Carrying Coal to Columbus: Mining in the Hocking Valley

by David W Meyers, Elise Meyers Walker, Nyla Vollmer

As early as 1755, explorers found coal deposits in Ohio's Hocking Valley. The industry that followed created towns and canals and established a new way of life. The first shipment of coal rolled into Columbus in 1830 and has continued ever since. In 1890, the United Mine Workers of America was founded in Columbus. Lorenzo D. Poston became the first of the Hocking Valley coal barons, and by the start of the twentieth century, at least fifty thousand coal miners and their families lived and worked in Athens, Hocking and Perry Counties. Authors David Meyers, Elise Meyers Walker and Nyla Vollmer detail the hard work and struggles as they unfolded in Ohio's capital and the Little Cities of Black Diamonds.

Genres: History

176 pages, Paperback

Published February 13, 2017

Reviews

[Paul Lunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Meyers, Elise Meyers Walker & Nyla Vollmer are the authors of "Carry Coal to Columbus: Mining in the Hocking Valley". This 2017 work examines more of the coal industry that was prevalent in that part of Southeast Ohio but also how this vital mineral was actually transported to other parts of the state. It also gets into how the financiers used their resources to influence just how the railroad lines would be created and used to eventually have the coal transported toward the Great Lakes as well as into parts of West Virginia. We the reader though also get a look at some of the disasters that happened in the state especially where regulations weren't out there to protect these workers especially in the latter part of the 19th century as well as the history of these towns which went from boom to bust and struggle into the 21st century.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at my local library. Was a great book that had a lot of research and information in it. It told an awesome story of history, and I learned a lot about Hocking Valley and the Coal Industry in Ohio.