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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Thanks for your response. The first house my wife and I owned, in Needham, MA, had been built somewhere around 1910. Although the coal storage bin was long gone from the basement you could still see where it had been, and the delivery window was still there. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I was unable to find a photo of the interior of a coal company house other than some WPA photos of miners’ families that showed very little beyond the wall behind the subjects. I suppose that the houses were so common and uninteresting at the time that no one thought to document the insides. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Rob Doorack<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces@nwhs.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 4, 2025 9:43 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'NW Mailing List' <nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org><br><b>Cc:</b> NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: North Fork Hollow Mine Run<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It varied by company. The cost varied from $1.00 and $1.50 per ton in the 1940s. Houses generally had 1 ton coal boxes. Houses were heated with coal and most people has coal fired cooking stoves/ovens, so coal was in use the year round.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Alex Schust<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=2 width="98%" align=center></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>From:</span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> NW-Mailing-List <<a href="mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list-bounces@nwhs.org</a>> on behalf of NW Mailing List <<a href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org</a>><br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 4, 2025 9:21 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'NW Mailing List' <<a href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> RE: North Fork Hollow Mine Run <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p>I assume that company owned miners’ houses were heated by coal, like most houses in the US were until the rise of oil heat began in the 1930s. Did miners have to buy the coal to heat their homes from their employers or did they get it for free? <o:p></o:p></p><p> <o:p></o:p></p><p>Rob Doorack<o:p></o:p></p><p>Plantsville, CT<o:p></o:p></p><p> <o:p></o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> NW-Mailing-List <<a href="mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list-bounces@nwhs.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 3, 2025 10:11 AM<br><b>To:</b> NW Mailing List <<a href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> NW Mailing List <<a href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: North Fork Hollow Mine Run</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><p> <o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Most company stores had railroad sidings and warehouses. They were fully stocked dept stores that sold clothing shoes, furniture, animal feed, etc. Mules were e also delivered to company stables as well as feed. Mining equipment, mine timbers, building supplies, and sand were also delivered to company yards, and possible farm animals such as pigs, cows and chickens, long before they were advertised on WCKY Cincinnati (1929-1994.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Attached is a photo of the company store at Filbert on Sand Lick Branch. The store was served by a small stub end siding across the creek from the store. On the left side of the 1925 photo note the freight house, a bridge across the creek with a small railroad leading to the larger store warehouse. It appears the small railroad track had been paved over in 1925 when the road was originally paved. The store used a small cart on the rails to transfer freight from the boxcars.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>The other photo shows a different store view along with the railroad siding.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>