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An Archipelago of Coal Pits: Predicting Archeological Features in the Richmond, Virginia Coalfield

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An Archipelago of Coal Pits: Predicting Archeological Features in the Richmond, Virginia Coalfield W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1991 An Archipelago of Coal Pits: Predicting Archeological Features in the Richmond, Virginia Coalfield Jacqueline Louise Hernigle College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Hernigle, Jacqueline Louise, "An Archipelago of Coal Pits: Predicting Archeological Features in the Richmond, Virginia Coalfield" (1991). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625657. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-8ycx-hp66 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ARCHIPELAGO OF COAL PITS: PREDICTING ARCHEOLOGICAL FEATURES IN THE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA COALFIELD A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Anthropology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Jacqueline L. Hemigle 1991 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Approved, May 1991 Dr. Norman F. Barka i A <T / / V \ L irginia Kerns Dr. Stephen R. Potter National Park Service Antony-Fr-€fpperman Virginia Division of Historic Resources This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, Carl Spencer iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 2 CHAPTER II. COMPARATIVE GEOLOGY ................................................. 12 CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF ENGLISH COALFIELDS .......................... 27 CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA COALFIELD 87 CHAPTER V. PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR RICHMOND COALFIELD 137 APPEN DIX A .............................................................................................................. 180 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 233 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to sincerely thank the members of my thesis committee, Dr. Norman F. Barka, Dr. Virginia Kerns, Dr. Stephen R. Potter, and Antony F. Opperman for their patient forbearance and individual insights offered throughout the writing of this thesis. Special thanks in particular go to Stephen Potter for his gracious and well-timed encouragement, and to Tony Opperman for his willingness to go stomping across the Richmond underbrush to actually locate these coal mines. I am also indebted to Manassas National Battlefield Park’s Maintenance Foreman, Christopher Keeney for his "no-punches-pulled" critiques of my work; they helped the work maintain it’s perspective. Debby Keeney and Matthew B. Reeves of Manassas National Battlefield Park have my deepest appreciation for sharing their computer expertise. The acknowledgements would not be complete without an expression of heartfelt gratitude to my parents, John and Nellie Hernigle, as well as my maternal grandparents, Carl and Fannie Spencer, who instilled in me at an early age a burning desire to understand the history around me. They didn’t even mind when I happened to find it in the dirt. And finally, I would like to thank my colleague and best friend, Michael A. Strutt. Words can never express my immeasurable gratitude for all the guidance, advice, and patience he somehow managed to find and share with me during the time we both spent feverishly working to finish our respective degrees. v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. English and Richmond Mining Components 1701-1794 ......... 138 2. English and Richmond Mining Components 1794-1850 .......... 140 3. English and Richmond Mining Components 1850-1939 .......... 142 4. Potential Archeological Features 1701-1794 ............................................ 144 5. Potential Archeological Features 1794-1850 ............................................ 145 6. Potential Archeological Features 1850-1939 ........... ............................... 146 7. Richmond Mine Sites 1701-1794 ................................................ 160 8. Richmond Mine Sites 1794-1850 ................................................ 166 9. Richmond Mine Sites 1850-1939 ................................................ 170 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Coalfields of Britain ..................................................................................... 16 2. The North-East Coalfield .......................................................................... 17 3. Richmond Coal Basin .................................................................................. 21 4. Geologic map of the Richmond B asin ................................................... 24 5. B e ll- p it .............................................................................................................. 37 6. Cog-and-rung g i n ............................................................................................ 47 7. One-horse whim gin ..................................................................................... 48 8. Four-horse whim g in ..................................................................................... 50 9. Garesfield Colliery tramway ..................................................................... 81 10. Church Pit, Wallsend Colliery ................................................................... 82 11. Pithead g e a r ..................................................................................................... 83 12. Crane for loading rollies ............................................................................. 123 13. 1860 Map of Dover Mines ......................................................................... 125 14. Plan of Manakin Iron W orks ..................................................................... 126 15. Bingley Slope Mine, Confederate States of America ....................... 128 16. Plan of Aetna Hill M ine ............................................................................. 154 17. Thompson Blunt’s 1806 road ..................................................................... 159 18. Carbon Hill Mining District ..................................................................... 179 19. Deep Run Mining District ........................................................................... 180 vii Figure Page 20. Midlothian Mining District .................................................................. 181 21. Clover Hill Mining D istrict ....................................................................... 182 22. Huguenot Springs/Manakin Mining District ....................................... 183 23. Woodword’s P its ............................................................................................ 192 24. Plan of D eep R un B a s in ............................................................................ 197 25. Plan of Major Clarke’s P its ....................................................................... 201 26. Plan of old workings .................................................................................... 204 27. Partial plan of Buck and Cunliffe’s Pits ................................................. 207 28. Plan and section of Raccoon Mine ....................................................... 225 viii AN ARCHIPELAGO OF COAL PITS: PREDICTING ARCHEOLOGICAL FEATURES IN THE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA COALFIELD ABSTRACT Richmond, Virginia contains the sites of the earliest bituminous coal mining in the United States. During three periods of development, the first between 1701- 1794, second between 1794-1850, and third between 1850-1939, numerous coal mines were in operation throughout the Richmond basin. These sites are geologically, temporally, and technologically similar to English coal mining sites. The generation of a predictive model based on English coal mine sites would explain archeological mining features found within the Richmond basin, as well as predict the location and function of features found in future archeological excavations. The predictive model emphasizes four components at the mining sites: 1) types of excavations used to extract coal, 2) mining equipment and buildings, 3) transportation, and 4) attendant manufacturing facilities. The creation and application of the predictive model for the Richmond coalfield is beneficial on two levels. First, as the Richmond mine sites are slated for capping by the Division of Mine Reclamation, the model can assist in ensuring minimal archeological disturbance to mine sites by predicting mining features associated with the industry. Second, on a broader level the predictive model encourages the generation of hypotheses concerning cultural systemics and how the various subsystems involved in the coal industry change through
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