The Huguenots first discovered coal in
surface outcroppings along the James River near their settlement, Manakintowne, at the turn of the 18th
century. Colonel William Byrd took notice of the Huguenots using the coal for “domestic needs” and
took out a patent on 344 acres of land in 1701. In 1709, he reported
“…that the coaler found the coal mine very good and sufficient to furnish
several generations.”
Coal was mined commercially in the
Midlothian area in 1748, making the Midlothian
mines the oldest commercial mines in the
nation. In 1758, nine tons of this coal was transported by ship from
Hampton to New York. Due to competition from foreign coal, however, the
annual production of the mines was less than 1000 tons during the second half of
the 18th century.
An import tariff imposed on foreign coal in
1794 was the catalyst for increased development. This new interest in coal and the need to
transport it to northern markets would lead to construction of canals, roads,
and railroads. Operating by 1795, the
James River and Kanawha Canal facilitated the movement of coal from the pits
across the James downriver to Rocketts. By 1802, the Midlothian Turnpike connected
the Midlothian and Black Heath mines to the Manchester wharves. The Chesterfield
and Manchester Railroad, completed in 1831, operated as a gravity
line.
Mules rode in the last car and would then pull the empties back to the
mines. By 1850, the Richmond and Danville Railroad was completed,
eliminating the need for the gravity line.
The iron industry in Richmond developed by taking advantage of the local
fuel. Bellona
Foundry on Old Gun Road and the Tredegar Iron
Works in Richmond used local coal for their cannon operations and thus became
targets during the Civil War, along with Coalfield
Station.
The rich Midlothian bituminous coal deposit
lies along the eastern edge of the Richmond
Triassic Coal Basin, which straddles both sides of the James River and spans six
counties. Midlothian’s deposit is the result of tectonic activity as Pangea began to breakup during the middle Mesozoic
period. This area dropped as the North
American and African plates separated.
The resulting “basin” was a scene of quiet waters and abundant plant
life, both conducive to coal formation.
Western Virginia’s Paleozoic coal deposit, still mined today, is more
than 100 million years older.
Scottish, English, and Welsh miners brought
their mining expertise with them as they emigrated to
Midlothian in Virginia, where they toiled in the mines alongside slaves, freed
men, and local men and boys. Midlothian, Virginia, probably derives
its name from the Mid-Lothian Mines that were owned by the Wooldridge family,
whose ancestors emigrated in the late 1700s from the mining areas near
Edinburgh in Scotland known as “the Lothians.”
Midlothian is a Scottish county and is home to the Scottish Mining
Museum.