Midlothian Coal Mines

Midlothian Coal Mines is a Virginia historical marker in Chesterfield County, dedicated 1987.

13501 Midlothian Turnpike

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South of here are the Midlothian Coal Mines, probably the oldest coal mines in America. Coal was first mined here before 1730, and during the Revolution, coal from these mines supplied the cannon foundry at Westham. The first railroad in Virginia was built from the Midlothian mines to the town of Manchester in 1831. The mines produced coal that was used in casting cannon at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond during the Civil War. Mining operations ceased in 1923.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Princeton University Library

Historical maps covering this location

1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Princeton University Library)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1944 · Midlothian, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Midlothian Coal Mines, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

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