16 Photos From West Virginia Coal Camps In The 1930S

West Virginia has a long history with coal. We often hear references to coal camps and company stores, but have you ever wondered what life was actually like back in coal camps during the 1930s? Check out these photos to get a glimpse of what it was like.

These miners are waiting on their mail at the post office in Kempton in 1939.

John Vachon/Library of Congress LC-USF34-008972

This was a miners’ bath house in Welch 1938. Public bath houses were an essential part of life in a coal camp. They allowed miners to clean up before going home so they wouldn’t return sweaty and track coal dust into their homes.

Marion Post Wolcott/Library of Congress

Here, open ditches carry sewage down the street in Kempton, 1939.

John Vachon/Library of Congress LC-USF34-008993

Here’s a shot of the coal town of Welch in 1938.

Marion Post Wolcott/ Library of Congress LC-USF34-050154

Here’s a portrait of a miner in Freeze Fork in October 1935.

Ben Shahn/Library of congress LC-DIG-fsa-8a16749

This is a picture of miners on strike in the Scotts Run area near Morgantown in 1935.

Ben Shahn/ Library of Congress LC-USF33-006124

These miners are going home from work in Omar, September 1938.

Ben Shahn/Library of Congress LC-USF33-030113

These ladies are attending a Sunday school picnic in Jere in 1938.

Marion Post Wolcott/Library of Congress LC-USF33-030136

These men are sitting around by the railroad tracks in the mining town of Davey in 1938.

Marion Post Wolcott/Library of Congress LC-USF33-030092

These miners are hanging around a company store in Kempton during a strike in 1939.

John Vachon/Library of Congress LC-USF34-008976

This picture shows company houses in Omar, West Virginia in October 1935.

Ben Shahn/ Library of Congress LC-DIG-fsa-8a16672

These miners are standing in a company store in Kempton 1939.

John Vachon/Library of Congress LC-USF34-008982

This was the company store in Davey in 1938.

Marion Post Wolcott/ Library of Congress LC-USF34-050197

This little boy was sitting on a porch in Omar in 1935.

Ben Shahn/ Library of Congress LC-USF33-006190

These miners were waiting on a bus to take them home in Welch in 1938.

Marion Post Wolcott/Library of Congress LC-USF34-050026

This picture was taken on a Sunday in Scotts Run.

Ben Shahn/Library of Congress LC-USF3301-006115

What do you think of these photos?