Does anyone have any ideas or plans for building row houses for a WV coal mining town. my grandfather worked in a mine in Monclo, WV. My mother said they were one family units, single story.
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The WV town of CASS has many restored single family company houses. Not sure they are exactly like coal miner company houses but I am sure they are very close.
I think Weaver has something in a kit AND assembled that is close. Or I am sure searching the net simple plans could be found. Tichy or Grandt line windows and siding from Evergreen, Plastruct or wood. Pretty simple.
Weaver model........
You asked for SINGLE STORY. The Weaver and Cass houses are two story, but I have
seen single story ones on the road to Thurmond, W. Va., and will bet that many
other W.Va. coal towns have examples...but..finding photos.?
Originally Posted by colorado hirailer:
You asked for SINGLE STORY. The Weaver and Cass houses are two story, but I have
seen single story ones on the road to Thurmond, W. Va., and will bet that many
other W.Va. coal towns have examples...but..finding photos.?
Missed the single........but 90% of my post is still good......Tichy, Grandt etc.....make 'em!
bts (btsrr.com) has some one story company house kits. easy build, nice result.
jerrman
These were company owned houses in Fairmount, W. Va.
As a young boy in the late 40's I can remember houses like these in Thomas, W. Va.
In the 60's, I grew up in a small 2 bedroom coal company house in Montcoal, WV. It looked just like a Plasticville Cape Cod house. All of the company houses on our side of the river looked exactly the same. On the hill overlooking the mine was "cigar" hill with bigger houses where the upper management people lived.
BTS single story company house from the BTS website.
Shot Gun house.
The Shanty
If you remove the stilts, the BTS single story house looks like the houses that I remember.
Those photos above showed similarity in a company camp, but a variety of differences
in different companies. I think I have seen them almost alike but with subtle differences, like front door on left instead of right, a few different window locations,
some with porches or steps, some without. Those at Thomas, W. Va. shown above
are appealing, the people warehouses at Fairmount are not. I am guessing somebody
could do a photo essay book on this subject, and certainly an article for a prototype
or model magazine. If the place is still open, you could spend the night in a company house in kind of a private museum at Barthell, Kentucky, and ride to it on a tourist train out of Stearns,Ky. Barthell has an open coal mine shaft you can walk into, and several of the old camp's cottages, restored, for overnight rent (however, the last time I checked it out, last summer, it was closed) The owner, up in years when I was first there, was trying to capture that history some of the posters above lived. The tracks pass right through the camp, within sight of the mine shaft, and trains stop at the camp. There is another coal camp nearby that has been recreated with shells of buildings, this all in the Big South Fork Nat. Rec. Area on the Ky/Tenn line.
Another source for company house kits is Carolina Craftsman.
Great pics and idea. My Moms recollection, alzhiemers now, is the shotgun style house. She says they were built in groups of 3 units as one building. I can work with that. Let you know what the final work looks like down the road.
If you are looking for someone to build an exact replica, sned me an e-mail with a picture and I will provide a price.
Alan Graziano
