Mining on the Mountain

The legacy of coal mining on Bon Air Mountain

Story by Vicki Messick, Communications Coordinator
Photographs by Robin Conover

(This article originally appeared in the February, 2000 edition of the Tennessee Magazine which was published by the Caney Fork Electric Cooperative.)

Bon Air Mountain sits to the east of Sparta in White County. Today, if you drive up the long, steady incline of Bon Air Mountain, there are no tell-tale signs of the once thriving coal mining towns of Bon Air, Clifty, Eastland and Ravenscroft. The sound of the pick and axe no longer ring against the rock of Bon Air Moun­tain. The mines have all been closed for decades, but the faculty and administration of White County's BonDeCroft Ele­mentary School strive to preserve the heritage and the his­tory of the era. By planning annual field trips to historic mine sites and hosting the Coal Miners Reunion each year, they are introducing the community spirit that flourished during the mining days to new generations.

The duration of coal mining in White County lasted from 1882 until 1936 when the last mine closed. But during the heyday of the Bon Air Coal Company in the late 1800s and early 1900s, communities such as Ravenscroft, Bon Air, DeRossett, Clifty and Eastland sprang into existence and flourished. Once these communities, which lie in While County on the western rim of the Cumberland Plateau, were thriving mining towns with small, white washed houses, railroads, schools and thousands of residents. Coal, Black Gold, was found buried in the ground in the bowels of the Cum­berland Plateau, and entrepreneurial men were determined to wrest it from the mountain's grasp.

The Bon Air Coal Company consist­ed of more than 50,000 acres of land during its heyday. Two types of mines were used to mine coal. A drift mine utilized a horizontal tunnel dug on or parallel to the course of the coal vein, which is usually exposed on a hillside. Two shaft mines were used, one at Bon Air's Carola and another at Ravenscroft's Peerless. A shaft mine reaches coal that lies far below the earth's surface. A hole about 10-fool square is dug straight down to the coal, and tunnels are then dug horizontally through the coal. The miners are transported between the surface and the coal vein by an elevator called a cage. Another hole was dug par­allel to the elevator shaft for ventilation purposes.

Originally, when the coal company was getting started, the need for experienced miners was great. Miners were recruited from Scotland and Czechoslovakia and at one time the company employed more than 600. The total population of the four coal mining towns was approximately three thousand.

Just as Bon Air developed to meet the needs of the incoming workers, so did Ravenscroft, Eastland and Clifty. These three towns all came to life during the first decade of the 20th century. When news spread to neigh­boring mining communities and rural areas that work was available, people migrated into these new camps.

These three new communities followed practically the same design as Bon Air and had equivalent facilities except that Ravenscroft's and Eastland's main streets par­alleled the railroad tracks with the miners' homes built on side streets running perpendicular to these main streets.

Although company buildings had electric lights, none of the miner's homes had this luxury except those at Bon Air. From their earliest days, Bon Air, Ravenscroft, Eastland and Clifty were linked to each other and the outside world by the railroad. Two passenger trains consisting of two coaches and a baggage car traveled daily from Sparta to all four coal towns. Numerous freight trains delivered retail merchandise, mining supplies, mail and payrolls  to the towns and carried coal from the mines.

Today. it's hard to find evidence the coal mining towns ever existed . There are no signs of mines because they have been sealed, and the locations of most have become unknown to today's residents of White County and the Bon Air area. In the 1920s, Bon Air Coal Company ranked sixth in Tennessee's coal producing counties.

Kenneth Welch. a former coal miner, was born in Clifty in 1911.  "The earliest thing I can remember of the mines on Bon Air Mountain is going with my father who was the weighman at the time. His job was to collect the brass numbers from each car of coal as they came out of the mine. And by that number, give credit for the load to the man who had dug the coal. Price for a load of coal was about $4," Welch says. ''It was a prospering community, but the coal business was good and bad. It had its ups an downs. It was a hard life, and you had to work hard."

Bon Air Mountain is still a lovely place to live. The now-paved roads reach and follow many of the roads that once led to the coal mining towns. As you look over green pas­tures and the rolling hills of White County, you will  see white comfortable homes nestled in the shade of giant trees. As young cattle grow fat in the aging expanse of green pastures, all that is left to remember of the “hard life” of the coal mining era is the photographic record that has been created by the students and teachers of BonDeCroft Elementary School.

The school has undertaken the job of preserving the history of coal mining in the area. The project includes making slides of all photographs the teachers and students could collect. The black-and-white photos record a life that disappeared from the area about 70 years ago.

Teachers also took student on field trips to old mining sites. They prepared an inventory of the surviving mine structures. They have identified miners' houses and several railroad houses. All that remains of the mines are concrete-covered shafts and the foundations. They are able to do this by using a donated map that shows the location of all the railroad tracks and the buildings the railroad once owned. But the most notable accomplishment of BonDeCroft School is to annually sponsor a Coal Miners Reunion Day.

Miners, their sons, daughters and grandchildren come to the school to see the student’s displays and talk about life in the mines. Mostly it is the miners' descendants who return to the reunion.

Former coal miners who once worked and lived in the area arrive with their families in tow. They want to share their coal-mining legacy with their family for this was an era of their life they know will disappear when they are gone. Sharing their story is of the utmost importance to them. They are most willing to talk to school officials, teachers and students about their experiences in the coal mines of White County. However, when you watch the former coal miners as they enter the school on this their special day, their eyes scan all in attendance for the face of a fellow miner with whom they once endured the hardships of the coal mines.

Each classroom has been turned into a small replica of the historic coal mines. One will display tools that were used in the mines; another displays a pictorial of the types of mining shafts used in the Bon Air area. The retired miners progress slowly from room to room, all of their attention focused on each display put together by the students. They each add a memory or comment that brings the displays to life enabling onlookers to get a real feel of how life was then. Not one item is overlooked or neglected, as the appreciation of the miners is reflected in the smiles of the students' faces after long hours of work preparing the presentation.

No trip to the Coal Miners Reunion would be complete without hearing a story from the miners in attendance. Throughout the day miners join together in small groups and reminisce about the past and the days of coal mining. They all agree on one thing. "It was a hard life. It was hard, but we were happy."

“My best memory of that time is how large crowds would gather for Sunday afternoon baseball games,” Welch says. "That was a real big thing at the time. They had some real players and some good games.”

“Coal mining at one time was the best money you could make around here. When the mines were in full operation, we had plenty to eat and homes to live in," a long ago resident of the coal mining towns says. "Bon Air Mountain was a lovely place to live when the mines were running."

Coal mining no longer reigns as king in White County. Bon Air, Clifty, Eastland and Ravenscroft are names that are part of history but sadly will never be part of the future. When coal miners gather annually at BonDeCroft School to keep the memories alive, they are saddened to see their number grow smaller and smaller each year.

No one can tell the complete legacy of coal mining in White County for much of it is still within the mountain. The mountain even today holds onto its Black Gold. It still holds the lingering traces of a life that once was and greedily holds onto the memories of coal mining.

One can only say that the legacy of mining on Bon Air Mountain has somehow played a key role in forming the progressive White County of today.