Nuttallburg, WV: National Parks/Henry Ford/Nuttall Coal Mine in New River Gorge

Tipple: (Satellite, 1000 photos)

Headhouse: (Satellite, 328 photos)

I remember reading about a coal mine that Henry Ford controlled, but then Ford gave up on the mine because of problems with the railroad. And the mine I read about had a long conveyor belt down the hill to the tipple, but I can't find any notes on it. I hope this is not a duplicate.

Cheryl Tellier posted
Henry Ford left no part of Nuttallburg uninspected. At the mine portal, Henry and Edsel donned appropriate mining gear and set off underground. The Nuttallburg shafts averaged only a little over three feet in height.  Ford was 60 years old at the time, but readily crawled in low areas.  The Fords and their accompanying party went all the way to the working face, over three miles beneath the mountain.

Lost in The States posted two photos with the comment:

The New River Gorge in West Virginia is one of the United States most recent National Parks. At the bottom of the gorge along the New River is the abandoned coal mining town of Nuttlallburg. In the 1870s John Nuttall began purchasing land and developing it along the gorge with plans of mining the coal that was abundant in the area. In 1873 the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway laid tracks along the river making it possible for the mine to ship the coal out to the rest of the country.

The coal was sent down into the gorge on a large coal cute and loaded into railroad cars.  In 1920 Henry Ford leased the town’s mines to provide coal for his company steel mills. Because Henry was at the mercy of the railroad he abandoned his interest in the mine. It continued to mine coal until 1958 when it closed down. Without the mine for work, it was not long and the town was abandoned.

In 1998 the Nuttall family transferred ownership of Nuttallburg to the National Park Service which stabilized the remaining structures and foundations. Today it is considered one of the most intact examples of a coal mining complex in West Virginia and one of the most complete coal related industrial sites in the United States. The cute and building are still standing for visitors to explore.  It was an adventure to drive down the winding road to see it but the road was not as difficult as the park service makes it out to be, especially if you are used to driving down forest roads and trails.

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