Davis Coal and Coke, Coal Mining and Railroad Company, Records

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

This collection cannot be retrieved for use at this time. Please contact the West Virginia & Regional History Center for more information.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Davis Coal and Coke, Coal Mining and Railroad Company, Records, A&M 4389, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
19.8 Linear Feet 19 ft. 10 in. (13 record cartons, 15 in. each); (4 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 index card boxes, 12 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 1 1/2 in.); (6 ledgers, 1 ft. 2 1/4 in.); (4 map cabinet drawers, 7 in.)
Creator:
Davis Coal and Coke Company
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Davis Coal and Coke, Coal Mining and Railroad Company, Records, A&M 4389, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Records of the Davis Coal and Coke Company, a corporation created in the 1880s by Henry Gassaway Davis that was located in Thomas, West Virginia (WV). This collection is minimally processed.

The company was named after both the founder and the Coal and Coke Railroad that it primarily used. Later in the company's life it purchased lands and established its own mines. The company was finally dissolved in 1950. The collection includes administrative correspondence, reports, financial records, employee records, and other material.

Correspondence regards topics such as employee wages, company sales negotiations, etc. Reports include annual reports, log cut statistics, accident reports, termination files, and insurance records, among others. Also includes correspondence to and from Davis Coal and Coke on topics such as miner wages and sale negotiations; there are also log cut statistical summaries, coal tonnage reports, tax information, and many blueprints and maps of equipment, mines, and purchased properties.

Since Henry Davis had conglomerate corporate interests, these other interests continued on after the closure of the Coal and Coke Company in 1950. This very likely explains the presence of the timber (or lumber) company records that can be found with the coal and coke records in this collection.

Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard