Wise County coal museum tells the story of a community

September 2024

(Photos by Gregg MacDonald)

BIG STONE GAP, TUCKED BETWEEN POWELL MOUNTAIN AND LITTLE STONE MOUNTAIN along the Appalachian Straight in Wise County, Va., is probably best known for a series of books written about it by New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani. Her debut novel, “Big Stone Gap,” was made into a 2015 movie starring Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson and Whoopie Goldberg.

Although books and a movie may be what elevated the town and its 5,200 or so inhabitants to national recognition, coal is the reason it exists. Coal is — or at least was — to Big Stone Gap and the entire Appalachian region what automobiles are to Detroit, corn is to Kansas and oil is to Texas. From its beginning and for much of its early development, Big Stone Gap was economically centered around the coal mining industry.

Fittingly, a museum is dedicated to that history today in the center of town. The Harry Meador, Jr. Coal Museum was put together, bit by bit and piece by piece, from the mini-treasure troves and memorabilia of private homes and public buildings in Big Stone Gap and surrounding towns. For locals, the museum attempts to define a personal heritage and provide a peek into their past. For others, it offers a rich educational experience concerning coal and its direct influence on an Appalachian community.

Owned by the Town of Big Stone Gap and operated by the Big Stone Gap Parks and Recreation Department, the museum features exhibits and objects collected by the late Harry Meador, Jr., an executive with a local coal company who advocated for the coal mining industry. Various displays exist in the museum, including photographs, mining equipment and tools, office equipment, coal company items and a small dentist office from the early 1900s. Meador was instrumental in procuring and collecting many of these artifacts and is said to have taken great pride in coal mining history.

E.B. Leisenring Jr., chairman of the board of Westmoreland Coal Company, speaking at the museum’s dedication ceremony in September 1982, said it all: “I think Harry Meador would like best to be remembered as a coal miner, with every proud attribute that goes with that name.”