THE  MEADOW  BRANCH  GOAL  FIELD  OF  WEST  VIRGINIA. 
By  Maeius  R.  Campbell. 
GENERAL  DESCRIPTION. 
This  coal  field  lies  in  an  isolated  syncline  of  lower  Carboniferous 
rocks  near  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  State  of  West  Virginia.  The 
mountainous  ridge  forming  the  eastern  margin  of  the  field  is  only 
about  6  miles  west  of  Little  North  Mountain,  which  constitutes  the 
boundary  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  In  the  early  days  of  the  colony 
this  ridge  was  the  third  hill  to  be  crossed  in  passing  from  the  Pied- 
mont Plateau,  and  consequently  it  was  designated  "Third  Hill  Moun- 
tain." The  ridge  forming  the  western  limb  of  the  syncline  is  known 
as  Sleepy  Creek  Mountain,  and  throughout  most  of  its  course  it  con- 
stitutes the  dividing  line  between  Berkeley  and  Morgan  counties. 
The  basin  has  an  extreme  length  of  about  15  miles,  a  breadth  of  about 
2  miles,  and  at  its  northern  end  comes  to  within  4  miles  of  Potomac 
River. 
The  presence  of  coal  beds  in  this  syncline  was  recognized  near  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  various  attempts  have  been  made  to 
utilize  them,  but  without  success.  As  early  as  1835  Prof.  William  B. 
Rogers,  then  director  of  the  geological  survey  of  Virginia,  described 
the  stratigraphic  position  of  the  coal  beds  of  this  field  and  also  gave  a 
general  description  of  the  geologic  structure  of  the  syncline. a  In  this 
report  the  coal  is  referred  to  as  follows: 
"  In  Berkeley  County,  on  Sleepy  Creek  and  elsewhere,  openings 
have  been  made,  from  which  an  anthracite  of  the  very  purest  character 
is  obtained."  In  the  report  covering  the  operations  of  the  survey  for 
the  year  1838  Professor  Rogers  describes  the  stratigraphy  and  struc- 
ture of  the  basin  in  considerable  detail.  He  discusses  this  field  under 
a  heading6  " Semibituminous  coal  of  Sleepy  Creek,"  etc.;  but  in  the 
body  of  the  text  he  speaks  of  the  Meadow  Branch  coal  as  being  "  as 
pure  as  anthracite."  This  report  of  Rogers  was  not  published  until 
1884,  but  in  the  meantime  desultory  prospecting  had  been  carried  on 
in  the  Meadow  Branch  region,  apparently  with  little  understanding  of 
"  l :■  >gers,  William  B.,  Geology  of  the  Virginias,  reprinted  1884,  p.  99.  b  Op.  cit.,  p.  225. 
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