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VAST WEALTHINHILLSProsperity Strikes Harlan Coal Fields.kiDevelopment of Section\Will be Rapid.(Chas. T. in Courier-Journal)Harlan, Ky.—Harlan—It is ana.ne to eu ijure with a 11 a4 Kenlarky coal operators, miners, engineers and promoters. Sive for tiiesud h a rise of o ir big g ’Id a 11 oilfields it is doubtful if there has beena more meteoric development of anyse tionof the U liled S a es. Andy«*t this donnin of \Is) siuare milesc s tally estimated by the generalpubli • as a sterile re j o t productiveonly of in jvhishiue wiii- ky a id feud*.h is hardly begun i s commercial!career. Nine out of leu Kentucki-!mis to-day, if questioned concerningHarlan county, would dismiss theThe charred bequestionof the Middles“Harlan? Oh, it’s one of the moun-i wcountiesraising Cain.ginia by way of Harlan county onthe north side of the largest Cum-iGreat Possibilities.berland ridge. The sudden andextensive development of'the Mid-dlesboro district, combinedAsk some of the railroad men,. . .. ... ,_________..... , , pressure from capitalists interestedcivil engineers or coal opera ors whcare busy in Harlan and you’ll get! there, who promised immediatean entirely different sort of an an-howeverswer.beirailroad men to buildWIpossibilitiesMiddlesborocountry. Capitalists, coal experts and railroad men have hadreachinglt;their eye oa Harlan for two decades.enty years c Middlesboroda*They knew it was only a questionJellico district—broken, however, byposslumpwould become1893richtecJoi28Brthe public. So. for the past tenHarlan field only fifty miles away, |could lookthehave been surveyingstretching along a depression between the mountains, offering easierbuying and leasing coal lands, tim-gradcs for railroad building intoan. . . . . ., . ., „ , Virginia, lay dormant. , .,and9 aml mmera, bearK“! ,racta Keen-eyed business men were not *containing venous row com.nerc.nl ^ M ^jl*depostts. and hokltng them oga.nst tracts of ,and had I«the day when the railroad, the | an(J oonaoUdated by varioll9 hol(i. “torch-bearer of progress shouldI ar-. aad ^ nies eve„ ,R.fore “And now the railroad ts here | ^ panic ]g93 A1((ng ahom the jcoa e s m 0f the present century the | ^men with money to spare for a loug-rive.America stands on the thresholdof a period of commercial prosperitywhich is certain to add millions oftime investment began work inwage-earners to Kentucky’s census statisticsearnest in Harlan and for the pastI •decadeelapsed* *When It Was Discoveredten years, beginning with the first sign of another period of railroad jltJ building, the work of surveying, -jj* prospecting and purchasing coal anttimberclIt’s a long story, but it covers abut rapidly. One man, WilliamSampson, of Middlesboro, associatedE.Sampsonground. As long as a quar-ter of a century ago a certain geologist who covered the field toldMilton H. Smith, president of thespenttc(Continued on secondL N. railroad, and several othermen interested in the future ofEasternHarlancounty, along with Letcher, Bell,Pike and Knox, would one day formone of the greatest coal fields in theFarmers aad Dairy Meeting Here.haifcsuspices of the Lincolngzday, Friday and Saturday, a farmer| t]meetingworld.especiallypossibilitiesHarlan field, and the L. N. prcsi-Quite a number of speakersand.« • • y v ,••• v, •present. Quite a number of the n citizens of Middlesboro, interested in j utucked — -------— —,. . „ ... . .farming and dairying ance.wouldinto a territory so rich. The opportunity knocked at the doors ofNew Western Union Operator.H arlan land owners and the L N.a few years later, when an EnglishLexingtoncorporationassumed management of therbegan the famous Middlesboro boomWestern Union office at thissucceeding Mr. Frank FrazierThat was over twenty years ago,., but the hope* of those who knew tura accePted • P0**® *“»richness of the Harlan field I f?me comP®nyTennessee.JohnsonIt1were destined to be deferreddecades. Money was not overlyIrailroad externOat o! the First Boomers1sion or for mining developmentabout that time, and ouch cash asavailable gravitated towardiIwasMiddlesboro. The presidentdirectorsdined to build aneededsontheasterly branch OverGeo. W. Washburn, one of the firstitboomers here in the latter 80’s, wt up from Knoxville a few days tfc week to see how the “Magic City was making progress. Mr. Wash- ( burn is very well pleased with tfsecond growth of the mountain cityi
Newspaper Details
Middlesboro Thousandsticks
Middlesboro, Kentucky, US
Thu, Nov 30, 1911
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USA 01 Dec 2020
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