History of Randolph County King Coal

In the 1850s, coal was discovered at Bevier, Missouri, not far north of the Randolph County line. While coal had been mined in Randolph County prior to this, what was about to begin was an economic boom for the next 130 years. Railroads were just beginning to come to Northern Missouri, and the locomotives needed coal to fuel them. Had Huntsville's coal beds been known about sooner, the railroad may well have located its terminal at Huntsville for ease of access to the much needed fuel (in 1992 the Huntsville area produced 90% of Missouri's coal). Moberly had the railroad terminal, but Huntsville and Higbee had the fuel to power the locomotives. Entire towns such as Elliot and to a smaller degree (as it was also a railroad terminal) Higbee sprung up around the coal fields.

The coal fields of Northern Missouri run from the Missouri River well into Iowa, but few places were as rich in coal as the area between Bevier and Huntsville. These coal beds were formed when plant and animal matter collected in ancient swamps. The resulting peat would then be covered by sand and mud. Over thousands of years this process was repeated, until finally the peat was buried. The resulting pressure of the earth above the buried peat turned the peat to coal. Randolph County's coal beds are probably dated to 300 to 200 million years ago. When coal was first being mined in Randolph County it was through drift mines. Drift mines ran a shaft into the side of a hill. Later, many shaft mines (which go straight down and then across the coal bed) sprung up and around Huntsville, and the surrounding area. The first mines were operated by J. C. Chapman, David Reece, G. W. Taylor, I Cook, William Mitchell, and J. A.Stewart.

It was at this time coal towns started springing up. The first perhaps was Taunton which was only half a mile south of what is now Renick, Missouri. Taunton and Renick were founded about the same time. Renick was founded as a railroad depot in 1856 on the North Missouri Railroad, and not long after, if not a little before Taunton was established as a mining town. Other coal towns included Breckenridge (northwest of Huntsville), Elliot (southwest of Moberly), Harkes (northeast of Higbee), Kimberly (between Huntsville and Moberly), McMullen (east of Higbee), Russel (slight Southwest of Higbee on the Howard County line), Shafton (south of Renick), and Sunshine (east of Higbee). For a more precise location of these towns see the interactive map. None of these towns lasted very long. Most were inhabited less than 30 years. The largest of these was Elliot not far from where the prison is today which swelled at one point to over 600 people. It had a company store and even its own concert band. Most all these towns did not consist of much. They usually had a company store, houses, a boarding house, and a railroad depot which primary purpose was to load coal. Most all had a post office even if only for a few years at one time or another. They were for the most part company owned. The coal company owned the land, the houses, and the store. The miners often had to pay back their earnings in rent and for goods at the store. Mining at that time was a rough life. The work was hard, and a miner would have lung issues and breathing issues. Many miners would eventually develop black lung. The coal towns disappeared nearly as fast as they appeared. By 1930 most were gone. The only one with any population now is Kimberly which consists of a few houses on Route JJ West of Moberly built after the town had disappeared. The rest of the towns may have a farm house or two whose owners may be unaware a town stood where their farm now is. It is not much unlike the disappearance of farming communities like Smithland and Edwardville shortly after the Civil War. Reliant on the shipping of tobacco, wool, and other commodities by wagon as well as the stage lines these towns disappeared when the railroad took away their business. Moberly author the late Jack Conroy wrote of growing up in a mining camp at the Monkey Nest Mine Northwest of Moberly in his book "The Disinherited." In addition to this book Conroy wrote many tales of life in a mining camp. In 1997, coal mining came to an end for the county. Randolph County coal is high sulpher coal, and therefore was banned from being burned by the Federal government.

Coal was not the only thing that added to Randolph County's boom times of the late 19th century. In 1873 the Wabash Shops came to the Moberly rail yards. The Wabash Shops were the first railroad shops West of the Mississippi. With their coming to the county Moberly saw many more workers move to the town, and with them came new businesses. The railroad paid well and workers needed places to spend their money. Huntsville too saw new businesses. In November 1880 the Fleming Rake Factory was started by Henry Fort and Henry Wayland. Its officers at the time were W. T. Rutherford, president; T. M, Elmore, vice-president, and J. A. Swetnam, treasurer. Its starting capital was $10,000. It quickly employed 25 men making about 16 rakes a day. The rake factory produced a rake used to rake hay designed by Burton Sweeny Fleming who would eventually become primary shareholder of the company.

The late 19th century also saw two resorts develop in Randolph County both near or in Huntsville. In 1881, Medical Springs later known as Randolph Springs opened for business. In 1821 Doctor William Fort and Thomas Gorham began to sell salt from a salt lick found only a few years earlier west of Huntsville, and did so for many years. In the 1860s at what became known as "Gorham's Lick" while drilling for oil a mineral spring was hit. By the time all was said and done there were four wells in all at Randolph Springs. A mineral springs well which was drilled to the depth of 965 feet, a brine (salt) spring well, a chalybeate (water with a high iron content) spring, and a shallow alum well. Charles Dameron operated it as a resort into the early 20th century. There were two hotels at Randpolph Springs as well as bath houses. The salt and alum wells were used for bathing while the mineral and chalybeate were used for drinking water. The resort remained popular for many years not closing until the 1940s after being hurt by the Great Depression.

Another resort was opened in Huntsville, this one too based around a mineral spring. Radium Springs in Huntsville consisted of one spring, a bath house, park, and baseball field a little ways from what is now West Carpenter Street. Later in the teens of the 20th century the Radium Springs Hotel would be built in downtown Huntsville on the site of the old House Rutherford another hotel torn down several years before. The hotel never really took off, and the resort itself struggled until the 1930s when it was finally shut down.

Also during this time other businesses came to Huntsville. In the late 19th century sheep were a big industry in Randolph County. It was only natural that woolen mills would be also. In 1855 John Sutliff opened a woolen mill, the Silver Creek Woolen Mills at Mount Airy after having operated mills at Glasgow and before that one in Pennsylvania. In 1872 Sutliff moved to Huntsville after having already opened the Huntsville Woolen Mill. The mill had a capacity of 340 spindles and in 1884 was consuming about 40,000 lbs of wool a year. In 1882 the Randolph Creamery was established by R.E. Lewis, D.S. Benton, and E.S. Bedford with a capital of $6,500. It made 4,600 lbs. of butter a year. Tobacco was still a big industry at the time in Randolph County, and Huntsville had three tobacco factories. Two were owned by W.T. Rutherford and E.E. Samuel Jr. and the other by Berenice Morrison of St. Louis. Rutherford and Samuel's factories handled about 425,000 lbs. of tobacco a year. Huntsville also was not without entertainment having a brass band and a dramatic company. Semple's Opera House, across from the courthouse was completed in Feb. 1884.

It was also around this time that the first public schools opened. Until that time all schools had been private academies that charged tuition. Throughout the county new schools were built, and Huntsville's first public school was built in 1877 at the cost of $3,500. This school remained in use until about 1969 when the new high school was constructed. By 1913 there were 83 school districts in Randolph County consisting mostly of one room schools with 9,000 students. Unfortunately it was in 1882 that Mount Pleasant College's main building burned forcing its closure. The Randolph County Courthouse also burned on August 12, 1882 the result of suspected arson. At the time a figure was supposedly seen fleeing from a door of the courthouse, and it was assumed a Moberly resident had set the courthouse on fire in an effort to get the county seat moved to Moberly. The courthouse had been built in 1858 and was an impressive two story building with a tower. In 1877 it was extensively redone under the direction of architect C.B. Clarke of St. Louis. A new courthouse was completed in December, 1883, and its lower story currently serves as the county courthouse, the second story having burned in 1955. In April of 2014 a ballot was passed instituting a sales tax to pay for a new courthouse to be built by the Justice Center which was built not a decade before. What will become of the 1883 courthouse remains to be seen. The 1880s were boom times for Huntsville and Randolph County preparing it for the next century.

Huntsville Missouri Coal Mine No. 2.