Welcome to Whitby WV,
rebuilding on the web!



Margaret Bowling (Grandma) and her sisters circa 1979 in front of the Shanks house in Whitby.

WHY have a Web Page on Whitby WV?

Whitby WV is a remote coal town where time and apathy have started transforming the houses, the church, the Post Office, School and coal mine into strange shapes on a remote mountain road. In order to stop what time and apathy have taken away, I started this page to attempt to preserve and rebuild Whitby. Whitby, in my mind IS coal culture.

When the town goes, it is gone. There are no remaining structures. It is as if the hand of God came and wiped it off of the earth. I have seen the faces of people who have witnessed this. The site of several gaping holes in the earth where they once lived leaves a shocked, hurt, colorless expression on their face. You do not want to see those faces. In the instance of coal towns and coal culture, gone does not mean forgotten. Gone is forever. Please read on.....

Square One

I want to thank the people who gave me their time and effort in providing data on Whitby WV. This project will be dependant on the input of others. I am in desperate need of photos and memories from Whitby while coal was still being mined there. Links for these are at the bottom of this page. Feel free to mail me and I will reimburse folks for their expenses in photo replication and shipping and mailing. You will be credited and listed on the site should you wish to contribute. Please see here where I have acknowledged all others who have contributed thus far.


If you want to see what Whitby looks like today (2003 through 2008) see the links below or click here to see what Whitby looks like.

Whitby Town and Mining History

Whitby has been described as a typical Coal Camp within the Winding Gulf Coal Region of Raleigh County West Virginia. The town of Whitby appears to have orginally been named Stahl. Click here to see Postal Application for Whitby. Later, as the Post Office was re-established, the name of Whitby endured. On July 27, 1935, Lillybrook Coal deeded 41.72 acres and 33 dwellings to Sterling Smokeless Coal Corporation. This was predicated on land leased to Lilly Brook Coal by the Beaver Coal Company on January 1,1933. Click here or in the table below to see a street map of Whitby. Another name for Whitby has been Bowyer. This is no doubt due to Bowyer creek and of course land leased by the Beaver Coal Corporation (which never dealt in Coal, they are only a property company) to the Bowyer Smokeless Coal Company on March 10,1917. Click here to see a map of Bowyer. Whitby then became the town name by ~ the end of 1918. Click here to see a map of the land tracts that make up Whitby. Believe it or not, Yet ANOTHER town name of Sterling was proposed; but by 1927, Whitby was the accepted name. Mr. Forman the Post Master at that time, confirmed that the town would be called Whitby. I will be transcribing the deed history that this map represents and have it posted ASAP. Additionally, there is a newer set of pages here which have a very detailed mining history of Whitby

Whitbys town names are a source of some confusion. The most obvious example was the town of Battleship or Ralco which was called West Whitby in 1951. (Click here or in the map table below to see a map of West Whitby). Most of the people I have spoken with still refer to this area as Battleship and as a child I remember seeing billboards about an amusement park in Battleship. There was a replica of a battleship there which the kids called an attraction.

In my opinion, every coal town that I have seen or played in has its important places or institutions. These are usually the Church, the Company store, the Post Office, the Mine and Tipple and of course schools. There is an excellent source of what typical coal camps were like here. What I cant understand is why the state appears to not care in the very least as to the preservation of some of these towns. I will say that at the start of this project I had been told that there was no such place as Whitby in West Virginia...

Below are links to what I have been able to find out about the Church,Post Office,grade school,Tipple and Supers House. I promise to anybody that comes here that I will give credit to any contribution you feel is important and vital. My goal is very simple, I want to recreate the town of Whitby on the web and in the course tell you a bit about its people and history. I have created a seperate table (at the bottom) for maps. Links for personal recollections and many others are coming. Thanks for your patience.


Town of Whitby WV

Mailing a letter or making a phone call in Whitby WV Whitby WV Postal Application Whitby WV Post Office History
Rails in Whitby WV? Whitby WV in 2003 Whitby Resident Group Photos
Ever Flowing Well at Whitby WV C.C. Stafford and P.Q. Warden of Whitby WV Auger Device at Whitby WV (what is this thing???)
Whitby WV Church History, includes pics of church interior Homes in Whitby WV during the 1930's Vacant Coal Camp house Interior at Whitby WV
Whitby WV Grade School Memories of Whitby WV Inside the Whitby WV Elementary School Kitchen!!
View of Whitby WV in the 1950's Whitby WV Scrip Smith and Stover Coal at Whitby WV
Take In Hollow Willabet WV Whitby WV Grade School Faculty
Whitby Constable Earl Lilly View of Fink Street Halsteads in Whitby WV
Halstead Cemetery Doctor Riley of Whitby WV Battleship WV in 2003
Whitby WV 1954 Elementary School Yearbook People of Whitby WV Whitby WV Thanks Page. Again, thanks to you, this is possible.
Whitby WV Memorial Page The Blue Goose Whitby Artwork
Cool Ridge WV Whitby WV Mining History Page Whitby WV Mining Crews Page
Whitby WV Union Hall Miners Memories Lillybrook town view
Lonnie Price at Whitby WV Whitby WV Church Plate 2006 Whitby WV Group Picture at Stoco
Whitby WV Mining History Company Store at Whitby WV Whitby Student Pictures
Strip Mining at Whitby WV Whitby WV in 2004 Fireco Group Photo
Tourists in Whitby WV Duncans at Whitby WV (Includes working at the Whitby Tipple!) 2007 Stoco Reunion Information
Shanks Family at Whitby WV Building the trestle at West Whitby/Ralco WV! Standing in front of the Whitby WV Company Store
William Keffer Whitby WV Blacksmith Ms Wilder Whitby WV Boarding House Manager Sisk Family at Whitby WV
Church and Tracks at Whitby WV Who Lived Where in Whitby WV?? Smith Family at Whitby WV
Listen and Watch the Whitby WV Church Bell Ring!! Main 2006 Whitby WV Church Page Whitby WV in the 1930's. Includes portal and store pictures.
Whitby WV in 2007 Whitby WV Mining Portals in 2007 Tracks in Whitby WV in 2007
Wood Trestle at Whitby WV! Halstead Farm at Whitby WV Inside the Mines at Whitby WV!
Coal Tonnage for Whitby WV! How Old was the School at Whitby WV??? Letter of Recommendation for Walter Sisk at Whitby WV
Motor crew at Bowyer or Battleship?? Page Warden Family, Who are they at Whitby WV???? Baseball Teams from Bowyer and Stahl WV!!!! Whitby's earliest names!!
Mystery Whitby WV School Picture!!!! The Raleigh County Flag, what does it mean?? The Whitby WV School Burns
2010 Stoco Group Picture!!!! Whitby Hollow! History of Bowyer West Virginia!!!!!!
ANOTHER series of People at Whitby WV,the Helvey Family!!!! DEED for the Whitby WV Church!!!! What did Bowyer West Virginia look like??
UPDATES COMING Barker Family at Whitby West Virginia! UPDATES COMING


Family Roots in Whitby WV

Margaret Emily Caudell Bowling, Grandmother and Whitby WV Post Master Great Grandad in Beckley Main Bowling Family Page
Children Of Thomas Bejamin Bolen/Bowling Another Generation of Bowlings Caudell Family Page


Whitby WV Tipple Links

Paul and Wilma Shanks at Whitby WV(great view of Whitby Tipple facility) 1954 Sterling Smokeless Tipple info at Whitby WV Main Whitby WV Tipple Page
Whitby WV Tipple area Layout Map Byrd Duncan at the Whitby WV Tipple(A day in the life at the Whitby Tipple facility) Last Tipple in Whitby WV

Maps

Street Map Of Whitby WV How Do I get to Whitby WV? 1940's Whitby WV Street Map (Thanks Glen!)
Street Map of West Whitby or Battleship WV Rail Map of Ralco/West Whitby/Battleship WV Bowyer WV Rail Map
Land tracts that are Whitby WV Rail Charts of Whitby WV Whitby WV Rail Map
Mine Map of the Number 10 Mine at Whitby WV UPDATES COMING UPDATES COMING

Links to Videos and (THE NEW) Coal Town Photography BLOG!

Yes, I am adding a coal town photography blog with pics of other coal towns and cities in our great state.

Trestle at Bowyer Hollow Wooden Coal Chute at Whitby Whitby WV in its prime circa 1938
Seeing the House for the last time at Whitby WV Listen to the Church Bell Ring at Whitby WV 1930/31 Whitby WV Mine Crew Photo
Whitby WV Coal Scrip! Wood Trestle at Whitby WV !!THE NEW Coal Town Photography BLOG!!
Whitby WV Philosophy See Me on Instagram Updates Coming!!

Send me (Mark Combs) mail.