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History of Coal |
1701 |
Coal discovered in Virginia. |
| 1748 | First recorded U.S. coal production. |
| 1750 | April 13th - Dr. Thomas Walker was the first recorded person to discover and use coal in Kentucky. |
| 1755 | Lewis Evan's map showing coal in what is now the Greenup County and Boyd County area of Kentucky. |
| 1758 | First commercial U.S. coal shipment. |
| 1792 | Issac Shelby becomes the first Governor of Kentucky (1792-1796). |
| 1820 | First commercial mine, known as
the "McLean drift bank" opened in Kentucky, near the Green River
and Paradise in Muhlenberg County. 328 short tons mined and sold in Kentucky. |
| 1830 | 2,000 tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1837 | 10,000 tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1843 | 100,000 tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1850 | 150,000 tons of Kentucky
production. Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad proposed. Kentucky Geological Survey established. |
| 1860 | Pre-Civil War Kentucky production record of 285,760 tons. |
| 1861 | Kentucky-born Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the United States (1861-65). |
| 1866 | Surface mining begins near Danville, Illinois. |
| 1870 | Post-Civil War Kentucky
production decline to 150,582 tons. St. Louis & Southern Railroad completed from Henderson to Earlington, Kentucky. |
| 1872 | First train off the Big Sandy Railroad. |
| 1877 | Coal mined with steam-powered shovel. |
| 1879 | One million tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1880 | Mechanical stokers introduced. First coke ovens in West Kentucky. Mine Ventilation Law. First train from Williamson, West Virginia to Pike County, Kentucky. Coal mining machines come into general use. |
| 1890 | N&W Railroad's first mine at
Goody in Pike County. Hopkins County in West Kentucky leading coal producer in the state for 18 straight years. Miner Pay Law. United Mine Workers of America formed. Machines developed to undercut coalbeds. 5,000 kilowatt steam turbine generates electricity. |
| 1900 | Child Labor Law. Edgewater Coal Company's first production in Pike County. First train off the Lexington and Eastern Railroad. Independent Geological Survey established. |
| 1910 | First train from the Cumberland
Valley Railroad. Fordson Coal Company's first production at Pond Creek. Pike-Floyd Coal Company's first production at Betsy Layne. |
| 1914 |
World War I increases demand
for coal; Kentucky production 20.3 million tons. Short-flame or "permissible" explosives developed. Mine Safety Law. |
| 1918 | First pulverized coal firing in electric power plants. |
| 1920 | Federal Mineral Leasing Act. 42.1 million tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1923 | All-time high U.S. employment
of 704,793 bituminous coal and lignite miners. First dragline excavators built especially for surface mining. |
| 1929 | Stock market crashes beginning the Great Depression. |
| 1932 | Walking dragline excavators developed. |
| 1936 | 47.7 million tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1940 |
World War II - coal
production in Kentucky rises to 72.4 million tons for the war effort. Auger surface mining introduced. |
| 1942 | Republic Steel Company's first
production - Road Creek, Kentucky. Post-War Marshall Plan - production rose to 88.7 million tons in Kentucky. Continuous underground mining systems developed. Kentucky Water Contamination Legislation. |
| 1947 | Kentucky Coal Association founded. |
| 1950 | 82.2 million tons of Kentucky production. |
| 1956 | Fish and Wildlife Coordination
Act. Railroads converting from coal to diesel fuel. Roof bolting introduced in underground mines. |
| 1960 | Railroads began using unit coal
trains. First longwall mining with powered roof supports. Kentucky Surface Mining Legislation. |
| 1963 | Kentucky coal production exceeded 100 million tons. |
| 1966 | National Historic Preservation
Act. C&O Railroad to John's Creek constructed - Pike County. |
| 1969 | Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. |
| 1970 | Federal Clean Air Act. |
| 1972 | Kentucky Coal Severance Tax
established. Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Kentucky becomes the leading coal producing state. |
| 1973 | Endangered Species Act. OPEC oil embargo: Coal production and prices rise. |
| 1976 | Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act. |
| 1977 | Federal Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act. |
| 1980 | Congress enacts the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) Study, a 10 year research program, which invested $550 million for the study of "acid rain." Industries spend over $1 billion on Air Pollution Control Equipment during 1980. |
| 1983 | OPEC cuts oil prices for
first time. Martha Layne Collins becomes Kentucky's first woman Governor (1983-87). U.S. Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program established $2.5 billion in Federal matching funds committed to assist the private sector to develop and demonstrate improved clean coal technologies. |
| 1988 | Kentucky Supreme Court ruled the unmined minerals tax on coal is subject to the same state and
local property tax rates as other real estate. TVA 160-MW Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion Unit on line. Wyoming displaces Kentucky as the leading coal producing state. |
| 1990 | Federal Clean Air Act Amendments
of 1990. Kentucky record production - 179.4 million tons. U.S. coal production exceeds 1 billion tons. |
| 1992 | U.S. Energy Policy Act of 1992. |
| 1993 | CEDAR, Inc. (Coal Education Development and Resources) formed in Pike County. |
| 1994 | Western Kentucky CEDAR, Inc. was formed in Webster and Union Counties. |
| 1996 | Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) issues Order 888, addressing the issues of open access to
encourage wholesale competition in the electric utility industry and FERC
Order 889, requiring utilities to share information about available
transmission capacity. Kentucky Coal Education ( www.coaleducation.org ) was introduced to the Internet. Workers' Comp Reform Laws are passed in Kentucky. |
| 1997 | The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife
Commission voted to re-introduce elk into 14 East Kentucky counties on
post-mined lands, citing mountain-top removal areas and old mine benches
as good elk habitat. This will be the only large free-ranging elk herd in
the Eastern United States. Kentucky Coal Association celebrates 50 years of service to the mining industry. |
| 1998 | Mountaintop mining comes under
attack. Federal synthetic fuel tax credit for use of coal fines begins. |
| 2001 | Natural gas prices increase over
50% in one year. Electricity shortages result in rolling blackouts in California. |
| 2004 | Governor Fletcher unveils Kentucky's first comprehensive energy strategy, "Kentucky's Energy: Opportunities for Our Future." |
| 2005 | East Kentucky
Power Cooperative's Gilbert coal-fueled fluidized-bed power plant begins
operation, the first coal-fired plant in over 15 years. Energy Policy Act of 2005 signed by President Bush; includes major Clean Coal Technology programs. |
| 2006 | Kentucky Energy
Security National Leadership Act (HB 299) enacted; Act calls for strategy
for producing liquid and gaseous fuels from Kentucky coal. Kentucky Coal Academy founded to provide training for coal miners that reflect the technological advancements in the mining industry. |
| 2007 | No underground coal mining fatalities
in Kentucky since records began in 1890. House Bill 1, providing incentives for development in Kentucky of industries for producing transportation fuels and synthetic natural gas by gasification of coal enacted. U.S. Air Force flies B-52 bomber and C-17 transport aircraft on a 50-50 blend of conventional jet fuel and jet fuel produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process that converts gasified coal into liquid fuels and chemicals. |
Sources: Energy Information Administration, (www.eia.doe.gov), Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, Annual Reports, and Willard Rouse Jillson, Coal Industry in Kentucky, 1922. |
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