House Coal Hole in Kentucky

[beau40356]

I worked a with a neihbor that had one of these near his house at 14 years old. He laid rail and had a old cart that held about a half ton we'd push out of the mines after he drilled and shot the coal.

He would tell his wife to pull the cord on his drill...wait 15 minutes and plug it back in for a minute at a certain time of day....After loading holes with explosives he'd hook his electric caps to the cord and leave !

They had kids around the house...Imagine if they had plugged it in early LOL!

[whimberly1]

How cool is that!?

[kristidunlap]

Thanks for taking the time to record your local history- we should all do this.

[Draglineoperator]

The term "house coal hole" isn't really a good way to refer to them, any book i have read and the book I'm writing refers to them strictly as "dog holes" or "Ground Hog holes" in my area there are about 400 known openings and thousands more I'm sure. i am in the process of making a map of Ohio and Tuscarawas County of dog holes and small 2 man operation mines. Hopefully it will be done soon.

[MadBadVoodo]

@Draglineoperator If you make a trip 2 SE Kentucky you will see that they are called all kinds of things including House Coal Holes. Ground Hog Holes is a new one on me but my experience is in South East Kentucky and not in Ohio so what do I know LOL!!

[norb1937]

@Draglineoperator My mom and all her brothers and sisters used to stand by the railroad tracks with pails when they were kids. When a train came by they'd thumb their noses at the engineer. This prompted the fireman to throw chunks of coal at them They picked up the coal and put it in the pails and waited for the next train. My grandfather had 8 kids so he got plenty of free coal for his stove this way.

[leximinnich]

@norb1937 The Indiana Railroad runs about 25 ft from my back door....my kids run out there to the tracks and come in with big chunks of coal they find and show me..they say "OH MOMMA!! LOOK!!! IT'SSS COOAALL!!!!" we dont heat our house with it, but they sure do like findin it :)

[norb1937]

@leximinnich You dont heat your house with coal then what do you heat it with.

[leximinnich]

@norb1937 Wood ;)

[greasychoppers]

My grandpas place right outside of Corbin had 2 such mines. They had rails and small carts to push in and out. Im not sure if these mines were house holes or not but they are very interesting.

[whitbywv]

Excellent history

[whitbywv]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing!!

[charliepc56]

Here in Virginia we called those holes, "Coal Banks." Folks can't dig their own coal any more, legally that is. Federal restrictions on the storage and use of Dynamite make it impossible to use it outside a job site. They used what they called a Brest Auger and drilled several holes then loaded them with dynamite and blasted the coal loose, and hauled it home in a wooden sled. Thanks for the Video..

[73Beetle]

Nice piece of history! Thanks for sharing! Where I live on the Canadian Prairies, these are called Gopher Hole mines or Farmer Mines!

[kentuckycowboy2]

Floyd County here not only our family but several on the road we live on where the older ones provided a heating source for their homes from . Grandfather still talks about it today at 95 yrs of age it his mining career and the old home place is about all Alzheimer has not robbed him of .

[movieman0324]

I remember going with my dad to our coal bank for coal. Even at 6 years old it was hard for me to stand up in the coal bank. I thing now that my dad worked all day long in such a small place. I have nothing but respect for the coalminers who would work so hard in such a place to feed their kids.

[charliepc56]

What stopped the local coal hole or coal bank as it was called where I live was new and tough explosive laws. Coal in the solid is to hard to get with a pick and shovel. It had to be blasted with Explosives, and this day and time one would get a trip to the federal pin for possessing explosives.

[vrghiks]

My Grandpa had one of these on his farm

in Clay County Kentucky.He had a mule by the name of Jim.Jim would pull the sled with the coal back to the house(cabin)about a half mile down the mountain.This was sixty some years

ago.I was born in that cabin that Grandpa

owned.

Thanks for posting this video.This helped to stir some precious memories.

[MadBadVoodo]

Your welcome!

[vangard213]

my house has a cold hole

[AlwaysWishing1983]

I live really close to KY in VA so...guess I'm some what of a neighbor? LOL

Hello!

[MadBadVoodo]

Hello are you going 2 make any videos? BTW Rocky looks like a good horse!

[brittanydanes1]

i am from kentucky

[ikickarseforthelord]

I'm from southeast Kentucky!!! Are we neighbors?

[MadBadVoodo]

My house is in Bell County how about you??

[ikickarseforthelord]

Clay County here! Represent! :D

[MadBadVoodo]

Clay County chicks are Bad Ass!! :)

[ikickarseforthelord]

Hehe, thanks :)

[gardenmagik]

Very interesting! 5's !

[yankeegurl62]

question, how did they know where to dig for the coal? Is it hard coal or soft coal that they would get from that area? Thanks for the info.

[MadBadVoodo]

They would see whats called an outcropping and they would start digging it out. The coal starts out soft but the deeper you go it gets very hard.

[RealOutdoorsTV]

Very cool stuff ... thanks for the info.

[KentuckyGiant]

very educational. I've added it to our hisroty section.  Thanks.

Ping =^.^=

[Louisvillecpl24]

hell im from Ky. and didnt know that... COOL!

[MadBadVoodo]

You will find these in South East Kentucky...

[Louisvillecpl24]

yeah im from Northern Ky... born in Brandenberg ky.

[taker52]

a coal powerd car! right in ur own back yard

[lookoverme]

hello it is good se you made videos and thank you for shareing! Hey it showed up pretty good by the way and yes times have changed.

peace

[marquisdejolie]

I hear a dried cow pattie will cook a meal, too

[MadBadVoodo]

Why yes it will but it might stink a bit! LOL

[Daphne1225]

Look there at the related videos. Your video was copied. I'm finding all of the original owners videos to rate them a five. The POSER Can kiss mine. Anyway giving this a five and wanted you to know. Since he's stealing ppl's videos!

[MadBadVoodo]

Thanks man! He is trying 2 make money by putting a link in the description box! Sad... BTW I do not know why your comment was marked as spam...

[MadBadVoodo]

Hey it looks like YouTube has given ron44oxC the boot! YT on the Job 4 once!!

[redcollargedeon]

I know nothing about coal. My dad was born on a farm, and they had trees on their land to feed the stove.

Oddly enough, that hole is a historical site, isn't it? I think so. I was an important part of people's day to day life, once upon a time.

5 stars. Very interesting to me.

[MadBadVoodo]

You are right the hole is an historical site as crazy as that seems... :)

[clockworkmeltdown]

sweet. i guess i learned something new today. thanx man!!!

rock on-space

[MadBadVoodo]

Cool...

[djonova]

Cool video!

[MadBadVoodo]

Thanks!!

[f3xpgm]

I guess there's nothing like that in my area, not that i know! Thanks for sharing! ;)

[MadBadVoodo]

Cool...

[gnr1234]

nice, had no idea about that.

I have a beer cave right next to my house, but i dont let my neighbors near it!

[MadBadVoodo]

WOW a Beer Cave! I need one of those next 2 my house! LOL

[gnr1234]

MBV is invited to my beer cave...just cause he is cool like that!

[MadBadVoodo]

You know Eddie one of these days I am going 2 take a vacation 2 Puerto Rico and check out that Beer Cave!!! LOL

[gnr1234]

LOL! aweeeesome! you wont be disappointed!

[MrMickster]

Very cool. Good history lesson! BTW, is that a train horn I hear in the background?

[MadBadVoodo]

Thanks man and yes that is a train... So why are you not making any new videos???

[MrMickster]

Been pretty busy lately. Everything will be slowing down soon so I should start making them again soon!

[Fringe111]

Great to see you again.

[MadBadVoodo]

Good 2 see you 2 Joy!!

[gonewalking]

Where was this filmed?

[MadBadVoodo]

Bell County Kentucky

[TheBeeOBee]

Do those ever cave in? Interesting stuff as always, MBV! You ever get down in there?

[MadBadVoodo]

Yes they do cave in! the roof of the mine is not supported and it is sandstone so that makes it very dangerous... I have only looked into it and have never crawled in Im 2 big of a pussy... LOL

[achampag]

hmm...spend one day a month working for the heat bill...or how long for the coal? lol...j/k, i dont wanna burn any coal...we do that enough in this state

[MadBadVoodo]

Hey Lea just think about how hard life was for those poor hillbilly's back then... I would say that they spent about six hrs a week digging coal just 2 stay worm and 2 cook! Anyway I am still trying 2 come up with something 4 Roger but I just don't know that I can do him justice...

[achampag]

i envy those hillbillies in some respects...

simplicity

as for roger, vid or no vid...up to you. there isnt like, a score sheet for the tribute vids...

people just each kinda did their own thing

=)