Wheelwright Collection
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wheelwright Collection
- Extent
- 185 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Coal miners -- Housing -- Kentucky.
- Coal mines and mining -- Appalachian Region -- History.
- Company towns -- Kentucky -- Wheelwright.
- Community development -- Kentucky -- Wheelwright.
- Coal mines and mining -- Kentucky -- Wheelwright
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], Wheelwright Collection, 1916-1979, 88M6, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Wheelwright, located in eastern Kentucky's Floyd County, is a town created by the coal industry. According to Stephen King's historical account, Wheelwright began to take shape in l9ll, the same year the railroad line into town was completed.[1] Elk Horn Coal Corporation developed Wheelwright as a coal camp, just as it had nearby Weeksbury several years earlier. Incorporated in l9l7, the town was named after the president of Consolidation Coal Company, Jere Hungerford Wheelwright; Elk Horn leased its properties from Consolidation.
- In l930, Inland Steel purchased the Wheelwright coal camp because the nearby seams were rich with metallurgical coal. The company immediately began development of its captive mines and town and retained E.R. "Jack" Price as manager of coal properties. Price believed, like other welfare capitalists, that it was a good investment to be interested in community welfare and improvement as well as mine safety and efficiency. Under Price's direction, Inland modernized Wheelwright's coal operations and properties. In fact, many referred to Wheelwright as "the town that Jack built." Indeed, Wheelwright grew and prospered, boasting such services as a hotel, library, hospital, golf course, movie theatre, bowling alley and department store. By the mid 60s, however, conditions were deteriorating in Wheelwright--some believe because many of the long-time company men, like Price, retired in the 50s. But the decline was probably due more to the changing coal business, especially in metallurgical markets, and the fact that Inland no longer considered Wheelwright a good investment.
- Inland Steel sold the "model" town and its mines in January l966 to Island Creek Coal. Within eleven months Island Creek, keeping the mines, sold the town properties to Mountain Investment Company. Gordon Brown, president of the company planned on renting and selling the houses to residents. Brown`s unwillingness to even maintain much less improve the buildings and grounds further added to Wheelwright's physical decline. He also refused to cooperate with Wheelwright's governing Board of Trustees. The cohesiveness of Wheelwright, as a community, was severely tested during those years. In addition, by the early l970s Island Creek shut down its mining operations, leaving Wheelwright with a severe employment crisis.
- -------------------- 1. See his Wheelwright, Kentucky: Community in Transition, 1982, pp. 19-21.
- Scope and Content
- This collection contains records from three of the companies that owned Wheelwright: Inland Steel, Island Creek, and Mountain Investment.
- The Inland Steel section contains little about the mining operations but is rich in details about the town itself. House and building improvements and maintenance records, monthly and annual reports on the properties and general office files covering topics from "Air conditioners" to "Woman's Club", create a vivid picture of company town life--from the company's perspective. Unfortunately, these records are incomplete, covering primarily the l950s and early l960s.
- Two other important groups of records document the history of Wheelwright residents during Inland's ownership. Medical records, covering the l930s-l960s contain daily and yearly medical reports made by company doctors, accident reports, individual doctor's files, and employee's files. (These records are restricted; see "Access Restrictions" for more information.) Employee retirement files, while limited to those retiring in the l960s, are often revealing of the company's attitudes towards the miners and offer glimpses into individual work histories.
- The Island Creek records are primarily those of the coal operations, containing daily time reports, records of employee earnings, mine reports, and office files.
- The Mountain Investment Company section thoroughly records that company's ownership of Wheelwright from l966 until l979 when it sold the town to the Kentucky Housing Corporation, a state agency. The documentation includes utility files--from meter readings to financial records; accounts payable; an extensive house and building file containing everything from maintenance to payment records; and office files.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Conditions Governing Access note All medical records, which includes Boxes 5l-84, are restricted through the year 2038 as follows:l) Materials are accessible only with the permission of the appropriate curator or archivist.2) Researchers must complete a manuscript restrictions form before access will be granted.3) The identification of any names of patients or their place of residence in any manner is prohibited.4) Materials may not be photocopied, microfilmed, or reproduced in any manner.
- Use Restrictions
- Copyright has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky
