Company Stores of the Hocking Valley Coal Field: Fading Memories from a Bygone Era

COMPANY STORES OF THE HOCKING VALLEY COAL FIELD: FADING MEMORIES FROM A BYGONE ERA Eugene J. Palka Department of Geography University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill li NTRODUCTION ponent of the "typical" coal mining community in Throughout the coal producing regions of Athens County, the state's leading coal producing Appalachia, one can identify and relate several county. I briefly recall the mining history of the classes of structures to specific eras in the settle study area, the role of the company store in newly ment history of the region. Mine buildings, tip established mining towns, and discuss various ples, company houses, and company stores are aspects of the store's form and function. I also the most readily identifiable classes of structures identify several of the relic structures which have that form a distinctive imprint on the cultural survived long after the decline of mining activities landscape, mainly because they are interrelated in the region, and continue to remind residents and uniformly date back to a specific time frame, and visitors of the region's coal mining heritage. and they occur in close juxtaposition (Palka, 1988a). The most celebrated of these coal mining THE STUDY AREA: HEART OF THE artifacts are the company stores. HOCKING VALLEY FIELD From the late nineteenth century through World War II, the company store was a common Although large-scale mining activities have feature of mining camps throughout the been abandoned for more than a half century, the Appalachian Coalfield. Significant not because of cultural imprint on Athens County, Ohio, remains its form, but because of its function, the stores clearly visible. Athens County is situated well played an important social and economic role in within the region of Ohio that is underlain by coal rural mining camps. The role of the company (see figure 1). Moreover, a portion of the county store has historically been a hotly debated topic of (the northwest quarter) is located within one of discussion between miners and operators, yet its the major coal producing regions of the s tate, the role as a focal point for the mining community is Hocking Valley coalfield. irrefutable. From 1885 to 1927, the Hocking Valley field This paper examines a segment of the was one of the most productive coal fields in the Hocking Valley coalfield in Southeastern Ohio world, with Athens county being its chief contrib around the turn of the century, and specifically utor. Prior to 1885, coal production in the county focuses on the company store as an integral corn- never exceeded one million tons in a year. 35 36 Company Stores of the Hocking Valley Coal Field Between 1887 and 1900, however, the county aver construction and development served to create a aged more than 1.5 million tons annually. By unique cultural imprint that still persists as an 1897, Athens County had become Ohio's fourth integral part of the area's landscape. leading coal producing count)" steadily climbing to third rank by 1888, and moving into first spot THE COMPANY STORE by the end of 1899 (Harris, 1957). At the turn of the centur:ft the county was easily producing Perhaps the most colorful, yet least recognized more coal than any other county in Ohio, and con remnant of the mining era is the company store. tinued to be the state's leading coal producer until Initially, the rationale for organizing a company 1906 (Peters, 1947). From 1907 until1915, Athens store was to meet the basic needs of the coal com County ranked second in production, yet it had pany's employees (Lantz, 1912). Cohen (1984) increased its output by more than 30 percent notes that in the coalfields of nearby West above the peak production levels achieved during Virginia, most of the early developments which the height of the previous period (ODNR, 1976). began in the 1880s occurred in relatively isolated After a short depression that preceded World War areas of the state, where accessibility to food, I, coal production increased dramatically during clothing, and other daily goods was a problem for the war (Palka, 1988a). By 1927, however, Athens the earliest miners and their families. The same County's production declined from a peak of problem prevailed throughout the Hocking Valley almost seven million tons in 1920 to about 1.2 mil field in Ohio, where the earliest mines were acces lion tons (ODNR, 1976). The 1927 production sible by rail only. A logical solution to the dilem level was the county's lowest in forty years, and ma in both states was for coal operators to essentially marked the end of the era when "coal establish company stores to sustain the miners was king" in Athens County, Ohio. and their families. It would be a gross understatement simply to The stores were usually large, general mer state that the coal mining industry made a signif chandise types that included everything from gro icant impact on the physical, economic, social, cery products to clothing, mining tools, and, and political development of Athens County. occasionally, liquor. Their inventories were From a geographic perspective, one can recognize designed to sustain all of the miners and their that many of the settlement patterns, transporta families within the mining camp. An article in tion networks, and industrial complexes evolved Coal Age, published during the area's mining specifically to exploit the economic value of coal. boom, indicated that a company store was almost By 1910, no less then twenty-five mining camps as necessary from an operating standpoint as the had evolved within the county (see figure 2). I mechanical equipment required for production of have established elsewhere (Palka, 1988a) that coal, because a mining company without a store there was a direct correlation between the increase was often without men to work in the mine in coal production and population growth in (Lantz, 1912). While such an assertion may have Athens County, Ohio, between 1885 and 1920. been over-simplified, it did contain an element of During this era, an extensive amount of develop truth. It was essential for operators to develop the ment occurred in support of the evolving under means to sustain the miners and their families, ground mining industry in this region, which particularly when mining operations were estab previously hosted a sparse rural .population. lished in remote rural areas, such as those in Deep or underground mining, which was preva Southeastern Ohio. Moreover, the concept of a lent during the study period, required extensive company store was designed to help integrate construction of buildings and facilities for its pro new miners into the camp as well as to meet the ducing and supporting activities. In addition, a needs of their families once they were settled. significant amount of development was required The role of the company store and its method to provide homes and services to support those of operation have been subjects of much debate who migrated into the area and were subsequent throughout the Hocking Valley coal field. ly employed by the labor-intensive activity. This Operators regarded the store as a convenient ser- 1995 Mining History Journal 37 vice for their employees. It was their contention proposed store had to accommodate. This infor that the store was strictly designed to supply the mation was passed on to a local contractor, who demands of the miners and their families, and not designed and constructed the store to make a profit (Ong, 1985). Moreover, many Consequently, architectural floor plans for compa operators considered the company store to be a ny stores differed from place to place. A com burden that they would have preferred not to monality however, was the significance of the undertake if other commercial businesses had "site" selected for the store. Richard Francaviglia been available (Ong, 1985). (1991) notes that "the company store was often On the other hand, miners have contended situated in a prominent position" within the min that the company stores were additional money ing community. In support of his contention, making enterprises designed by the operators to 11 centrality" and 11 accessibility" were fundamental maintain strict control over the company's cash concerns for selecting the location of a company flow. The practice of paying employees in scrip store within the Hocking Valley coalfield. instead of cash meant that the money owed in If a company store was to be located in an wages never had to leave the company's bank urban area and intended to support a long-term account. Further discontent resulted from the operation, then it was usually constructed of beliefs that the company charged higher prices bricks, if they were readily available. In such than did other commercial stores in the area, and cases, coal operators were generally assured of a that employees were forced to patronize the com good return on their investment since after the pany store. Miners also believed that the use of termination of mining operations, a building in an scrip served to reduce the real value of their urban area could be sold or put to other uses. wages, since inflated prices at the store effectively Building in brick was further enhanced by the reduced their purchasing power (Deecore, 1985). proximity of several large brick plants throughout In almost all of the area's former company stores, Athens County. The company store in Glouster credit was extended to every employee, and scrip was constructed with bricks that were produced was used more than often than cash (Finney at the Trimble plant, located less than a mile away. 1985). Cohen (1984) recalls that in West Virginia, Similarly, company stores in Canaanville and a few companies abused the system by paying Chauncey were constructed of bricks from the their miners in scrip only, essentially leaving the plant located in nearby Athens.

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