Winifrede Coal Co. - Stock Certificate

Stock printed by Security Bank Note Co. Great Vignette! The Winifrede Coal Company is probably the oldest operating company in West Virginia, the original company having begun operations in 1853 under the name of the Winifrede Mining & Manufacturing Company. Their property consists of twelve thousand acres of coal lands acquired by the present company by purchase from the above concern and located thirteen miles east of Charleston, on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. They are one of the few limited corporations in West Virginia who own their land in fee. They also own and operate the Winifrede Railroad Company, a twelve-mile standard gauge road, its equipment consisting of three locomotives, two hundred and fifty small cars and thirty-five standards. They are also owners of the Belmont Coal Company mine, located twenty miles east of Charleston. These mines produce a high grade of splint coal as well as a'superior gas coal. The Belmont mine has a capacity of one hundred thousand tons annually, the Winifrede three hundred and fifty thousand tons, and their output in 1910 was a little over four hundred thousand tons. Arrangements are now being perfected to increase the output at Winifrede to five hundred thousand tons annually and at Belmont to two hundred thousand tons. The three companies which are owned and officered by the same men are all incorporated under the laws of West Virginia and their employes number twelve hundred. In addition to their extensive acreage of mining lands they own the town of Winifrede, one of the oldest coal-mining towns in West Virginia. It has a population of fifteen hundred, is adequately supplied with schools, churches, stores and other business interests and has a new modern opera house. Frank B. Stewart is in charge of the extensive operations of the three companies—the Winifrede Coal Company, the Belmont Coal Company and the Winifrede Railroad Company—with the title of general manager and treasurer and he is also a director for the same. He has made rapid rise in business, starting in 1890 as junior clerk in the main office at Philadelphia and in 1895 winning promotion to the position of chief clerk, while three years later he was elected secretary and treasurer of the three companies. In 1908 the selling and treasury departments consolidated, and this brought him to Cincinnati, at which time he became general sales agent, while in 1909 he was placed in full charge of the mines at both Winifrede and Belmont, his present duties requiring him to divide his time between the mines and the selling and treasury departments. 63) Winifrede Coal Company In the early 1860s a group of Philadelphia entrepreneurs acquired the Winifrede properties and the Winifrede Railroad and purchased 15,000 acres of coal and timberland on the headwaters of Fields Creek. They organized the Winifrede Coal Company to carry out the coal operations. During the Civil War and into the 1870s the mines were not operated and the railroad tracks and ties rusted and rotted away. In the late 1870s, Winifrede Coal Company began to recover and work commenced to rebuild the railroad. Winifrede Railroad Company received a charter as a separate organization on November 16, 1881. The Railroad was of standard gauge (4'8 1/2"inches) with 56-pound steel rails. It linked the Winifrede Mines to Winifrede Junction, a distance of about six miles, connecting there with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. A second-hand locomotive was purchased from M. Colwell & Canning for $4,500. However, within 15 months a new 45-ton Baldwin locomotive was purchased for $12,500. A passenger car was bought from Mepro Jackson & Sharpe Company of Delaware for $1,200 and 60 six-ton coal cars from Mepro McKee Fuller & Company, Pennsylvania at a total cost of $15,600. Also reported in the September 1882 report the construction of a tipple upon the Kanawha River. "It is the finest structure of its kind. It works in every way satisfactory to our General Manager, and lowers with ease six ton dump cars within a foot of the barge, thus delivering the coal without breakage." The same report stated "The C&O has established a station at the junction of their road with ours, and named the same 'Winifrede Junction.' A telegraph office is located there. Communication by telephone between the station at the river and the store near the mines has been established. The Winifrede carried 1,271 passengers and 12,512 tons of coal that first year after incorporation. In 1888 improvements included the construction of a car repair shop, the investment in a turntable, and the purchase of one new locomotive and more coal cars. The following year, 1889, a traffic contract was entered into between the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway Company, and the Winifrede Railroad, for the shipment of coal to Chicago and the northwest. A trust agreement was negotiated for the purchase of 500 cars, which in turn were leased to the other railway for these shipments. Ten years after the incorporation, business was well established. The railroad carried 272,314 tons of coal and 13,224 passengers in 1899. During 1902-3, the Railroad replaced the 56-pound rail with 85-pound rail. During this time the Railroad also sold to Winifrede Coal Company the river tipple located on the Kanawha River. By 1906, the Winifrede Railroad had rolling stock consisting of two locomotives, 235 six-ton coal cars, one passenger car, two flats, two box and one dump car. Buildings consisted of an engine house, machine shop, repair shop and blacksmith shop. There were 7 1/2 miles of mainline and 3 miles of siding. The Railroad also had a contract to deliver the mail from Lewiston to the Winifrede Post Office. There were many shortline railroads built in southern West Virginia during the latter half of the 19th century, but Winifrede Railroad is one of the few which survived. A copy of the Official Guide indicated that there were three trains scheduled which made the 7.2 mile run in 30 minuets. At first they made connections with the C&O and river steamers to Charleston and Point Pleasant and later to C&O and Charleston Interurban Railroad. In a good year, when the Winifrede Coal Company mines worked regularly, the average amount of coal hauled by the railroad was 210,000 tons. Beginning in 1910, the Railroad began replacing the 6- to 7- ton cars with 30-ton second-hand steel cars. Also in 1910 a new Baldwin 70-ton steam locomotive became the main motive power. In 1915, Winifrede Coal built a new steel tipple at Winifrede Junction. In 1922, the Railroad purchased 60 steel double hopper cars of 50-ton capacity. Winifrede Railroad served the Winifrede Coal Company until the mid-1920s, when due to the declining coal market the coal operations and the Railroad were forced to close. The Railroad retained its charter and was back in business again in 1930 when Winifrede Collieries acquired the Winifrede properties. In 1931, David P. Morgan wrote an article about shortline railroads in which he devoted a good portion of the account to the Winifrede Railroad. "The 6.75 mile coal hauler enjoys a fidelity to its corporate name that puts many a trunk line to shame, for it operated between Winifrede Junction, West Virginia and Winifrede, the former site is on the main line of the Chesapeake & Ohio and the banks of the Kanawha River. Locomotion is supplied by nos. 9 and 10, a pair of Richmond-built engines. (gottrains.com)

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