Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine attracting visitors nationwide

Apr. 14—At just two weeks into its 2023 season, the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine is attracting visitors from across the country in record numbers.

Raleigh County Parks and Rec Director Leslie Baker said the increase in visitors is not only favorable for the region's economy, but it also gives those at the Exhibition Coal Mine a chance to educate people about West Virginia's history with coal.

"Just this last Saturday, in a brief go-through of the parking lot, there was cars from 11 states, and we had visitors from two foreign countries," Baker said.

The Exhibition Coal Mine takes visitors underground into a coal mine and then on a tour of a historically accurate coal camp at New River Park. It draws about 50,000 visitors per year.

The attraction opened for the season on April 1, and since then Baker said they are seeing about 100 visitors a day.

"We've done about 100 people plus a day ever since (April 1), which it'll go up — we've had a couple of 200-people days and none of them are local," she said.

Judging from the first two weeks, Baker said attendance is up by about 20 percent though it will take until the end of the season, which is Nov. 1, to judge how well the Exhibition Coal Mine does this year.

She added this this will be the first year since 2019 that should not be impacted by any Covid restrictions.

As the number of visitors to the Exhibition Coal Mine increases, Baker said it is becoming more and more evident that most of the country does not understand or has any real knowledge of West Virginia's history with coal mining.

"They have no knowledge of Appalachian culture and very little knowledge of the coal industry," she said. "They just absorb everything in such a positive way that we are informing them about."

While the exhibit is a source of revenue for the city, Baker said its main mission is to educate people about the coal mines and the culture that developed in West Virginia as a result of coal mining.

"That's the whole mission there, that's what we're after ... so that they go away with a true appreciation of what our culture has done and they just spread the word so positively," she said. "To be able to do that, it's so gratifying."

Baker also pointed out that the mine has received national recognition for its effort.

In 2022, USA Today named Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine among the Top 10 Best History Museums in the United States.

It is one of the smallest museums named to the list, and Beckley is the smallest town to make the Top 10.

Complementing the coal mine is the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia, which is also located at New River Park.

The youth museum is displaying an exhibit called Animationland, which focuses on the basics of the animation process using interactive features including a sketching studio, a sound effects booth and the opportunity to plan and star in a stop-motion production.

Animationland was developed and produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).

During the off season, Baker said her department has been working on making improvements starting with renovations to the exhibition's gift shop.

After several years of waiting, Baker said they are getting a new mine motor to pull the mantrips underground.

"The motor that we were using came with the original when we opened the mine in 1962," she said. "And we had to put it out all over the country and there was just one company that was willing to do it out of Irwin, Pennsylvania, and it took them two years because of the COVID."

Baker said plans are also in the works to expand the attraction.

"There are tentative plans to expand the property and add some more modern mining pieces," she said.

The Exhibition Coal Mine will also be the site of a planned memorial to honor the families and victims of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, which occurred on April 5, 2010, and claimed the lives of 29 miners.

The memorial will be constructed at New River Park at the Exhibition Coal Mine. It will be dedicated on behalf of the families of the UBB miners and honoring all of the families of the over 2,000 coal mining fatalities that have occurred in the history of Raleigh County.

For more information about the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine go to https://beckley.org/coal-mine.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com