Bon Jellico Coal Camp
Whitley County, Whitley County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Bon Jellico. One-half mile northwest is the site of the Bon Jellico coal mine and camp, which operated from 1912-1937. While kneeling or sitting, miners dug the 24-40 inch coal seam with mostly picks and shovels. A total of 350 miners worked here. The annual production of nearly 100,000 tons of Blue Gem coal was sent via the L&N Railroad spur line to Savoy. The camp included 75 houses, a three-room school that also served as a church, and a company store. Although the mine had electricity, there was no plumbing or electricity in the homes, school, store. During its 25-year history, around 1,500 people lived in Bon Jellico, among them teachers, students, quilters, & homemakers. The mine was closed mostly due to depletion of the coal. Dedicated May 28, 2017.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
A half-mile northwest lay Bon Jellico, a coal camp that operated from 1912 to 1937 mining the prized Blue Gem seam. Working a coal band just 24 to 40 inches thick, 350 miners knelt or sat to dig with picks and shovels, sending nearly 100,000 tons a year down an L&N spur line. The camp housed some 1,500 people in 75 homes with a three-room schoolhouse that doubled as a church and a company store—all without plumbing—until the coal ran out.
Why it matters
Bon Jellico is a vanished Appalachian company town, a window into the hard, communal life of the coal camps that powered industrial America.
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