Wenonah was an unincorporated community and coal town in Mercer County, West Virginia, located 3.1 miles northwest of Matoaka, 1 mile north of Springton on Widemouth Creek and 11 miles northwest of Princeton. The coal town was originally named Wenonah after the Wenonah Coal Company, but when a post office was established, a post office already existed with a similar name (Winona, Fayette County) and the post office officially became “Dott”. Turkey Gap Consolidated Coal and Coke Company operated the mines, and the coal town. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dott,_West_Virginia) Wenonah / Dott / Turkey Gap all refer to the same coal camp and area (Wenonah was the coal camp, Dott was the name of the post office associated with the Coal Camp, and Turkey Gap was the mine.)
Turkey Gap was licensed to ship coal in 1898. Mary Catherine Bones remembers that “the coal camp houses lined the steep banks, and the N&W Railway ran through the “heart” of the town. Homes had electricity, indoor plumbing and a radiator heating system. The company store offered groceries on one side and dry goods on the other side of the store. During the Christmas season, the store offered toys, candy and unshelled nuts. The townspeople offered music lessons for a fee, and children attended the camp school.” ( http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/spring18/Wenonah.html) Mary’s father ran the company store for many years.
"Information on Weonah is limited...Houses and the Company Store were built by "Captain" David Harvey Barger. Wenonah was the chosen name for this community but that name was not allowed for the Post Office due to another community elsewhere in the state with the same name spelled 'Winona'. "Captain" Barger had a daughter named Dorothy, nicknamed "Dot"...this became the source of the name for the Post Office...spelled Dott.
Mr. E.E. Tomlinson served as the postmaster in the 1920s, as well as company store manager. Mrs. Hugh Price became Postmistress in the mid-twenties and continued until sometime after WWII. Dure to the high level of mail during those years, several women were hired as assistants in the Post Office, among them were Nina McKinney and Delaurice Stoots Porter (Mrs. Ray Porter). There were about 400 to 450 men working for the Turkey Gap operation during the 1940s. Wages were 99 cents per hour ofr handloader and just over one dollar per hour for Motorman. By 1951 wages were $4.50 per hor for Motormen and $2.00 hourly for other jobs. Women clerks in the Company Store earned 75 cents per hour during the 1940s. After the mines began using machines, many lost their jobs...houses were razed whenever someone moved out. in the 1950s only a few houses remained of the originals." ~Mary Catherine Bones
Bonita Hurst Sink remembers, "I was born in 1955 and lived in Wenonah until my parents moved to Matoaka in 1968. My father, Trevis Hurst, was born and raised in Wenonah. My mother, Joy Bailey Hurst, lived between Springton and Hiawatha before moving to Wenonah in 1950.
Mother went to work as a Sales Clerk in the Wenonah Company Store in 1953. The Company Store was huge! It had three levels. The basement was basically used as a storage place. The second floor was the business area. The Store supplied everything that one would need. Fresh meat, groceries, clothes, shoes, furniture, hardware, guns, even jewelry could be purchased there. The Payroll Office was also on the second floor, but separate from the store. The miners would come to the Payroll Office to receive their money. The third floor was also used as storage and as offices for the company business. In 1953, the McQualls were the owners, then in December of that year, the Crozier Coal and Land purchased the company. Later Pocahontas Fuel bought out Crozier, then in 1963, Consolidated Coal Company bought the mines and store.
Mother became the first female Company Store Manager in 1963. She remained in this position until 1976, when she retired. The Company Store closed in 1978.
My father's first job at the mines was weighing coal. He was one of the two section bosses that had the depressing job of closing out the mines in May of 1985. After this, my father retired.
Wenonah had many different types of houses. The first one that I lived in was known as a "double house". My parents and I occupied one side and my grandparents, Corbett and Mazie Bailey, lived on the other side. I can remember hiding in the closet to cry on the day that my grandparents moved away. Later, we moved to a house on the hill, then we moved into the Store Manager's house. This was a large house with three porches. The one feature I remember about the homes in Wenonah was the wooden walks leading to the front doors. I would often lay on the walks and watch bugs crawl around on the ground. It was also a favorite place to sit in the summer sun.
I have many memories of being a child in Wenonah. The camp was full of children. We would ride bikes from one end of the camp to the other. The woods provided an endless playground for us. We each had our own special tree that we spent hours climbing.
We had a cable type "grapevine" that someone put up on the edge of the woods for us to swing on. One of our favorite games was to see how many kids could grab the cable and swing out in front of the train as it came down the tracks. The train engineer would blow the whistle to warn us, even though he knew we would swing above the train and not in front of it.
Oh, we were little "dare devils"! We used to dare one another to run underneath the train when it was moving at a slow pace while crossing the highway near the Springton Junior High School. You simply were not "in" unless you did this. We really did not realize how dangerous this was!! I never told my mother that I had done this until I was in my 30's!!!
The men that operated the train were very tolerant and nice to the children. Oftentimes, as the train left Wenonah, pulling a endless line of full coal cars, they would toss candy and gum to us. We really appreciated this, too!
I always felt safe as a child at Wenonah Everyone knew each other and the adults always watched out for us. Even the miners who hurriedly came to and from work on the narrow road, were aware that we were constantly running, playing, or riding bikes near their moving vehicles.
I can only remember being afraid twice while I lived at Wenonah. The first time was when the Company Store was broken in to, late one night, after Mother became the Manager. My father was working third shift so just Mother and I were at home. Both of us were very frightened when we heard the alarm blaring from the store. As it turned out, the robbers took an empty safe that had cleverly been placed in the Store Manager's office as a "decoy" for would-be robbers!!
The other frightening time for me, was when the furnace that heated our house and the Company Store exploded. I awoke to a terrible noise and lights flashing through my bedroom window. In my child's mind, I thought that "aliens" had landed in Wenonah!!!
I am glad that a part of my childhood was spent at Wenonah. It was a perfect place for children to play their games, act out imaginary roles and just have fun.
After graduation from Matoaka High School, I married Jerry Sink. We have two sons, Dane and Todd. In 1976, I graduated from Concord College with a major in Art. I taught at Matoaka High School until it closed, then remained teaching Art to the students at Matoaka Middle School.
A lot of families and friends came and went during the years that we lived in Wenonah. Some of them stayed longer than others. The Tippers, Hubbards, Blackwells, Agnews, Geahams, McKinneys, Monks, Poffs, Tollivers, Ratcliffs, Bowles, Fullers, Tolleys, Bones and many more made Wenonah their homes. The wonderful thing is that we have not forgotten each other and try to stay in touch.
Even though the houses, store and mines have long been gone, I can drive through the area and see every house, hear the children's voices and the lonesome train whistle, and the hustle and bustle of business being conducted at the Company Store.
Wenonah was not just a place, it was all of us who lived there!
On June 1, 1917, the Turkey Gap Coal and Coke Company was purchased by the Portsmouth Sovay Coke Company to supply the ovens at Portsmouth, Ohio. (https://www.yourppl.org/history/items/show/19098)
The company sold again in 1964 to Consol. With the downswing in coal production, Wenonah mine closed in 1975. All equipment was removed by 1983 and the mine was flooded sometime in 1985. This was a thriving community for many years, and has now vanished back to the countryside. (https://www.highwaysthroughhistory.com/Content/bridges/Matoaka1/docs/Ma…)