| The period of time from the mid-1910's through the 1920's
was an era in which the company experienced much growth and expansion. At that time, the
local coal industry was only twenty years old, however rapid advances in technology had
occurred. The New River Company wisely decided to take advantage of any and all new
techniques and tools available. The company began to modernize its plants, replacing older
tipples and machinery with new and more efficient facilities. In 1915, the company
completed a new general office building located in Mt. Hope on land donated by the city. A
new repair and machine shop, foundry and warehouse complex was built in 1920, also located
in Mt. Hope. During this period, the New River
Company became a leader within the coal industry in regards to the safety and welfare of
it employees and their families. The New River Company was the first in the country whose
entire work force had individual instruction in first-aid with each employee holding a
certificate. The New River Company conducted first aid contests each year, with teams from
each of its mining operations completing for cash awards and prizes. The company's mining
towns were well maintained and considered to be models of their kind. Annually, the
company held a garden and yard contest for its employees, awarding as many as sixty-eight
prizes for the best kept yards and gardens in its fourteen mining towns.
The coal market had its share of both upward and downward
trends during the 1920's. However, the local area and the entire nation enjoyed the
progress and prosperity that seemed to be the very essence of period called the
"Roaring Twenties". It was an time of great optimism, with almost everyone, from
politicians to industrial leaders to the common man and woman, all feeling that life would
simply keep getting better and better. The writers of the day quoted local coal leaders as
saying that the local coal industry was still "in its infancy" and numerous
articles were written stating that it would be at least 130 to 160 years before the area's
vast reserve of coal would be depleted. Despite the appearance of electricity as the
"new energy" of the age, most observers of the day regarded electricity merely
as a type of energy that would forever be dependant upon coal. After all they reasoned,
electricity was only a means of storing or transmitting the power generated by the
consumption of coal. Many intelligent persons of the era reasoned that, "It is
unlikely that any power will replace coal anytime in the future!"
However, by the 1930's the sobering effects of the Great
Depression followed by the threat of a global war seems to have erased much of the
optimism that had been prevalent during from previous decade. But despite the economic
hard-times during the early part of the decade, the New River Company achieved new levels
of coal production by the mid-1930's.
Many transformations occurred during the 1930's in the coal
industry. President Roosevelt's "New Deal", the National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA) and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (the Wagner Act) brought about many
changes in the coal fields of the area. In 1935, the New River Company and the United Mine
Workers of America signed a two-year contract. In 1938, the President and General Manager
of the company, Samuel Scott, died and Robert H. Gross assumed the role of president at
the age of 74. In 1939, the C&O Railway bought one-half of the company's stock and L.
Ebersole Gaines was named President of the company. That same year, the company purchased
the Price Hill Colliery Company giving the company 1,100 acres of land adjacent to the
company's Cranberry mine.
As the company entered the decade of the 1940's and the
country moved closer to war even more changes would soon take place. Following the death
of William McKell in 1939, the New River Company acquired the coal properties of the McKell Coal & Coke
Company from the McKell heirs in 1940. This
acquisition gave the company ownership or control of the largest acreage of Sewell coal in
the district. In 1941, J. A. Hunt accepted the position of Vice-President in Charge of
Operations of the company. With the entry of the country into the war in 1941 the demand
for coal was greatly expanded. The company set several new records for coal production
during the war years.
Following the end of World War II, the market for coal
temporarily declined. During this period of time the C&O Railway purchased the
remaining one-half interest in the New River Company. John L. Lewis became involved in a
long and bitter dispute with the federal government as he ordered his United Mine Workers
to go on strike in April of 1946. The citizens of the local area and the nation greeted
the end of the war with much relief and in-general, everyone seemed to have the basic
desire to get back to a normal life. But would life during the period of time that
followed the war ever be "normal" again? The atomic bomb had unleashed a new
weapon (and a new form of energy) that was in the words of President Truman, "the
like of which has never been seen before on this earth."
As the New River Company entered the decade of the 1950's a
great number of changes were taking place in the local area and around the world. The
company sold many of its company houses and closed several company stores during the
decade and several of the company's area mines were closed during this period of time. In
1954 J. A. Hunt assumed the role of company President of the company. But as the local
coal industry passed the age of sixty years old, the nation's dependence on coal as an
energy source was declining. It was a time when much progress was occurring quite rapidly
throughout the industries of the country. "Automation" was occurring throughout
various industries as machines and computers began to replace workers. The homes, offices
and stores of the country were no longer heated primarily by coal. Even the use of coal in
industry was declining.
By the end of the 1950's, the country's Class-I railroads
were no longer using steam locomotives that were fueled by coal. As the nation's railroad
switched from coal-fired steam locomotives to diesel-powered locomotives one of the major
markets for coal disappeared forever. During the coming years the remaining markets for
coal would continue to diminish, leaving the market for metallurgical coal as one of the
few remaining markets for coal. Although its business continued for several move decades,
by the 1980's, the New River Company found itself being forced into extinction. With the
once-great company's passing, an never-to-forgotten era that made a lasting impact on the
region and its people came to abrupt and unceremonious end.
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