Tams, West Virginia
From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia
Walter P. Tams, Jr. obtains lease to Tams land from Beaver Coal Co. in 1908 and establishes Gulf Smokeless Coal Company. Tams moves to Tams in 1909, and a temporary lumber mill is established there to supply lumber needed to build company structures and housing for miners. In late-1909, the Virginian Railway starts construction of a branch line from the main line at Mullens alone the Winding Gulf. The first coal was shipped from the Tams mine on October 1, 1909 from a temporary tipple, replaced with a permanent structure in 1910.
Gulf Smokeless Coal Company was chartered 7/3/1908, with Samuel Dixon, President; W.P. Tams, Jr., Vice President and General Manager; and James O. Watts, Secretary/Treasurer. Dixon sold his interests in 1912 to Tams and Watts.
1914: Tams Nos. 1, 2, & 3
No. 1, a drift mine, worked the Beckley seam of 5'-6' thickness. The colliery employed 100 workers. Coal was mined by picks.
No. 2, a drift mine, worked the Beckley seam of 5' to 8' thickness; The colliery employed 95 workers. The coal was mined by picks and haulage by electric locomotives.
No. 3, a drift mine, worked the Beckley seam, of 6' 6" thickness. The operation employed 52 workers. Coal was mined by picks and electric machines and haulage by electric motors.
Output from Nos. 1, 2, & 3 were sent to one tipple.
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1920: Tams Nos. 1, 2, 3, & 4
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The Tams mines were operated by the Gulf Smokeless Coal Company from 1910 through 1955.
