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

 Collection
Collection Number: A&M 4389

Scope and Contents

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.

Dates

  • Creation: 1890-1980

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies

Conditions Governing Use

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.

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.))

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 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/

Title
Davis Coal and Coke, Coal Mining and Railroad Company, Records
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository

Contact:
1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown WV 26506-6069 US
304-293-3536