Updated: 2/14/2012
The State's first coal boom-town. Visitors can take tours of the Exhibition Coal Mine and visit the Museum Education center.
The Southwest Improvement Company opened the first mine in Pocahontas in 1882. The name Pocahontas was chosen in honor of the Indian princess who had saved the life of Captain John Smith. The first company store was built in 1883 by the coal company (presently the Foodline). Company houses and boarding houses were also constructed for the miners and their families. Many immigrants of Hungarian, Welsh, Russian, Polish, Italian, German, and Irish descent, along with people of many other countries, came to work in the coal fields.
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