Jewell Valley, Virginia was a coal mining community in Buchanan County in the southwestern portion of the commonwealth. The town, whose existence was based on the coal mining industry, resided within the Buchanan Field.
History
Jewell Valley was constructed as a coal camp community by George L. Carter, who had earlier founded the Clinchfield Coal Company.(1) The first railroad to serve the region was a line built by a lumber company, which snaked up Mudlick Creek from Richlands to Whitewood and westward to Loggy Bottom School, as indicated on a 1916 topographic map. The logging railroad was then out-of-service after the wood supplies had been exhausted and the line was dismantled. In 1931, the logging railroad was replaced by a Norfolk & Western branch, which followed the Levisa Fork and Dismal Creek eastward to Whitewood, and from Whitewood northeast to Jewell Valley. The N&W later built a line from Whitewood south along Laurel Fork to Richlands.
The first mines at Jewell Valley were not put into operation until after the line was completed.
A tipple was constructed by Jewell Smokeless, a company owned by Clinchfield Coal.(1) The underground mines surrounding the town were exhausted by the early 1960s, and the community staggered along until the late 1970s when most of it was abandoned.
A topographic map of Jewell Valley, showing the mining complex to the south, and some residences to the north.
Gallery
Sources
- DellaMea, Christopher. “Buchanan Field.” Appalachian Coalfields. N.p., 2011. Web. 14 March 2011. Article.