The Meadow Branch Coalfield is a coalfield located in the

Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia The Eastern Panhandle is the eastern of the two salient (geography), panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia; the other is the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, Northern Panhandle. It is a small stretch of territory in the northeast of ...

along the

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...

county lines. It is the only

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

coalfield in West Virginia, unlike the

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...

found in the rest of the state. It has not seen any active mining in many decades. However, as early as 1798 anthracite from Berkeley County and bituminous coal from Mineral County were the sources of coal supplying the government's Harpers Ferry Armory. Berkeley County was also a source of coal during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

.Cohen, p.7 The last mining occurred in the early 20th century; the anthracite in this coalfield is difficult to mine and does not occur in the continuous seams more typical of e.g. the northeast Pennsylvania

Coal Region The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite, anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons. The region is typically define ...

, making it not cost effective to mine. The area today comprises recreational areas including the

Tuscarora Trail The Tuscarora Trail is a hiking trail in the eastern United States, following the Appalachian Mountains through portions of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Its route is roughly parallel to, and to the west of, the Appalachia ...

and

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area is located in Morgan County, West Virginia, Morgan and Berkeley County, West Virginia, Berkeley Counties in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. It encompasses , mostly covered with mixed oak and pine forest, a ...

Abandoned mine An abandoned mine is a mine or quarry which is no longer producing or operational and, there is no responsible party to finance the cost to address the remediation and/or restoration of the mine feature/site. Terms and definitions vary though the ...

s can be found near the Tuscarora Trail.

References

Coal mining regions in the United States Coal mining in Appalachia Mining in West Virginia Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the American Civil War Former mines in the United States Geography of Berkeley County, West Virginia History of West Virginia {{WestVirginia-stub

See also

References