Royal, West Virginia
From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia
The first mining operation in Raleigh County was opened at Royal in about 1890-1891 and was located across the New River just downstream from the C&O railroad station at Prince. Lacking a rail connection, coal was carried across New River from the Royal mine to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad's mainline by use of a wire cable suspended across the river. The span of the cable across New River from the tipple near the mine opening across New River was 700 feet and the entire length of the cable was 2300 feet. Large metal buckets were suspended from the cable, and operated and dumped by use of a pulley system. Thirty-two buckets were employed, and the mine able to produce 400 tons of coal per day using this system. During the mid-1890s, the company built a bank of 78 coke ovens at its loading facilities (on the north side of the New River) at Prince.
Following the completion of a railroad bridge across the river in about 1899, the Royal mine was able to load coal from a tipple on the south side. The railroad bridge was built as part of C&O's Piney Creek Subdivision, a branch line built to open the undeveloped coal fields in Raleigh County, completed in 1901.
The Royal Coal and Coke Company was incorporated on May 15, 1890 by J. Fred Effinger, F. B. Berkeley, Henry D. Peck , William Prince, and C. M. Figgat. A circa-1896 list of collieries in the Third Mining District of West Virginia listed the Royal Coal and Coke Co. was listed as operating the Royal mine, a drift mine working the Fire Creek seam with thickness of 3 ft. 6 in. James Kay was superintendent, and the company had 169 workers. The company is shown as having 78 coke ovens in operation (at Prince.)
State mining records indicate the Royal mine was operated by the Royal Coal & Coke Co. during 1892-1903; Royal Coal Co. from 1914-1924; and Royal Mining Company 1936-1940.
The ruins of foundations at Royal may be found near the National Park Service's gravel road from WV-41 to the mouth of Glade Creek.
Rafter's Reference: The ruins of Royal are located at river-left, opposite and just downstream of Prince.
