C&O Buffalo Creek Subdivision

Part 1: The Buffalo Creek Branch

Part 2: The Towns Along the Line

Man:

The Buffalo Creek Subdivision begins at Man, West Virginia, joining with the Logan Subdivision. The only mining operation to exist within the vicinity of Man was the aptly named Man Mining Co. which operated from 1922 to 1926. One of the larger communities, Man had a population of 759 as of the 2010 census but at one time housed ten thousand. Before the Buffalo Creek Branch was built, Man was known as Buffalo City. The February 15th, 1924, edition of the Logan Banner states that the origin of the name "Man" simply came to be because of a disgruntled government worker who, in an apparent protest of a thankless job, decided to give the location the odd name "Man". There has also been speculation that the name comes from former West Virginia senator Ulysses HinchMAN but this is not confirmed. The C&O station at Man was constructed in 1913 although the Buffalo Creek Branch had begun construction a few years prior. The next community to the east of Man following Buffalo Creek is the small camp of Kistler. 

NOTE: A major source used in the creation of this page are the annual reports from the West Virginia Department of Mines. For the researcher, many of these early, pre-1925, reports follow the FISCAL year, meaning that these reports cover the time frame of June 30th, 19__ to June 30th, 19__. That means that while I may have a mine operating from 1913 to 1951 in my records, it may have actually begun operating as early as June 31st, 1912, or as late as June 30th, 1913. After 1925, it appears that the reports began following the typical Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st, year.

Kistler:

Following Buffalo Creek east, the subdivision passes through the town of Kistler, West Virginia. Unlike Man, Kistler housed multiple different coal operations, some lasting into the 1960s. During it's glory years, Kistler housed multiple company commissaries, a moving picture theater, and dozens of houses. The movie theater was built jointly by three of the earliest Kistler coal enterprises: The Eagle Island Coal Co., The Sekay Coal Co., and the Bengal Coal Co.  

The first coal company to mine and ship coal on the C&O at Kistler was the Deegans Coal Company. This company was organized on September 9th, 1913, naming W. E. Deegans, Thomas F. Bailey Jr., J. W. Hager Jr., Samuel Biern, and W. R. Fulton as incorporators. This was the first property owned by W. E. Deegans on Buffalo Creek. As noted in the 1912 -1913 edition of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Deegans Coal Co. operated with a daily capacity of 300 tons, a daily output of 100 tons, employing 9 laborers and 12 miners. The tipple for this mine was located on Kistler Bridge Road on the south side of Buffalo Creek. On February 3rd, 1914, the name of the company was changed to the Eagle Island Coal Company.  It should be noted that the name change could have occurred prior to the beginning of operations. This name reflects the Island Creek coal seam that was being extracted at Kistler. With ownership now passing to the Eagle Island Coal Co., the mine was officially named "Eagle Island". The mine would later be recorded as "Eagle Island No. 1" and "Kistler No. 1". The first year of operation under the Eagle Island banner, the mine produced 19,564 tons of raw coal. The Eagle Island Coal Co. built a small coal camp and commissary to support the operations of this mine. Operations continued under the Eagle Island name until June 30th, 1920, when the company was consolidated into the W. E. Deegans Consolidated Coal Company. Interestingly, annual tonnage reports continued to be recorded under the Eagle Island name until 1928 when the mine and tipple properties were transferred to the Buffalo Chilton Coal Company. Between 1929 and 1954, the Buffalo Chilton Coal Co. would continue to mine, process, and ship coal from their Kistler properties. Today, nothing is left from this operation.

The second company to mine coal at Kistler was the Bengal Coal Company. This company operated on the north side of Buffalo Creek which necessitated the Chesapeake & Ohio to build a small bridge across the river to reach the tipple. The company shipped their first ton of coal in 1915 and would continue to consistently ship until 1924 when the company was consolidated with the adjacent Basic Coal Company to form the Kistler Coal Company. The Kistler Coal Co. was officially chartered on January 29th, 1924, with an authorized stock value of $550,000. Incorporators were Philip B. Gibson, Walter M. Parker, Marie Gengenbacher, Neva Hurley Curtiss, and Bessie Huff. On March 16th, 1925, the Kistler Coal Company filed for bankruptcy due to "depressed prices and low market conditions" as reported in the March 26th, 1925, edition of Coal Age. The coal assets of the company were purchased by the Burgess Branch Coal Company that same year and this enterprise would operate both the former Bengal and adjacent Sekay Coal Co. properties in Kistler until 1926. From 1927 to 1929, the former Burgess Branch properties were operated by the West Virginia Southern Coal Company. In 1929, the assets of the West Virginia Southern Coal Co. were transferred to the Utilities Coal Company. This firm had operated two mines at Switzer on Main Island Creek since 1924. The Utilities Coal Co. had obtained a charter on October 2nd, 1923, with an authorized stock of $2,500. Incorporators were E. W. McCullogh, C. E. Seay, and L. M. Irving. The Utilities Coal Co. would operate the former Sekay Coal property until 1945 while the Bengal property lasted all the way into 1952. That year, the mine, now called "No. 62", was closed due to a $1.90 miner wage increase. Following the closure, the mine and tipple were idled until being restarted by the G & W Coal Company in 1954. An enterprise controlled by the Young Weeks Coal Company, this company would operate the mine and tipple only a few years. on June 14th, 1957, Mine No. 62, which had been in continuous operation since 1944, closed permanently. Following Young Weeks Coal's bankruptcy in 1957, a number of small coal operators shipped out of the tipple. Some of these companies include B & J Coal Co., Perry Coal Co., H. D. Coal Co., and Piney Coal Co. By 1964, the tipple and mine property were owned by the Susan Coal Company. The Susan Coal Co. operated a mine called "Buffalo Powelton" that shipped via the old No. 62 Tipple. This mine and some of the other one's operated by previous companies may have all been surface strip mining operations. Unfortunately, the Susan Coal Co. had limited success at this operation and the property was closed and sold off in 1967.  That year, the Spice Creek Coal Company took over operations but only operated a year before ceasing production permanently. After a turbulent decade, major coal mining had finally ceased in Kistler.

The third major coal mining company during Kistler's early days was the Sekay Coal Company. The Sekay Coal Co. tipple was constructed to the direct east of the Bengal Coal Co.'s tipple and required a bridge to be built crossing Bengal Hollow. Sekay Coal's Mine No. 1 shipped it's first ton in 1916 and by 1920 was producing around 40,000 tons annually. That same year, the company was renamed the Cunningham, Miller, & Enslow Company, reflecting the primary stockholders of the now defunct Sekay Coal Co. By 1923, the company had once again changed names, now known as the Basic Coal Company. The West Virginia Department of Mines for that year has the Basic Coal Co. operating two mines, fittingly called Sekay No. 1 and Sekay No. 2. In 1924, along with the Bengal Coal Company, the Basic Coal Co. was absorbed into the new Kistler Coal Company. As mentioned previously, this enterprise was short lived and was bankrupt the following year. From here on, the story of the former Sekay property is synonymous with the former Bengal Coal properties. The Sekay land ended up in the hands of the Burgess Branch Coal Company who operated it from 1925 to 1926. From 1927 to 1929, the operation was controlled by the West Virginia Southern Coal Company and designated as Mine No. 61. When the Utilities Coal Company took over in 1929, the No. 61, former Sekay Coal, property had its most productive years. In 1940, the mine produced a record 255,222 tons of coal. However, the good times were not to last as the entire property was idled by 1945. Unlike the former Bengal Coal property, the Sekay property was not as productive and was abandoned, permanently, by the end of World War Two.

Crown:

After passing through the small town of Kistler, the next community to the east is none other than Crown, West Virginia. Like many of the towns located on Buffalo Creek, Crown gets it's name from the first coal company that operated there. Although Crown hosted multiple different coal enterprises, no operation was still active by 1950. Before the Crown Coal & Coke Company began operations in 1913, the community was known as Lax. This name was apparently the surname for many of the founding members of the aforementioned coal company. Although Google Maps no longer refers to the community to the direct east of Crown as Lax, that name is still referenced by CSX timetables and crews.

The first company to operate in Crown was, unsurprisingly, the Crown Coal & Coke Company. On July 14th, 1911, the company was granted a charter in the state of West Virginia with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were John W. Lax, Fred Raybould, Plummer Lax, Eliza Lax, and Maud Reybould. That year, the company obtained a lease of 512 acres from the Del Carbo Coal & Coke Company. In 1913, the first year of operation, 27,730 tons of coal were shipped. The company was short lived as on July 1st, 1916, the operation was absorbed by the nearby Eagle Island Coal Company. The Crown property was the second mining operation owned by Eagle Island Coal, with the first Eagle Island property being located to the west in Kistler. Although production remained consistent into the early 1920s, in August of 1923, a disastrous fire destroyed the former Crown Coal & Coke tipple. The September 5th, 1923, edition of the Coal Trade Journal reports that all motors and mining equipment were also destroyed in this fire. It is believed that the Eagle Island Coal Co. did not rebuild the tipple and thus, the former Crown Coal & Coke property was presumably sold and divided, ending the story of one of Buffalo Creek's earliest producers.

Further east of the Crown property was the operation of the Low Ash Coal Company. On August 13th, 1914, the company was granted a charter in the state of West Virginia with an authorized capital stock of $20,000. Incorporators were G. I. Putnam, Ida L. Putnam, R. L. Carmichael, Ethel Carmichael, H. B. Summers, and Mary A. Summers. On December 15th, 1915, the company obtained a small lease from the nearby Avon Coal Company to begin coal production. In 1916, the firm produced their first ton of coal and was producing an average of 45,000 tons by 1920. 1924 was the last truly successful year with 58,371 tons produced and the West Virginia Department of Mines reported that the Low Ash Mine didn't produce any coal during 1925. The operation was reopened in 1926 but only produced around 3,500 tons and shut down permanently the following year. 

East of Low Ash was the last major operator in Crown, known initially as the H. B. Summers Coal Company. This firm was organized sometime in the early 1910s with an authorized capital stock of $20,000. Incorporators were M. A. Summers, Helen and May Summers, Harry J. Summers, and H. B. Summers. Note that the Summers were also involved in the creation of the Low Ash Coal Co. to the west. On June 8th, 1911, the H. B. Summers Coal Co. purchased 40 acres of coal rich land from landowner H. G. Burgess for mining purposes. The Summers mine developed by this company produced 11,000 tons of coal in 1913, the first year of operation. Between 1914 and 1915, the Summers property, now known simply as the Summers Coal Company, produced a total of 61,000 tons of coal. On May 15th, 1915, the Guyan Valley Coal Company was organized with an authorized capital stock of $25,000. Incorporators were P. E. Gallagher, A. D. Callahan, A. S. Canepa, O. J. Deegan, and O. Avis. Note that one of the incorporators was a member of the influential Deegan family. On June 1st, 1915, the Guyan Valley Coal Co. purchased the 40 acre lease from the Summers syndicate for $12,000. In the March 3rd, 1917, edition of the Black Diamond, it is reported that Guyan Valley Coal Co. was purchased by O. J. Deegan from W. R. Thurmond and his associates. The property was valued around $60,000 during the appraisal. Like many of Deegan's properties during this time, the Guyan Valley Coal Co. continued to operate relatively independently. This was until February 21st, 1921, when the company was officially absorbed into the W. E. Deegans Consolidated Coal Company. For whatever reason, possibly because the former Summers property was not very large, the operation was spun off in 1923. That year it was purchased by a new firm known as the Guyan Valley Fuel Company. This company was organized in 1922 with an authorized capital stock of $25,000. Incorporators were A. D. Callahan, P. M. Stone, J. D. Callahan, Dixon Callahan, and E. G. Prindle. Note that A. D. Callahan was an original incorporator of the Guyan Valley Coal Company when it was created in 1915. This company consistently produced around 35,000 tons annually at the former Summers property from 1923 until 1926. That year, the operation was idled indefinitely. There are no records of coal production at this location until 1929 when, for a singular year, the Callaway Eagle Coal Company produced 25,000 tons of coal. After this one year reactivation, it appears that mining at the former Summers property was finished. 

Accoville:

After Crown, we reach the community of Accoville, West Virginia. This town takes it's name from the Avon Coal Company, one of the earliest producers on Buffalo Creek. Interestingly, many sources claim that Accoville took its name from the nearby Amherst Coal Company but this is not true. Amherstdale to the east, which we will explore later in the "tour", can claim that right. Here at Accoville, the Chesapeake & Ohio built a short spur down the Right Fork of Buffalo Creek to serve the Avon Coal Co. tipple and later, Amherst Coal's Meredith operation. Interestingly, Accoville also hosted one of the larger lumber operations on Buffalo Creek, this being the Peytona Lumber Company. This firm operated a large sawmill and even had their own tramway. In 2020, Accoville housed 599 individuals. During the 1920s, this number was in the thousands.

The earliest coal mining firm to set up shop at Accoville was unsurprisingly the Avon Coal Company. On April 10th, 1911, the company was granted a charter in West Virginia with a capital stock of $100,000. Incorporators were A. Cunninghame, Dainle McLaren, Thomas M. Gregory, Lewis Doster, and W. E. DeLaney. On March 2nd, 1911, Prior to the granting of the official charter, the Avon Coal Company purchased a 1,464 acre lease of coal land from the Del Carbo Coal Company. Del Carbo Coal was organized all the way back on September 10th, 1910, but never produced any coal before the Avon sale. Along with the Del Carbo Coal lease, the Avon Coal group purchased an adjacent lease of 1,388 acres from the Buffalo Creek Coal & Coke Company. This gave the Avon Coal Company one of the largest coal reserves on Buffalo Creek. The first coal was mined and shipped in 1913 and by 1916, the Avon Coal Company had produced almost 300,000 tons of coal. On May 1st, 1916, the Avon Coal Co. was sold to W. E. Deegans, expanding his holdings on Buffalo Creek. Deegans renamed the Avon property as the Deegans Eagle Coal Company and continued production into the 1920s. In 1921, the Deegans Eagle Coal Co. was included in the creation of the W. E. Deegans Consolidated Coal Company, similar to what had happened with the Guyan Valley Coal Company in Crown. The Avon property under W. E. Deegan would be short lived, as reported in the January 16th, 1924 edition of The Coal Trade Bulletin, W. E. Deegans had sold all of his Logan County operations to George M. Jones and the Amherst Coal Company. This transaction probably occurred around January 1st of that year. Between 1924 and 1928, the former Avon Coal Co. property was operated by the Buffalo Creek Coal & Coke Company, now an Amherst Coal subsidiary. In 1929, the Amherst Coal Company officially took over the property and designated the facility as Amherst Mine No. 3. For approximately the next 25 years, Amherst No. 3 would continue to produce coal in Accoville until shutting down in 1955. Surprisingly, the tipple continued to stand into the late 1970s.

While the Avon Coal Company operated on Buffalo Creek's Right Fork, south of Accoville itself, the next coal operator produced in Accoville proper. On March 27th, 1914, the Litz Smith Coal Company was organized with an authorized capital stock of $40,000. Incorporators were A. L. Litz, R. R. Smith, J. B. Agee, J. G. McGuire, W. T. Spicer. This company produced its first pound of coal in 1915, mining 10,506 tons that year. The Litz Smith tipple was constructed just north of the modern day Buffalo Elementary School, on a spur line the Chesapeake & Ohio built. Later, this location would be mined by the Amherst Coal Company with their operation Mine No. 4H. Between 1915 and 1931, the Litz Smith Coal Co. operated here in Accoville. In 1931, they produced only 6,522 tons. Compare this to the highest output of 90,492 tons in 1927. After 1931, the mine was idled. The story doesn't end there as in 1934, the facility was purchased and reactivated by the Bertland Coal Company. From 1934 until 1938, the Bertland No. 1 Mine of the Bertland Coal Co. produced on average 65,000 tons annually. After 1938, no more records regarding mining activity at the Litz Smith property exist. It should be noted that Amherst Coal Company's No. 4H Mine, detailed below, operated very close to where the Litz Smith operation was.

Just east of the old Litz Smith operation, the most modern coal mining and loading facility in Accoville existed. This was Amherst Coal Company's No. 4H Mine. Operating in modern day Ruffner Hollow in Accoville, this facility opened on September 11th, 1964. This was a rather simple operation, coal was mined at No. 4H and was directly loaded onto rail cars without being processed. This unprocessed coal would then be transported to the Amherst No. 1 Cleaning Plant at Fanco for cleaning before being shipped out to customers. Amherst Coal was not the only operation to have a central cleaning plant for all of their mines, the South East Coal Company in Kentucky had a similar operation, as did U.S. Steel in Lynch, Kentucky. After the No. 1 Cleaning Plant closed in 1980, all raw Amherst coal was transported to the MacGregor Cleaning Plant at Slagle on Rum Creek. This includes coal mined at Amherst No. 4H. In 1981, the Amherst Coal Company was purchased by energy conglomerate Diamond Shamrock. Even with the merger, operations continued rather unchanged for the next couple of years. Amherst No. 4H was just about played out however, as 1982 was the last year of operation. The mine officially closed on April 7th, 1982.

Directly east of the modern Amherst 4H operation in Accoville was the relatively small Ruffner Coal Company. This company was organized sometime in February of 1914 with an authorized capital stock of $25,000. Incorporators were Martha D. Ruffner, R. Owyn Ruffner, C. L. Donevant, and W. W. White. This company produced its first ton of coal in 1915 and by 1917 had produced around 78,000 total tons. That same year, the company changed names to the Carbon Hill Collieries Company. The former Ruffner property was operated by the Carbon Hill Collieries Co. for only two years until ownership passed to the Arthur D. Cronin Coal Company. From 1920 to 1921, this company produced a total of 130,000 tons of coal. No records of continued mining at the Ruffner property exist, so it's fair to say that coal mining was done at this location.

Another business, but not a mining firm, that operated in Accoville during the early years was the Peytona Lumber Company. On August 15th, 1905, the Peytona Lumber Company was officially chartered under the laws of West Virginia with an authorized capital stock of $80,000. Incorporators were J. H. Burns, W. E. Smith, Green Smith, and John Smith. The company's first operation was located in the company town of Peytona in Boone County to the east of Accoville. The St. Louis Lumberman reports in the November 15th, 1913, edition, that the Peytona Lumber Co. was nearing completion on a new hardwood sawmill at Accoville on the newly built Chesapeake & Ohio Guyandotte Valley Branch. The Peytona Lumber group had actually agreed to a shipping contract with the C&O a few years prior, signed on September 1st, 1911. This agreement stated that all cut lumber from Accoville was to be shipped to Peytona's headquarters in Huntington, West Virginia, for further processing. The plant was still operating in 1922, but closed soon after due to an exhaustion of resources. Interestingly, the railroad utilized its own tramroad to access lumber down the Right Fork of Buffalo Creek. This tramway may have consisted, at least in part by, the C&O spur to the Avon Coal Company plant. I do not have any conformation of this though I do know the tramway went up Buffalo Creek's Right Fork. Accoville wasn't the only place the Peytona Lumber Co. operated a sawmill in Logan County. The company also had facilities in Omar and Christian to the west. 

Meredith:

Taking a quick detour from the main segment of Buffalo Creek, the community of Meredith, West Virginia, was located near the head of Buffalo Creek's Right Fork up Accoville Hollow. After passing the facilities of the Avon Coal Company near the mouth of hollow, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's Right Fork Branch continued another mile or so to the operations of Amherst No. 4. When this operation began, there were very few residents and even fewer buildings. Eventually people moved in to work at the Amherst plant and the little hamlet of Meredith grew. Today, little remains of Meredith, Amherst No. 4, or the people that once lived nearby.

In the early 1950s, the Amherst Coal Company was looking to increase coal production on Buffalo Creek's Right Fork. They controlled thousands of acres on the east side of the creek and needed a place to mine and load the raw coal for transport to the No. 1 Cleaning Plant at Fanco. The Amherst No. 3 Plant near the mouth of the creek was churning out hundreds of thousands of tons of coal every year and Amherst knew that to expand, they needed to construct a new mine and tipple. Thus, Amherst No. 4, and the town of Meredith, were brought into existence. In 1953, Amherst Coal's No. 4 Mine officially opened, producing a combined 255,639 tons with Amherst No. 3 to the north. In 1956, the first year Amherst No. 3 and No. 4's tonnage was reported separately, No. 4 at Meredith produced 374,149 tons of coal. This facility produced a few hundreds of thousands of coal annually until shutting down in 1966. However, mining was not finished in Meredith. In 1979, the Amherst Coal Co. opened a new mine, named Amherst No. 3B. The old wooden tipple was replaced with a small loadout connected to the mine using a large conveyer. This was a similar construction to the Amherst No. 4H plant in Accoville as well as the Lundale No. 2 plant in Craneco. Similar to the two aforementioned sister operations, Amherst No. 3B shipped raw coal to be processed at the No. 1 Cleaning Plant in Braeholm, and later, the MacGregor plant on Rum Creek. The mine only produced for a few years, shutting down in 1984 after producing a total of around half a million tons of coal. With the closure of this plant, the Right Fork Branch was abandoned and Meredith, losing it's reason for existing, faded away completely.

Braeholm:

Back to Accoville, heading east, the next community over is the small camp of Braeholm, West Virginia. This small hamlet owes its existence to the Amherst Coal Company which operated several mines here during the 1920s. Before Amherst's creation of the town, a few different coal operators called this area home. Apparently, the name Braeholm comes from a Scottish village that the Jones family descended from. For clarification, the Jones Family were the owners of the Amherst Coal Company. Today, Braeholm is part of the greater Amherstdale area. Other communities that often get sorted with Braeholm are Fanco, Becco, and Riley.

Heading east of Accoville, the first major coal operation in the vicinity of Braeholm was the Sherman Coal Company. This company originated in Ohio and had operated a mine in the Middleport, Ohio, area for a few years before expanding into West Virginia. On September 14th, 1911, the Sherman Coal Co. was officially organized with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were Jacob Sherman, J. Edward Sherman, G. E. Johnson, J. K. Gentry, and S. W. Price. In the October 25th, 1911, edition of the Coal Trade Journal, it is reported that the Sherman Coal Company was actively developing 1,500 acres of coal land on Buffalo Creek. On October 24th, 1911, the Sherman Coal Co. had purchased a lease of 150 acres of coal land from the Del Carbo Coal & Coke Company. In the Coal Trade Journal, it is reported that shipments were planned to begin in January of 1912. However, the first recorded ton was shipped in 1913 according to the West Virginia Department of Mines. In the July 24th, 1913, edition of the Manufacturers' Record, it is reported that the Sherman Coal operation, in what was then still called Accoville, had been absorbed by the Huddleston Coal & Coke Company. This company had been incorporated earlier in 1913 with an authorized capital stock of $100,000. Incorporators were J. A. Huddleston, W. W. White, H . N. Bertolet, G. S. Borden, and Dan A. Newman. In 1915, the Huddleston Coal & Coke Co. produced 60,000 tons of coal. In the February 5th, 1916, edition of the Black Diamond, it is reported that the Huddleston Coal & Coke Co. had been purchased by George M. Jones and consolidated into the Virginia Buffalo Coal Company. At this time, the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Amherst Coal Company, of which Jones was president. Tonnage from the former Huddleston mine was reported under the Virginia Buffalo banner until 1918. Beginning the next year, the Huddleston property was officially labelled an Amherst property, specifically as Mine No. 3. Don't get this confused with Amherst No. 3 in Accoville. These were two separate mines. The West Virginia Department of Mines continued to show output from Amherst's Mine No. 3 until 1924. Although there is no recorded production from this mine after that year, it can be assumed that the mine was combined with Amherst Mine No. 2. The April 24th, 1920, edition of the Black Diamond reports that the Amherst Coal Co. was planning to consolidate Mine No. 3 into the Mine No. 2 processing facility. This consolidation must have been completed around 1924. This arrangement was not unique to Mine No. 3 as there is record that coal from Amherst's Mine No. 1 in Amherstdale was similarly transported to the Mine No. 2 prep plant instead of its own tipple for processing and shipment. It should be noted, that before the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. was absorbed into the Amherst Coal Co., Amherst had it's own Mine No. 3 in Amherstdale. This mine was no longer producing independently by the time the Huddleston property was purchased and had probably been consolidated with Amherst No. 1. 

Continuing to follow Buffalo Creek east, the next producer is a familiar one. In the September 26th, 1911, issue of Fuel Magazine, it is reported that the Virginia Buffalo Coal Company had been organized with an authorized capital stock $25,000. The official organization date was July 11th, 1916. Incorporators were S. C. Minnich, W. C. Sharpe, B. W. Mock, E. S. Carr, and C. E. Bullard. Before the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. purchased the Huddleston Coal & Coke Company in Accoville, they operated their own mine in Braeholm. In 1913, the first year of operation, the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. produced 2,045 tons of coal. It is important to note that soon after incorporation, the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. came under the control of George M. Jones and the Amherst Coal Company. between December of 1915 and April of 1917, the mines of the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. were operating inefficiently, apparently due to the Chesapeake & Ohio's failure to provide coal cars.  Regardless, the Huddleston Coal & Coke Co. was absorbed by the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. in 1916, becoming Virginia Buffalo No. 2. Virginia Buffalo No. 1 was the original 1913 mine in Braeholm. In 1918, the Virginia Buffalo Coal Co. was officially merged into the Amherst Coal Company. That same year, the Virginia Buffalo No. 1 tipple at Braeholm was converted into a massive coal washing and preparation plant. However, the plant was still fed by coal from Virginia Buffalo No. 1, now called Amherst No. 2. By the mid 1920s, coal produced at Amherst Coal's No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 mines were all processed here, as well as the mines of the former Virginia Buffalo Coal Company. Between 1918 and March 1st, 1980, millions of tons of coal were washed at the former Virginia Buffalo No. 1 property. Except for Amherst's Lundale No. 1 plant, all coal mined along Buffalo Creek was processed at what would come to be known as Amherst's No. 1 Cleaning Plant. In 1942, after nearly thirty years of operation, Amherst No. 2 permanently closed. In 1957, the last of the Amherstdale mines, Amherst No. 1A closed as well. that meant that after 1957, all coal processed at Cleaning Plant No. 1 had to be transported by rail to be cleaned. With the end of direct mining at Fanco, the plant was repainted as the Amherst Coal Co. No. 1 Cleaning Plant. Due to the increased labor opportunities with the expansion of the No. 1 Cleaning Plant, a new community named Fanco sprung up. In, 1980, the Amherst Coal Co. decided to move all coal preparation facilities to the MacGregor Cleaning Plant at Slagle, West Virginia, on Rum Creek to the north. Thus, Cleaning Plant No. 1 was demolished and a small loadout was constructed for surface mining opportunities. Between 1984 and 1985, the Diamond Shamrock Coal Company, which had purchased Amherst in 1981, constructed a new flood loader on the former Virginia Buffalo No. 1 property. This replaced the small loadout built by Diamond Shamrock in 1981. This new loadout was named Fanco, after the surrounding community, and was one of the first unit train flood loaders in the state of West Virginia. This loadout transported coal mined and processed at the new Calvin Branch Surface Mine north of Braeholm. On September 30th, 1986, Diamond Shamrock sold all of its coal assets to Arch Mineral Corporation for $135 million. In 1990, Arch Mineral's Fanco Loadout was transporting coal from the Ruffner Surface Mine, renamed from Diamond Shamrock's Calvin Branch Surface Mine, as well as the Wylo Surface Mine in Lundale to the east. The Wylo Mine was a modern reincarnation of Amherst Coal's Lundale No. 3A Surface Mine up Dingess Branch. Around 2003, the Ruffner Surface Mine was expanded and subsequently renamed the Guyan Surface Mine. The Wylo Surface job had shut down around 1999. In 2005, Arch Coal, Inc., the successor of Arch Mineral Corporation, sold its Logan County operations to the Magnum Coal Company. Although Fanco, consisting of the preparation plant and flood loader, were now owned by the Apogee Coal Company, LLC, a direct subsidiary of Magnum Coal, the Guyan Surface Mine continued to be operated by Arch. Beginning in 2007, both Fanco and the Guyan Mine were owned by Apogee Coal, and congruently, Magnum Coal. In 2008, the Magnum Coal Co. was purchased by the Patriot Coal Corporation, this included the Guyan Surface Mine and Fanco Prep Plant and Loadout. Patriot was a Peabody Energy spinoff that had been created to operate Peabody's Appalachian properties. In 2015, Patriot spun off its Logan County properties as a restructuring move to try and prevent impending bankruptcy. This move was unsuccessful as Patriot went bankrupt in 2016. Regardless, the Logan County properties were purchased by Blackhawk Mining, LLC and operated under their subsidiary, Guyandotte Mining, LLC. Officially, Blackhawk only owned the Fanco loadout and preparation plant as the Guyan Surface Mine had passed into the hands of the ERP Environmental Fund, Inc. This company was a state sponsored coal operator that operated surface mining operations with the intention of environmental restoration after mining ceased. Mining at the Guyan Surface property consistently slowed down after 2015, ceasing altogether in 2019. That year, with the main supplier permanently closed, Blackhawk idled the Fanco Prep Plant and Loadout. Today, the old 1985 flood loader still stands at Braeholm but is in disrepair. It is unknown if coal trains will ever load at Fanco ever again.

Travelling back in time, across Buffalo Creek from Virginia Buffalo No. 1 once existed the Buffalo Eagle Colliery Company. In the November 13th, 1913, edition of the Manufacturers' Record, it is reported that the Buffalo Eagle Colliery Co. was organized with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were G. S. Borden, H. M. Bertolet, and D. A. Newhall among others. The tipple was constructed on the north side of Buffalo Creek which required the C&O to build a bridge and spur to the facility. Since no town existed across from Braeholm at this time, the company town of Becco, West Virginia, was created to house workers of the Buffalo Eagle Colliery Company. 9,500 tons of coal were produced in 1914, the first year of operation. Production continued uninterrupted until January 29th, 1922, when the Buffalo Eagle Mines, Inc. was organized to take over the operations of the Buffalo Eagle Colliery Co. This new firm was organized with the authorization to issue 2,000 shares worth an arbitrary value. Incorporators were Thomas B. Jackson, J. C. Morrison Jr., Herman L. Bennett, S. P. Richmond, and L. G. Summerfield. P. J. Riley was president and headed the company for almost its entire existence. In 1950,  the Buffalo Eagle Mines, Inc. closed down due to a depletion in reserves. However, P. J. Riley formed his own firm, the Riley Coal Company, to continue operating at this property. There is record of production from 1951, 1952, and 1953, but after that year, the operation didn't produce again until 1959. Presumably, after the last gasp that year, P. J. Riley finally called it a career and mining ceased at Becco.

Amherstdale:

Continuing passed Braeholm, the next town follows the trend of Amherst Coal Company dominance. Named Amherstdale after Amherst Coal, this town hosted the company's first mining facility along with mines from other companies. Unlike a number of communities, by the mid 1950s, Amherstdale was still booming will coal activity. Today, 350 people call Amherstdale home. Unlike a lot of other Buffalo Creek hamlets, Amherstdale continues to operate a post office. Like many Buffalo Creek locations, Amherstdale was devastated by the Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972.

The first company to operate any sort of mining facility in Amherstdale was unsurprisingly the Amherst Coal Company. Amherstdale had the distinction of hosting the Amherst Coal Co.'s first mine and was also the company's headquarters for many years. The February 1st, 1912, edition of the Manufacturers' Record reported that the Amherst Coal Company had been organized with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were George M. Jones, W. R. Thurmond, James I. Montgomery, J. S. Thurmond, and C. T. Thurmond. Yes, that is the same W. R. Thurmond mentioned many times previously. Interestingly, the location of organization was recorded as Red Star, West Virginia. This area is where the Thurmond Family lived. Anyways, On May 1st, 1912, the Amherst Coal Co. purchased 1,077 acres of coal land from the Hector Coal Land Company. This land was located west of Robinette at what would become Amherstdale. In 1913, the first year of operation, the company produced 8,980 tons of coal. Meager beginnings for a company that would soon be one of the largest coal producers in the entire state. The Amherst Coal Co. got its name from the birthplace of its founder George M. Jones. Mr. Jones had been born on a farm in Amherst County, Virginia, prior to his migration to West Virginia. By 1918, the Amherst Coal Co. operated three mines, all in the vicinity of Amherstdale. All the coal from these openings were shipped from the Mine No. 1 tipple in Amherstdale. In 1919, the property of the adjacent Virginia Buffalo Coal Company was absorbed into the Amherst Coal Company and the rest is history. Just looking at the property at Amherstdale, following the merger, all coal from Amherst's original No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 mines in Amherstdale were shipped by tramway for processing at the Mine No. 2 plant in Braeholm. To prevent confusion, the original No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 mines at Amherstdale were consolidated, and after 1918, known only as Amherst No. 1. The last opening at Amherstdale considered part of Amherst No. 1 closed in 1957.

Across Buffalo Creek from Amherst Coal's No. 1 Mine in Amherstdale was the operation of the Prockter Coal Company. On June 8th, 1915, the Prockter Coal Co. was incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were Walter Prockter, John A. Kelly, A. J. Dalton, W. T. Jones, and J. H. Steidel. Prior to official incorporation, on April 29th, 1915, this company acquired 628 acres of coal land from the Altizer Coal Land Company on the north side of Buffalo Creek in Amherstdale. In the January 15th, 1916, edition of the Coal Trade Bulletin, it is reported that the Prockter Coal Co. had contracted with the Fairmont Mining Machinery Company for the construction of a modern tipple in Amherstdale. As reported in the February 12th, 1916, edition of the Black Diamond, on February 1st, 1916, the Prockter Coal Co. shipped its first ton of coal. In 1916, the company produced 41,071 tons of coal from their No. 1 Mine and No. 2 Mine. Similar to what had been done for the Bengal Coal Company and the Buffalo Eagle Colliery Company, to reach the tipple of the Prockter Coal Co., the Chesapeake & Ohio built a trestle across Buffalo Creek. It should be noted that the backing interests for this company were the same interests funding the Main Island Creek Coal Company in Omar to the west. This included John Laing of the Wyatt Coal Company. In the November, 1919, edition of The Coal Industry, the stockholders of the Prockter Coal Co. were planning a major consolidation of their Logan County interests. It does not appear that this merger ever occurred as the Prockter Coal Co. remained independent a number of years after this proposal. The Prockter Coal Company, like many of the other Buffalo Creek producers in the early 1920s, paid Don Chafin and his cronies to control strikes to maintain production. These violent tactics culminated in the infamous Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. In the December 1st, 1921, edition of the Manufacturers' Record, it is reported that the Prockter Coal Company was investing $250,000 into a new, updated, tipple at Amherstdale. This was presumably due to the Prockter Coal Co. having purchased more coal lands. In the June 13th, 1923, edition of the Black Diamond, it is reported that the Prockter Coal Co. now encompassed a total of 2,980 acres of coal lands. Earlier that year, on January 10th, 1923, the Prockter Coal Company, as well as two other adjacent companies, were sold to the Guyan Eagle Coal Company for $10.00 and "other considerations". This "merger" was simply a reorganization tactic as the Main Island Creek Coal Company, which had been intertwined with the Prockter Coal Co. since the beginning, was consolidating subsidiary operations to cut costs. This is similar to what the Amherst Coal Company was doing across Buffalo Creek. These two companies unsurprisingly were fierce competitors. The two other companies included in this "sale" were the Prockter Eagle Coal Company and Madne Coal Company, both located in Robinette to the east. At the time of Guyan Eagle purchase, the Prockter Eagle Coal Co. operated on 1,424 acres of coal land while the Madne Coal Co. operated on only 70 acres. In 1926, a modern tipple was built in Amherstdale after the older Prockter Coal Company tipple burned down. With the construction of this tipple, the mines of the Guyan Eagle Coal Co. were renamed with the Prockter Coal property becoming the Guyan Eagle No. 1 complex. The first year of this new arrangement, the No. 1 Mine produced 261,294 tons of coal. In 1928, a new mine was opened adjacent to the former Prockter Coal property. Named Mine No. 3, this mine along with the No. 1 Mine would become the main producers in Amherstdale for years to come. In 1930, the two mines produced a combined 542,508 tons of coal. After decades of productivity, Mine No. 3 churned out its last ton of coal in 1954. On February 1st, 1959, another major change befell the Guyan Eagle No. 1 plant. The Guyan Eagle Coal Company was purchased by the Island Creek Coal Company. Operations remained relatively unchanged under the Island Creek banner with tonnage continuing to be reported under the Guyan Eagle name. The facility survived the devastating Buffalo Creek flood in 1972, but Mine No. 1, which had been operating for almost 60 years, was nearing its end. In 1978, that end came and the Guyan Eagle Mine No. 1 was officially closed. During the glory years of Guyan No. 1, the Guyan Eagle Coal Company was one of the top ten producers in all of West Virginia. The vast reserves of Buffalo Creek become apparent when one realizes that two of the top ten producers had their main facilities right next to each other. Amherst Coal in Braeholm and Guyan Eagle Coal in Amherstdale.

Robinette:

After passing through Amherstdale, the next town up Buffalo Creek is Robinette, West Virginia. Robinette is one of the oldest communities on Buffalo Creek, predating even the earliest coal producers. Thus, many of the early producers, such as Amherst Coal, had their original listed address in Robinette. Unlike Amherstdale to the west, Robinette never featured any major coal operations, but a few companies did exist, mostly in the early days. Robinette is home to some 567 people as recorded in the 2020 U.S. Census. Like many communities on Buffalo Creek, Robinette was once home to thousands of miners and their families.

The first coal producer in Robinette was the Prockter Eagle Coal Company. In the December 28th, 1916, edition of the Manufacturers' Record, it is reported that the Prockter Eagle Coal Co. was organized with Henry D. Hatfield as president and Walter Prockter as Manager. This company was organized with an authorized capital stock of $100,000 and had an estimated daily production of 1,000 tons. As discussed in the previous chapter, the Prockter Eagle Coal Co. was another subsidiary of the Wyatt Coal Company. The Wyatt Coal Co. was the same firm which controlled the Prockter Coal Company in Amherstdale. At one point, there were four companies, all mining a specific coal seam in Amherstdale and Robinette, that were controlled by the Wyatt Coal Company. These were the Prockter Coal Company and Prockter Winifrede Coal Company of Amherstdale, and the Prockter Eagle Coal Company and Madne Coal Company of Robinette. I did not include the Prockter Winifrede Coal Co. in the Amherstdale chapter because the tonnage from this company was always reported under the Prockter Coal Co. Back to Robinette, in the first year of production in 1917, tonnage from the Prockter Eagle Coal Co. was reported under the Prockter Coal Co. name. It wasn't until 1918 when tonnage from the Prockter Eagle Coal Co. was reported independently. In 1923, the Prockter Eagle Coal Co. was sold to the Guyan Eagle Coal Co. along with the Prockter Coal Co. and the Madne Coal Co. In 1924, the Guyan Eagle Coal Co. reported tonnage from the former Prockter Eagle Coal Co. under the Prockter Eagle name. However, in 1925, the mine was changed to simply No. 3. From 1926 to 1928, the name of the mine was changed once more, this time to the No. 2 Mine. After 1928, there are no further production records from the former Prockter Eagle property. A Chesapeake & Ohio track diagram from the 1930s lists the track in Robinette that once housed the Mine No. 2 tipple as "abandoned".

Located just to the east of the Prockter Eagle Coal Company tipple was the property of the Madne Coal Company. Like the Prockter Eagle Coal Co., this was another company controlled by the Wyatt Coal group. In the November 9th, 1916, edition of the Manufacturers' Record, it is reported that the Madne Coal Company had been incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were G. C. Garred, Frank Enslow Jr., M. I. Stafford and others. Note the inclusion of Frank Enslow Jr. He was also a majority stockholder in the Sekay Coal Company over in Kistler. Between the first year of operation in 1917 until 1919, coal mined by the Madne Coal Co. was reported under the Prockter Coal Co. and later, Prockter Eagle Coal Co. Beginning in 1920, the tonnage mined by the Madne Coal Co. was officially reported under the Madne Coal name. In 1922, the last year of independence before the Guyan Eagle sale, 16,696 tons of coal were processed at the Madne property. In 1923, like what had occurred with the other Wyatt properties, the Madne Coal Co. was "sold" to the Guyan Eagle Coal Company. Between 1923 and 1924, the former Madne Coal Co. property was operated by Guyan Eagle as their Madne Mine. There are no records regarding this property after 1924 and it is probable that the mine either played out or was combined with the nearby Prockter Eagle property to form Guyan Eagle Mine No. 2. 

Latrobe:

After stopping at Robinette, the next community up Buffalo Creek is Latrobe, West Virginia. This name presumably chosen based off the Pennsylvania coal town of the same title. Latrobe was another Amherst Coal stronghold in the early days and was operated by Amherst's subsidiary the Lundale Coal Company. With the expansion of the community of Crites to the east, which will be explored later, Latrobe began to fade away. When the Lundale Coal Co. retreated in the 1920s, Latrobe virtually disappeared. Today, little is left of this community, although the name still appears, although in an incorrect location, on Google Maps.

The first, and only, major producer in Latrobe was the Lundale Coal Company. Although the firm's main operation was to the east in Lundale, West Virginia, a second mine was developed at Latrobe. In 1918, the end of the mine's first fiscal year of operation, 20,424 tons of coal were produced. In the April 24th, 1920, edition of the Black Diamond, it is reported that the Lundale Coal Co. was planning on upgrading the facility at Latrobe to produce an estimated 1,000 tons of coal a day. However, in 1921, the mine only produced a meager 7,090 tons of coal. When the Logan County Coal Corporation absorbed the Lundale Coal Co. on November 1st, 1922, the Lundale Coal Co.'s plant in Lundale was included but the Latrobe property was not. In 1923, the first year Lundale tonnage was reported under the Logan County Coal Corp. banner, the Latrobe Mine was not mentioned. It is likely that by this year, the Latrobe Mine had been consolidated with the Lundale No. 1 Mine to the east. 

Crites:

Just east of Latrobe, up the creek, lies the small hamlet of Crites, West Virginia. Built as a company town by the Logan Eagle Mining Company, this community continues to exist, albeit, with only a handful of residents left. As we travel further up Buffalo Creek, solitary camps like Crites pop up more often than not.

The only major producer to operate in Crites was the aforementioned Logan Eagle Mining Company. In the January 27th, 1917, edition of Coal Age, it is reported that the Logan Eagle Mining Co. had been organized with an authorized capital stock of $35,000. Incorporators were O. J. Deegans, A. C. McConaughey, Frank. H. Adams, E. H. Butts and S. E. Scholl. In 1918, the first fiscal year of production, the Logan Eagle Mining Co. mined 9,394 tons of coal. This company continued producing at a consistent rate until 1921, when the property was purchased by the Logan Island Creek Coal Company. This firm had been organized that same year with an authorized capital stock of $200,000. Incorporators were Charles Coryell, Charles A. Coryell, George MacPhail, R. F. MacPhail, and W. R. Lilly. Between 1921 and 1928, the Logan Island Creek Coal Company operated at Crites, producing around 70,000 tons of coal annually. After 1928, no records exist of the Logan Island Creek Coal Co. at Crites or any other succeeding firm.

Stowe:

After Crites, Buffalo Creek curves eastward towards the community of Stowe, West Virginia. Unlike Latrobe or Crites, Stowe featured extensive mining activity, hosting one of the most productive mines on Buffalo Creek in Guyan No. 4. Today, Stowe hosts a few remaining local residents and a big open space which once housed the aforementioned Guyan No. 4 Mine. The name Stowe comes from Mr. A. H. Stowe, an executive of the Long Flame Coal Company.

The first mining firm to operate at Stowe was the Long Flame Coal Company. In the June 13th, 1912, edition of the Manufacturers' Record, it is reported that the Long Flame Coal Co. had been incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. Incorporators were W. J. Pritchard, Jenkin Jones, E. S. Baker, and W. E. Reedy. During 1913, the first fiscal year of operation, the Long Flame Coal Co. produced 16,265 tons of coal. For being one of the earliest producers on Buffalo Creek, the Long Flame Coal Co. remained independent and corporately unchanged into the 1930s. In 1936, the last year of operation, the Long Flame Coal Co. produced 4,999 tons of coal. A small number compared to the 187,192 total mined in 1929. After 1936, no records regarding the Long Flame Coal Co. or any successor exist. However, this property wouldn't stay idle for long.

The second mining enterprise to operate in Stowe was a company we explored earlier, back in the Amherstdale chapter. This is the Guyan Eagle Coal Company, specifically, their Guyan No. 4 mine and preparation plant. A much more modern plant than the majority of Buffalo Creek's facilities, the No. 4 property was first opened in 1948, a dozen years after the Long Flame Coal Co. closed its doors. This mine was extremely productive and contributed to the Guyan Eagle Coal Co,'s position on the West Virginia coal producing leaderboards during the 1950s. In 1959, like the rest of the Guyan Eagle properties, Guyan Eagle No. 4 was sold to the Island Creek Coal Company. The mine remained productive, producing hundreds of thousands of tons of coal annually. In 1963, the facility produced 970,925 tons of processed coal. Unfortunately, similar to Guyan No. 1 in Amherstdale, by the late 1970s, the coal reserves at Guyan No. 4 were playing out. In 1979, the facility turned out its last ton of coal and closed permanently. Today, a large field occupies the location of the former Guyan No. 4 complex.

Lundale:

After passing through Stowe, the next town over is the community of Lundale, West Virginia. Lundale was significant as it housed the headquarters of the Lundale Coal Company and later, the Amherst Coal Company. During its heyday, Lundale boasted thousands of residents, numerous stores, and one of the most productive coal mines on Buffalo Creek. Today, Lundale still has a relatively healthy population although the town isn't nearly as prosperous as it once was.

The first mining firm to operate in Lundale was the Kohinoor Coal & Coke Company.  Not only the first operation in Lundale, but one of the first on Buffalo Creek. On June 6th, 1911, the Kohinoor Coal & Coke Co. was incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $60,000. Incorporators were Thomas J. Davis, George Ball, George Godfrey, Harrison Ball, and George J. Beddow. All of these individuals hailed from the anthracite region of Pennsylvania and were established coal men. Around the time of incorporation, the firm purchased a 2,043 acre lease from the Buffalo Creek Coal & Coke Company for a period of 40 years. In 1915, the company processed 108,798 tons of coal. On October 4th, 1915, the Kohinoor Coal & Coke Co. was sold to the newly incorporated Lundale Coal Company. In the November 1st, 1915, edition of the the Coal Mining Report, the Lundale Coal Co. is reported as having been incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $200,000. Incorporators were George W. Jones, George M. Jones, A. W. McDonald, V. E. Black, and O. P. Fitzpatrick. This company had purchased the Kohinoor Coal & Coke Co. prior to official incorporation. The first year of operation under the Lundale name, the former Kohinoor property yielded 105,283 tons of coal. Lundale No. 1 as it was known, would become a consistent six figure coal shipper, which was almost unheard of during the 1910s and 1920s. On October 30th, 1922, the Lundale Coal Co. was included in the creation of the Logan County Coal Corporation. This company was a consolidation of George M. Jones properties and consisted of the Lundale Coal Co. and three other coal enterprises. Between 1923 and 1951, the Lundale property was operated by the Logan County Coal Corp., a direct subsidiary of the Amherst Coal Co. Beginning in 1952, tonnage processed at the Lundale plant was reported under the Amherst Coal banner. Between April 1st, 1952, and June 1st, 1955, the mine was idle. This would be the only time period in the facilities existance where it was not producing prior to official closure. Starting in 1961, the Lundale plant became the Lundale No. 1 plant after a new facility was constructed up Dingess Branch Hollow known as Lundale No. 2. The Lundale No. 1 plant would continue operating until September 8th, 1978, when, after 66 years of operation, the mine was finally played out and was closed. 

Craneco:

After Lundale, the next stop up Buffalo Creek is the community of Craneco, West Virginia. The name "Craneco" comes from one of the original landowners on Buffalo Creek, the Cole & Crane Company. This company had extensive land holdings on Buffalo Creek with the intention of timber harvesting, not knowing that the true wealth of the area was underground. When the Buffalo Creek Branch was being built by the Chesapeake & Ohio, Craneco was chosen as the terminus. As time went on, various coal companies sprung up east of Craneco, necessitating the C&O to expand eastward. Surprisingly, Craneco never featured any major coal operators in the town proper, although Amherst Coal's Lundale No. 2 property was only a few miles away, up Dingess Creek Hollow. Craneco still features a post office and houses a couple hundred individuals.

The only major coal mining operation in the vicinity of Craneco was Amherst Coal Company's Lundale No. 2 operation. Like Amherst No. 4H in Accoville and Amherst No. 3B in Meredith, Lundale No. 2 was a more modern operation, producing its first ton of coal in 1961. Also like No. 4H and No. 3B, all coal mined at the Lundale No. 2 facility was transported to the central cleaning plant in Braeholm. When that plant closed in 1980, all unprocessed Craneco coal went to the MacGregor plant in Slagle on Rum Creek. Three different Amherst mines all funneled coal to the Lundale No. 2 plant throughout its life. These mines included the Lundale No. 2 Mine, the Lundale No. 3A surface mine, and the Amherst No. 5 Mine. When the Lundale No. 2 Mine closed in 1979, the plant was renamed Lundale No. 3A as that surface mine had just opened. In 1986, Diamond Shamrock sold their Logan County operations to Arch Mineral Corporation. With this sale, the Lundale No. 3A mine was renamed the Wylo Mine and coal preparation was consolidated with the company's operations at Fanco. Thus, the old Lundale No. 3A tipple was closed and soon demolished. The Wylo Mine continued operating into 1999.

Lorado:

Passed Craneco, the next town over is the community of Lorado, West Virginia. This town was owned and named after the major mine operation in the area, the Lorain Coal & Dock Company. Lorado reached the mainstream news in 1918 when a photograph of three young miners was published. This photo, illustrating the grittiness and struggles of miners in Appalachia, was used to further mining regulation and increased understanding of the tolls mining had on the citizens of coal mining communities. Photographers would later travel to other Logan County communities to photograph miner's struggle throughout the following decades. Today, Lorado still exists, and unlike other Buffalo Creek communities, mining continues to employ a number of Lorado citizens. Coronado Coal's Eagle No. 1 Mine at the mouth of Dingess Branch Hollow continues to extract raw coal processed at the Elk Lick preparation plant in Saunders to the east. 

The main coal facility to operate in Lorado was the Lorain Coal & Dock Co.'s Lorado No. 1 plant. On November 9th, 1908, the Lorain Coal & Dock Co. was chartered under the laws of Ohio with an authorized capital stock of $3,000,000. Incorporators were S. H. Tolles, M. A. Buckley, Charles M. Buss, A. E. Clevinger, and Gurdeon S. Holden. On December 30th, 1914, the company acquired a land lease of 5,000 acres from the Pardee Land Company with the intention of mining coal. 16,500 tons of coal were shipped from the company's first operation, Lorado No. 1, in 1915. When Lorado No. 1 was constructed between 1914 and 1915, the plant was at the terminus of the Chesapeake & Ohio's Guyan Valley Branch. When other mines sprung up west of Lorado No. 1, including Lorado No. 2, the branch was extended east. Unlike many other Buffalo Creek coal enterprises, the Lorain Coal & Dock Co. operated mines in other parts of Appalachia. Two of these facilities, listed in the 1915 edition of the Coal Field Directory, were located in Bridgeport, Ohio, and Crescent, Ohio, respectively. Crescent appears to be a ghost town now, but was located along the Baltimore & Ohio's mainline between Cumberland, Maryland, and Cincinnati, Ohio. The Lorain Coal & Dock Co. operated a large fleet of steamships that transported coal from the Eastern Ohio and Lorado mines to steel making facilities throughout the midwest. Unsurprisingly, the point of transfer from land to water was at Lorain, Ohio, on Lake Erie. Interestingly, in 1915, the Lorain Coal & Dock Co. was awarded the contract to supply 15,000 tons of coal to the Ohio State University. Although it is not confirmed, there is a very real chance that the coal set aside for this contract was mined at the Lorado properties. Regardless, on August 3rd, 1926, the Lorain Coal & Dock Co. spun off the Lorado properties into the newly organized Lorado Coal Mining Company. During the Lorado Coal Mining Co. days, the Lorado No. 1 plant would process coal from the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 mines. Coal from the No. 2 mine was processed further up the Creek at a separate facility. The complex thrived throughout the 1930s and during World War Two. However, with the end of the war in 1945, the demand for steel decreased which hindered the economic viability of the plant. In 1946, the last coal was extracted from the Lorado No. 1 and No. 4 mines and the tipple was closed permanently. However, the structure survived at least another dozen years, being clearly visible in a 1957 aerial image of Lorado.

Pardee:

Heading northeast passed Lorado, the next community up the creek is Pardee, West Virginia. Back in the 1920s, there was a branch built northwest along Toney Fork to the small mining community of Ario. We will explore this location in the following chapter. Pardee was named after Ariovistus Pardee, a railroad baron from Pennsylvania who also had extensive coal holdings in Logan County. Unfortunately, little of Pardee survives today as the majority of the town was annihilated during the Buffalo Creek flood of 1972.

The main coal operation that existed in the vicinity of Pardee was the Lorain Coal & Dock Company's No. 2 mine and tipple. This facility produced its first ton of coal sometime during the 1917 fiscal year. Paired with Lorado No. 1 in neighboring Lorado, West Virginia, this operation formed the backbone of the Lorain Coal & Dock Company's West Virginia properties for the first half of the 20th Century. In 1919, the first year production from this plant was reported independently, 167,087 tons of coal were processed and shipped. Much of this coal made its way to the Lake Erie town of Lorain, Ohio, where it was shipped by steamship to steel mills throughout the Midwest. On August 3rd, 1926, as is what happened to the Lorado No. 1 property, the No. 2 mine and tipple were spun off as a part of the Lorado Coal Mining Company. This new enterprise was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lorain Coal & Dock Company. In 1943, Lorado No. 2 had its most productive year, churning out 701,077 tons of coal. By the postwar years, the Lorado No. 2 property was nearing its end as its coal reserves were nearly depleted. In 1953, the plant officially closed after processing only 34,855 tons of coal. A miniscule amount compared to the 500,000 average of the 1940s. Similar to the Lorado No. 1 tipple, the No. 2 tipple survived well after its abandonment, lasting into the late 1960s.

Ario:

  At Pardee, a tributary of Buffalo Creek, known as Toney Fork, heads northeast up to the now extinct town of Ario, West Virginia. Similar to Pardee, the name Ario comes from Ariovistus Pardee, a once prominent landowner in the region. This company town was established by the Amherst Fuel Company, a direct subsidiary of the Amherst Coal Company. At one time, this operation, along with the adjacent 3 Forks Coal Company, were believed to contain recoverable coal reserves stretching into the millions of tons. Unfortunately, neither operation ended up following through with these beliefs due to poor ceiling conditions and other logistical issues. Today, nothing remains of this community except for some ruins.

The only mining operation to call Ario home was the Amherst Fuel Company's Toney Fork Mine. This facility was also known to be owned by the Toney Fork Coal Company which itself was a direct subsidiary of the Amherst Fuel Co. Both of these firms were directly controlled by George M. Jones and the Amherst Coal Company. In the April 15th, 1915, edition of the Coal Trade Bulletin, it is reported that the Amherst Fuel Company had been incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $100,000. Incorporaters were Goerge W. Jones, George M. Jones, Herbert E. Jones, E. J. Payne, T. H. Hooper. This company was initially created to act as a coal sales agent for the many George M. Jones properties such as the Amherst Coal Co., the Virginia-Buffalo Coal Co., and others. However, this was also the company that would end up directly controlling the Toney Fork Mine in Ario. In 1921, the first fiscal year of operation, only 1,990 tons of coal were processed and shipped. This number increased to 45,832 tons in 1922. On October 30th, 1922, the Amherst Fuel Company was included in the consolidated that resulted in the creation of the Logan County Coal Corporation. The Toney Fork property continued to produce at a consistent rate under the Logan County Coal Corp. banner, processing 100,919 tons of coal in 1925. However, as alluded too earlier, the Toney Fork mine had issues with poor ceiling issues which led to the property being uneconomical to operate. Thus, 1925, even with the six digit output, was the last year the Toney Fork mine was active. The Chesapeake & Ohio's Toney Fork Branch which had been built to specifically serve this mine was promptly abandoned with the loss of its only customer. 

Saunders:

  And just like that, we've reached Saunders, West Virginia, the last community up Buffalo Creek. Saunders has hosted a number of different coal operators throughout the years, including the most infamous. Located near this town was the Buffalo Mining Company's No. 5 plant where the Buffalo Creek flood of 1972 originated. Thanks to this man made disaster, little of Saunders exists today. Even with no residents left, Saunders continues to exist thanks to Ramaco Resources, Inc's Elk Lick Preparation Plant. This is the last active preparation plant on Buffalo Creek that continues to load trains. CSX calls the loadout this plant feeds "Pardee". Trains continue heading up Buffalo Creek to this plant just about every day.

The first mining operation to exist in the vicinity of Saunders was the 3 Forks Coal Company. This company operated similarly to the aforementioned Toney Fork Coal Company of Ario to the north. While the Toney Fork property was controlled by the Amherst Fuel Company, the 3 Forks Coal Co. was controlled by the Lundale Coal Company. All these firms mentioned were controlled by George M. Jones and the Amherst Coal Company. The property produced its first processed coal during the 1920 fiscal year, churning out 61,840 tons. In 1922, the company's last year of independence, the facility produced 278,083 tons. On October 30th, 1922, the company was absorbed into the Logan County Coal Corporation. After producing almost 300,000 tons in 1922, the property would face infrastructure setbacks limiting production. These issues culminated in the mine's official closure in 1927 after only 69,738 tons were shipped that fiscal year. Although mining ceased at Saunders after 1927, technological innovations would eventually lead to profitable mining in the area in the decades to come. After the Amherst Coal Company's failed experiments in and around Saunders, all the leased coal lands were sold to the Lorain Coal & Dock Company of nearby Lorado, West Virginia. The new owners of this land recognized the potential of this property and would soon be able to unlock it, creating a successful and long lasting operation that persists into the present day.

For 18 years, no major mining activity existed in Saunders. Then, In 1945, the Lorado Coal Mining Company opened the new Lorado No. 5 mine and tipple. This new facility existed just east of where the old 3 Forks tipple once sat. In the first fiscal year of operation, the plant produced just 19,080 tons of coal. This number increased to 135,775 tons the following year. With the closure of Lorado No. 1 in 1946 and Lorado No. 2 in 1953, Lorado No. 5 became the last major Lorain Coal & Dock Co. property in Logan County. Wierdly, after 1955, there are no recorded output numbers for the No. 5 mine until 1964. During this time, the Lorado Coal Mining Co. opened a number of new mines in and around Saunders that could have shipped out of the No. 5 plant. These were the Lorado No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, No. 10, and No. 10B mines. In 1964, the Lorado Coal Mining Co. was purchased by the Pittston Company, a coal operator originally from Pennsylvania. Pittston continued to utilize the Lorado name for the No. 5 property in Saunders. In 1972, the Lorado No. 5 Mine officially closed. However, the tipple continued operating, processing coal from the No. 5A mine which had been opened in 1965 as well as a number of other smaller local mines. On February 26th, 1972, the dam on Buffalo Creek's Middle Fork that had been holding the refuse from the No. 5 and No. 5A mine burst, flooding the valley, killing 124 people and leaving over 5,000 homeless. Pittston, being found guilty of not properly reinforcing the dam, famously claimed the failure was an "Act of God". Unbelievably, the No. 5 plant was rebuilt and continued operating until 1993. All though future mining prospects seemed bleak here in Saunders, a third operation, one which still exists today, would come around only a dozen years later.

In 2005, Appalachian Fuels, LLC, a coal operator from Kentucky, purchased the Logan County assets from the bankrupt Pittston Company. By 2006, a new plant had been constructed near to where the old No. 5 plant once stood. This new preparation plant, simply called the Saunders Prep Plant, fed processed coal to the a new loadout, called the Elk Lick Tipple, which itself was located about half a mile west of the prep plant. CSX called this loadout "Pardee" after the nearby town of Pardee. In 2006, two mines fed into the Saunders Prep Plant. These were the WV-3 Surface Mine and the Toney Fork Surface Mine. As of 2025, the Toney Fork Surface Mine continues to be exploited. Between 2007 and 2009, the Logan County properties were operated by INR-WV Operating, LLC. This firm was likely a subsidiary of Appalachian Fuels. Sometime during the 2010 fiscal year, INR-WV sold all Logan County assets to Cleveland Cliffs, Inc. Cleveland Cliffs created a new subsidiary, known as Cliffs Logan County Coal, LLC, to operate these new properties. After only a few years of ownership, Cleveland Cliffs sold the property to Australian mining firm Coronado Global Resources. Coronado has operated the Saunders Prep Plant, the Elk Lick Tipple, and numerous mines, including the Toney Fork Surface Mine since 2014. As of 2025, Pardee continues to load multiple trains a week. If you happen to be railfanning CSX in Central Virginia and hear a C118 or C211 on the radio, that is probably a Pardee train.

It should be noted that prior to the construction of the Elk Lick Tipple, there was a simple truck loadout owned by the Buffalo Mining Company on this land. Although confusing, this loadout was also known as "Elk Lick". This tipple could have loaded coal from the Buffalo Mining Co.'s Lorado No. 8, No. 8 1/2, No. 8B, No. 8C, No. 9, and North Fork No. 2 mines, which all operated in the vicinity of Lorado, Pardee, and Saunders. This plant is photographed in operation in 1983, but had presumably been built earlier, likely during the coal boom of the mid 1970s. By 1996, the plant is photographed in disrepair and by 2003, it was completely gone. It is likely that this loadout operated in tandem with the No. 5 plant.