By Damian Phillips, The Exponent Telegram
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginians have long held coal mining in high esteem as many can trace their family’s prosperity back to a single miner.
However, the trajectory of the industry is expected to continue to turn down as mining becomes more automated, with former miners seeking reeducation in other industries.
In the early days of mining, coal camps were established near the mines that were inhabited by miners and their families. In many instances, miners walked to work.
But with the advent of the motor vehicle and the boom of industrialized society, miners began to be recruited from places much further away, said retired miner and former District Vice President for United Mine Workers of America Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion.
This was only the start. The mining industry continued to change alongside the world, and today mining is much different than before.
“It’s not like it was back in the ‘50s,” Caputo said.
Since 1990, the number of miners employed in West Virginia has fallen by more than 50%.