Garrett County Maryland Coal Industry



From Feasibility Study for a Coal Preparation Facility


Garrett County's coal industry does not dominate the area as in other eastern coal fields. One can travel I-68 from east to west and US 219 from north to south and not see evidence of coal mining in Garrett County. Yet it has provided considerbly to the economy and the culture of the county. The backcover of the study referred to above shows various scenes from the coal industry in Garrett County in 1977 and 1978. The Chessie coal train in the lower left is about to cross the Youghiogheny River on 88 Bridge, about a mile west of Oakland. The tipple shown in the upper right would have been along the North Branch on the Western Maryland. The Chessie (B&O)line hauled coal from West Virginia counties to the west. Western Maryland, however, hauled a lot of coal from the immediate area including the surface mines pictured, Island Creek mines and Garrett County's just opening (at that time) Mettiki deep mines. The feasibility study to construct a coal prep facility for use by smaller operations was conducted by the Garrett County Development Corporation under the guidance of executive director Tom Jones. The coal boom ended without the facility being built.

Local Uses

This page of the study pictures two large local users. Westvaco's Luke fine paper mill has been a stalwart of the regional economy for decades, outlasting Allegany County's Kelly Springfield and Celanese facilities, among others. The mill not only provides high quality employment, but also buys much of its raw material, including pulp wood and coal, from the local area. About the time this study was done, Westvaco was even mining its own coal. The VEPCO power plant (lower left) at Mount Storm, WV was built specifically as a mine mouth facility. Its captive coal mine fed the stock pile directly from the mine's conveyor belt. Other local coal was and is delivered to Mt. Storm by a line off of the Western Maryland that switchbacks up the mountain from Bayard. In the past several years, Mettiki won the major contract and is hauling coal in a fleet of trucks. The picture in the upper left is in downtown Oakland, which has seen a mountain of coal pass through in the nearly 150 years since the railroad created the town. It is not uncommon for two trains to meet in Oakland, but one wonders how long the photographer waited for this shot.
This chart provides the vital statistics of Garrett County coal. Employment was high in the twenties with larger operations in the company towns of Kempton and Crellin, but with smaller operations all along the North Branch and even places like Friendsville and Bittinger. The depression saw hard times and loss of employment until a brief upswing during WWII. After the war, coal mining turned to surface operations and a relatively small workforce. The energy crisis and the Mapco deep mines again made coal king in the seventies.

Logging and Coal Index



From Tall Pines and Winding Rivers-Benj.Kline

Preston Railroad

Castleman River Railroad

Garrett County Coal

Operating Coal Loaders 2001

More Photos


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