Rockets and Coal
Many of us first heard of Coalwood as the setting for the movie “October Sky” (1999). The movie was based on Rocket Boys, a memoir by Homer Hickam about his high school years in Coalwood.
In 1957, when Homer was 14, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. Homer was inspired to learn how to build rockets as he watched Sputnik streak over McDowell County.
Coming
later this year
Music by Alan “Cathead” Johnston
Photos from the collections of:
David Goad
Jim McMillan
J.R.Hatmaker
Homer Hickam
Dr. Robert & Jack Likens
Website updated April 28
Coalwood No. 1 Mine (1915)
“Coalwood, West Virginia, where I grew up, was built for purpose of extracting the millions of tons of rich, bituminous coal that lay beneath it.
My father, Homer Hickam, was the mine superintendent, and our house was situated just a few hundred yards from the mine’s entrance, a vertical shaft eight hundred feet deep.”
From the window of my bedroom, I could see the black steel tower that sat over the shaft and the comings and goings of the men who worked at the mine.”
from Rocket Boys
Homer Hickam, Jr.
Coalwood No. 1 Mine (1950s)
Coalwood today is but a shell of what it once was. During its heyday in the ‘40s and ‘50s it was a bustling community of over 2,500 residents. Today, only a few hundred people live there. Hundreds of houses have been lost as the result of floods. Many of the public buildings so important to the history of the town sit unused and unmaintained.
George L. Carter
George L. Carter built the town of Coalwood from the ground up. He envisioned it as a model community -- a “company town” where the management of the coal company took care of the needs of all the workers and their families. While people in some other company towns in Appalachia compared their life to that of indentured servants, the people of Coalwood speak fondly of those days and of their clean, self-sufficient, hardworking town -- a community to be proud of.
Christmas party at the Company Store (1950)
When coal was no longer necessary to run the big steel mills, towns like this all over Appalachia began to die. There was no alternative plan. Coalwood’s fate is the story of hundreds of coal camps. Perhaps it is the story of small towns all across America. But take a closer look and you might see that this one was pretty special.
Coalwood lives on through the memories of the residents who remain and those who have moved elsewhere.
They tell us the story of
Coalwood
The Coalwood company store in 1928
“Coalwood is a small coal mining community located in the most southern county of West Virginia. Today, some people would call it a washed up little coal camp, and I suppose it is. But at one time, Coalwood was one of the most vibrant places in the entire state. It was an energetic,
bustling community that by
any measure was considered
successful.”
from The Coalwood Misfits
J.R. Hatmaker
Raise your hand to
HELP ME!
I am looking for old photos (or better yet, home movies) of Coalwood - any era, that I could use in my film. I’m especially interested in pictures of coal miners and photos showing Coalwood as the busy place it once was. Any interior shots of the Clubhouse, Company Store, Apartments, Machine Shop are also appreciated.
Email me if you have anything you can share.
About the Film Project
The shooting is finished and I’ve begun editing. My goal is to get the film done by the end of the summer -- in time to show it at this year’s October Sky Festival. Stay tuned.
Most of the video clips and photos you see on this website will not make it into the film, at least in the form you see them now. I offer them here to let you meet some of the people who have participated in this project.
I thank them all.
Caretta Elementary School
6th Grade (1951- 1952)
David Goad (left) is making his extensive collection of old photos available to me for this film project.
David and Alex Schust have written a new book about the history of the communities of Coalwood, Caretta and Six.
David Goad
introduces us to his home town.
Alan “Cathead” Johnston
Alan and Charlie Davis play “Trouble Down in Matewan”, one of his original songs featured in the film.
Recorded at the Dian Lee House in Bluefield, WV
Ocotober 4, 2007
Bill & Reba Bolt
Coalwood Today
October Sky Festival 2007
Big Creek H.S. Marching Band
leads the parade.
Festival photos
by David Goad
The Rocket Boys at the 2007 October Sky Festival
See “DanTraveling” at work in Coalwood and talking with Charlie Myers of
It was a thrill to meet the famous Dan McCoig in Coalwood. Dan does a great series of travel videos.
CLICK HERE to go to Dan’s video about Coalwood and the October Sky Festival of 2007.
Coming in 2008
Music by Alan “Cathead” Johnston
Photos from the collections of:
David Goad
Jim McMillan
J.R.Hatmaker
Homer Hickam
Dr. Robert & Jack Likens
by Alex Schust and David Goad
Hear an excerpt
from The Coalwood Misfits by playing this video.
Photos courtesy of the collections of J.R. Hatmaker and David Goad
James did the narration of the Coalwood Misfits excerpt found near the top of this page.
“Coalwood was driven by events in American History that many in Coalwood did not realize at the time. They were mostly poor indigenous mountain folk or immigrants just trying to survive. As a result of an ever expanding industrial economy and thus a need for "King Coal", Coalwood was created by Mr. Carter as a unique experiment to see if workers would be more productive if completely taken care of by the company. With good housing, schools, medical care, dental care, top quality goods in the big store, and reasonable pay, Coalwood was the envy of the area.”
Brad Hatmaker
Highland Village, TX
I have been doing some freelance video work for this great new online news source in Minnesota. If you would like to see some other things I’ve done or some of the great writing on MinnPost, please visit their website.
Coalwood, West Virginia
Homer and a few of his friends from Big Creek High School taught themselves the science of rocketry. Throughout their high school years, they built and launched increasingly sophisticated rockets at “Cape Coalwood”, a coal slack dump outside of town. With the help of the community and inspirational teacher Freida Riley, the “Big Creek Missile Agency” went on to win local, state and national science fairs.
All the rocket boys went on to college and had successful careers, leaving their slowly dying hometown behind.
But the town of Coalwood is far more interesting than just as “Home of the Rocket Boys”. Coalwood was a company-owned coal camp that at one time was the envy of small towns all over the area.
My film tells the story of Coalwood - yesterday, today and tomorrow, through the voices of those who have lived there.
Rocket Boys Homer Hickam, O’Dell Carroll, Roy Lee Cooke (1959)
Aerial view (1923)
The Company Store has been torn down! Click HERE
to watch a new video.
THE COALWOOD COMPANY STORE HAS BEEN DEMOLISHED !
Click HERE to see a new VIDEO clip about the Company Store.
Photo by David Goad
For more information on the destruction of the Company Store go to David Goad’s website at www.coalwoodmemories.com
To see a recent article about the demolition of the Company Store in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph click HERE.
- Updated video about Company Store
- New video clip of Eugene Turpin (People of Coalwood page)
- 2 new songs from Alan Johnston (On his page)
-New page - “The People of Coalwood”
A Film by Steve Date
Welcome to Coalwood
Welcome to Coalwood
A Film by Steve Date
