What happened at Coal Creek in Tennessee?
The Coal Creek War was an early 1890s armed labor uprising in the southeastern United States that took place primarily in Anderson County, Tennessee. Many of these same Coal Creek coal miners were also wounded or killed in small-arms skirmishes during the Coal Creek War, along with dozens of Tennessee state militiamen.
What happened with the Coal Creek labor saga?
On Oct. 31, 1891, during the Coal Creek War labor uprising to protest convict leasing, a group of miners seized the Knoxville Iron Company stockade at Coal Creek in Tennessee. The “convict lease system” was a private-public partnership in which prisoners were leased to private companies for their labor.
What was the Coal Creek saga?
The miners took control of the convicts, marched them to Coal Creek and boarded them on a train bound for Knoxville. This incident began a year-long rebellion aimed at convincing the state to end the convict-lease program that begin in 1866.
Who won the coal wars?
This armed conflict pitched organized miners against detectives, policemen, and eventually, the United States Army. The result of the battle was a loss for the West Virginia miners, and the crushing of organized labor aspirations in the state. Miners would not be allowed to organize again until the 1930s.
Why did the Coal Creek miners strike?
Beginning in 1877, the state of Tennessee chose to relieve its shortage of prisons by putting miners to work in the Coal Creek mines. The miners struck; they were evicted from their homes and more convicts brought in. The miners peacefully freed the convicts and tried to convince governor “Buck” Buchanan to negotiate.
Who owns Coal Creek Company?
It is part of United Energy Corp., a holding company with subsidiaries involved in supplying gas, producing oil, and marketing oil, gas and electricity. Rainbow President Stacy Tschider said the company has 28 years of experience in marketing power throughout North America.
What were the demands of the Tennessee Coal miners in 1891?
In the year 1891, miners of the Tennessee Coal Mine Company were asked to sign an “iron-clad contract”: pledging no strikes, agreeing to get paid in scrip (company money which could be spent in company shops and then only redeemed by the company), and giving up the right to check the weight of the coal they mined (they …
How did the coal wars end?
While miners shot at their opponents, private planes organized by the coal companies’ defensive militia dropped bleach and shrapnel bombs on the union’s headquarters. The battle only stopped when federal troops arrived on the order of President Warren Harding.
What issue triggered the Cripple Creek miners strike of 1894?
Mine owners moved to lengthen the workday to ten hours in early 1894, and the union vowed to hold the line. In February it threatened to strike all mines working more than eight-hour shifts. Some mine owners conceded, but others persisted, provoking a strike.
Who owns Wind Rock Park?
The Coal Creek Company
The Coal Creek Company established in 1872 currently owns the 72,000 acres on which WindRock Park operates. Coal Creek Company has two subsidiaries, Coal Creek Ventures, Inc.
When did windrock Park open?
2007
This led to the establishment of the Windrock Park Campground in 2007.
How far south of Coal Creek is Oliver Springs?
Other key events occurred some 15 miles (24 km) south of Coal Creek at Oliver Springs.
What is the history of the Coal Creek massacre?
This labor conflict ignited during 1891 when coal mine owners in the Coal Creek watershed began to remove and replace their company-employed, private coal miners then on the payroll with convict laborers leased out by the Tennessee state prison system.
What is the history of Coal Creek in Anderson County?
The town of Coal Creek expanded rapidly, becoming the largest in Anderson County with a population of 3,000 by the end of the 1870s. Coal mines opened throughout the valley between Coal Creek and Briceville, which was founded as a mining town in the late 1880s.
What happened to the Old Coal Creek Resort?
The railroad came and so did thousands of visitors. The hotel burned down in 1905 and was never rebuilt. The springs became a thing of the past. The early 1900s brought coal mining to the area. Today there is still mining, but much of the old mining fields have become Coal Creek OHV and Windrock ATV areas, popular with off road vehicle owners.