Marion Cannel Coal Company

• American

The discovery of coal deposits in the area near what is present-day Fairmont (Marion County, West Virginia) led to a fledgling industry in the early 1770s. Although the early settlers were heavily dependent on wood for fuel, some were able to recognize the advantage to alternative sources of energy. It is known that David Morgan opened a coal bank in that area in 1775. His grandson, George P Morgan, would capitalize on the coming of the B&O Railroad in the 1850s and the presence of coal in Marion County. The railroad was the catalyst that transformed the agricultural county into a center of mining and coal-related commerce by making it far easier for operators to transport their coal to markets in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland. One of the first companies organized to mine coal in the county was the Marion Cannel Coal Company, formed by George P Morgan in 1858 with a group of investors from Baltimore and New York. The development of this company was due to the discovery, by George's cousin Stephen, of a sizeable vein of anneal coal (used to produce gas, oil, and paraffin) on Morgan land on Prickett's Creek. The company was fortunate in acquiring authorization--perhaps with the assistance of some of the Baltimore investors--to construct a rail line to the B&0 main line, doubly useful with the approaching war and the need by both North and South for coal to fire both troop and supply trains. - NRHP Registration, 13 March 2003