Open pit mine or mountaintop removal causes the most damage and provides the least amount of jobs, guess which types of jobs the coal company pushes for.

[@kimobrien.]

The ones that pay the least and produce the most.

[@carlosphillips8447]

It don’t take much to make a ton if you don’t believe me grab your shovel

[@johnanthonyalberola6252]

Nanticoke pa

[@GrumblingGrognard]

Remember Ludlow: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Znete6mgZ6ykr5I

[@patrickbentzley3618]

Watched😰😰😰😰

[@derail14]

woo bathing only 1 time a week--those peeps must have had the BO really bad.

[@robbob5318]

Robert you sound like a little girl

[@taubro]

Wow, aren't you clever

[@johnnyb3376]

smithsonian daNIEL BOONE

[@jeffhise4482]

Good up to the global warming crap

[@greenspiraldragon]

All the science backs up the claims that global warming is real and man-made. Yet some people still stick their heads in the sand and fight tooth and nail to destroy the planet.

[@dwaynemathias3834]

@@greenspiraldragon Here is the real motivation for the "global warming alarm". kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2TLeZxqqN6frqc

[@jocelynbey5944]

@@greenspiraldragon All the science backs up the claims that access to cheap, reliable, dependable energy and transportation - all of which depend upon fossil fuels - have increased the average lifespan of industrialized humans from 30, 200 years ago, to 80 years today. No amount of fear-mongering, half truths and propoganda come close to this advance.

[@jocelynbey5944]

@@greenspiraldragon I'm proud to "stick my head in the sand" and "fight tooth and nail to destroy the planet." I know that those things - which others might call living life with electricity and cars - have resulted not only a great increase in lifespan, but also in a much greener planet over the 1/3rd of a century you have been pushing the chicken little sky is falling hysteria. I also know that heat increase is not linear with CO2. In other words you need to create a tremendous amount of suffering in order to get very little gain.

[@tommyhatcher3399]

Too much of a female angle on this. Too emotional for all the wrong reasons. Those men were heroes. Not victims.

[@boknows3841]

Sounds like a school book report. Dumb

[@vincentlussier8264]

There was much less known about mining in those days wheather it was mining for coal, asbestos, diamond, gypsom and thousands of other metals and gems the depths of the earth produced over millions of years of geological process.Temperature deep below can be unbearably hot and gases can be deadly. Many times mines have caved in trapping miners inside but with todays technology accidents have been minimised but even so,it is dangerous work!