Life in the Mines

Jack Corn

While mining has historically constituted the main livelihood in Appalachia, it is quite often a grueling, unforgiving, and even dangerous occupation. Miners engage in one or both of the two major categories of mining - surface mining or sub-surface mining. Surface mining is done by stripping surface vegetation, dirt, and if necessary, bedrock in order to reach ore deposits, while sub-surface mining is done by digging tunnels or shafts deep into the earth (200 feet or greater) to reach buried ore deposits. Most of Corn's subjects worked in strip mines (a type of surface mine), although still a significant number worked in underground mines. Some worked in what were called "dog hole mines," a type of mine on the side of the mountain whose ceilings were so low that only a dog could stand upright inside, hence their name.