Ohio County Coal-A New Era.
In Kentucky, and especially Ohio
County Kentucky, coal mining was a main source of employment in the twentieth century.
In the first half of the century, there were operational mines in just about all
areas east, south, and west of Beaver Dam. Some of these mines were owned by
individuals and others were owned by companies like Louisville Gas And Electric.
The Echols Mine was an example of a Louisville Gas and Electric owned and controlled
mine. Buck Curtis had a small mine just west of Graveyard Hill, and on Hwy. 62,
between Rockport and McHenry. This operation is an example of an individual owned mine.
All of these mines were underground mines and they had a few things in common.
For instance, the miner's work week would depend on the demand for the coal. If
Louisville Gas and Electric has a sufficient stockpile of coal for their power
plants, then the mine may work only a day or two a week or maybe no work in a week.
Another common factor was the danger. If the miner had a safety complaint, or was
hesitant about doing a certain job, the person in charge would just remind him to
look outside, as there were others wanting to take his place. The hard work,
safety factor and the irregular work hours combined to make coal mining an
undesirable occupation for a lot of people. Accidental deaths, high job turnover,
low weekly pay and hard work were a few of the reasons that a lot of the local
citizens went north to find work. As the demand for coal increased, in the mid
part of the twentieth century, conditions in area coal mines were beginning to
improve. A high coal demand and an expanding Peabody Coal Company combined to
create a desirable work place. A higher than normal salary for the coal miner,
and better and safer working conditions created positions close to home for a lot
of Western Kentucky workers and the northern migration for work certainly decreased.
In fact, a reverse migration may have occurred as some of those that had to move
north were returning and finding work in the mines.
There was a vast coal reserve in Ohio County that stretched from the Little Bend
area on the Green River to Rochester and to Centertown on the Green River and from
about Beaver Dam back to Centertown, Rockport, Echols, Cool Springs and just about
to the Prentice Road. The Beaver Dam Coal Company owned the coal reserves on most
of this land and the property owners were mostly farmers. Coal had been mined in
this vast area for centuries without much of a noticeable decrease in the enormous
reserve of coal. All that was needed now was for a large coal company to enter the
picture. There is an old song with an expression in it that goes: "And along came
Jones" or something to that effect. Well, along came Ken Mine and the rest is
history.
In the earlier years of the twentieth century, some coal was being dug, but the
full potential of the use of coal was several decades away. Most of the earlier
coal mines were based on a small scale and even individual land owners would dig
up some of the coal for use in heating and cooking. In the area of Western Kentucky,
there were several small companies that supplied coal to be used in steam engines
for the railroads and for the companies that operated the steam boats. Over the
next few decades, coal was becoming more useful in the furnaces of electric
generating companies and steel mills. Electric power generating plants were
being built at a rapid pace to keep up for the demand for electricity. The steel
mills in Northern Illinois, using coal to fire their furnaces, were creating a
bigger and bigger demand for coal. It would only be a matter of time before the
"Strip Mining" technology and this different method of mining the coal would become
popular in Western Kentucky.
In the mid-forties, A "Northern" miner/operator by the name of Ken R. Bixby,
purchased some mineral rights from the Beaver Dam Coal Company and enough land
to build a large storage shed. This storage shed became the first office for the
new mine that would soon become know as Ken Mine. It would aptly be named after
Ken R. Bixby. Mr. Bixby persuaded a few of his "Northern Illinois Miners" to
follow him to Kentucky to open a new mine. Jim McDowell was one of these miners
that followed Ken R. Bixby to Kentucky and he became the second Ken Coal Company
superintendent in 1947. This new "Ken Mine Office" was located off the gravel road
and up a hill, just passed Jim Dowell Fulkerson's house. This gravel road, which
is known today as "Fulkerson Lane". The storage shed was used as a "Oil and
Lubricant" storage shed many years after the new office and garage complex was
built. Access to the old office, in the early days of Ken, was from "Fulkerson
Lane" and would have been on the back side of the Ken Mine property.
Old Century Mines in Hopkins County owned a Marion 350 shovel that was originally
a steam shovel. This shovel was operated on railroad type tracks. This was not
before the use of caterpillar type cleats, but just the way that the old 350 was made.
The 350 was converted to an electric operated shovel and Peabody purchased it from
Old Century Mines. Bill Welborn was hired on December 21 1949 as a "Groundman" for
the 350 Stripper. One of his jobs was to place the rails in front of the machine
and secure them to ties. Billy worked from 1949 until 1993. Billy's dad started
to work for Ken in 1946 and worked until he became sick, probably in 1949.
A few years later, another shovel was added to Ken Mine's machines. A new BE 5561
was purchased and assembled near the new railroad tipple. It was a 40 Yard shovel.
This was in the early fifties.
Conditions and times were improving in Ohio County and especially in Echols and
Rockport. A small mines was in operation and no person that I am aware envisioned
just what it would mean to the Rockport end of Ohio County. Experienced miners
like Jimmy Blair and Hugh Ashton were being employed by Ken and moving to Rockport.
Other small towns in the area were also seeing new citizens move in to their town.
Some of the local residents were being hired and trained for work at the new mine.
From just a few men and one shovel, this mine continued to grow and prosper. It
certainly made Peabody Coal Company officials look good to their stock holders.
Not long after the start of the mine, a BE 1050 Shovel was brought in to do the
major stripping. It was probably a used machine, but it did not matter, Ken had
a big stripper. Ken Mine ended up being a multi-facet mine in the next two decades.
The initial mined coal was shipped out by small trucks and even the local citizens,
with pick-up trucks could be loaded with coal for their personal use. The Illinois
Central Railroad main line was only a few miles from Ken Mine, and a spur line from
Ken Tipple to the main line of the I. C. Railroad was a top priority. The "Rail"
tipple was one of the first items to be built. A house that was on the first parcel
of land purchased was converted to an office. A large garage to handle the large
mine trucks was built just below the office. An underground mine was started and
although, it was separate from Ken, the mined coal was processed
by Ken Strip Mine. A "River" tipple, or what some would call a "Barge Loading Dock"
was built and the "Rail" tipple was reworked so that some coal washing could be
done. By the late fifties and early sixties, this mine could do it all. A Strip
Mine and an Underground Mine produced the coal that could be processed and shipped
out by various means. Initially the coal was shipped as mined. Now, it could be
special ordered. Processed coal could now be shipped out by rail, truck or river.
At the peak of employment, Ken Strip Mine may have had close to three hundred miners
and the Ken Underground may have had a hundred or more. Times were good and the
"Black Gold" went out and the "Green Dollars" came in. Prosperity was there for
the asking. All good things, in this material world, come to an end and after
fifty years, Ken was approaching that ending stage. In December of 1983 Peabody
Ken Underground had shut down. In November the twenty-eight in the year of nineteen
ninety-seven the last coal run was made at Ken Mine. A year or so later, the plug
was pulled and according to the person that pulled that plug, the write-up in the
log book stated: "I killed Ken today". A few men were left for clean-up and
reclamation work and now with the other mines closing, we were returning to
"Pre-Peabody" times. A relatively large coal reserve still exist in Ohio County
and hopefully, some company will try to build another Ken Mine.
Gosh, if you are still here after reading all of this, I appreciate your determination.
The history of Ken Mine could be written in a book with two or three volumes. I
have only touched on some of what I have experienced and of some of the men that
I have known. Where I know miners like Billy Welborn and Ed Whitehead, there are
other miners with equal attributes that I do not know. I will certainly be
standing in line, when and if, that certain person ever writes a book on Ken Mine.
I have some more pictures and some more ideas and will try to come up with a "Ken
Mine Part II" if there is a demand for a similar type web page. Actually, I have
only scratched the surface Of the Ken Mine era. What would Ken Mine be without
the old BE 1050 and I just barely mentioned that big stripper? Most of you will
know what I mean when I say 1050 and others will not have any idea. Men and
machines tend to bond and those in control of the machines tend to speak and talk
about them as if they were more than just a collection of "Buckets and Bolts".
All of the machines in any mine have operators and a few of these operators have
operated more than one machine. I can not remember nor keep track of certain
machines, but others can, not only tell you the official name and the nickname
of each piece of a mine machine, but the history from construction to destruction.
This is just the way it is.
