{"nrhp_refnum":"94001651","name":"Pocahontas Mine No. 1","other_names":["Baby Mine","see also:Pocahontas Historic District"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Rt. 659, Reedsville Hollow Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pocahontas","county":"Tazewell County","state":"VA","lat":37.30810435550006,"lon":-81.34812412854014,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-10-12","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1994-10-12","areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Pocahontas Mine No. 1, known as the Baby Mine, is an inactive semi-bituminous coal mine district in the town of Pocahontas, Tazewell County, Virginia. It has a ca. 1900 fan house, a ca. 1906 power house and a later bathhouse, and it now operates as the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mine is nationally significant in the history of earth sciences and business through its link to economic geology. It was the first commercial mine in the Pocahontas-Flat-Top coal field, and its opening in 1882 led to the railroad extension and a wave of mining in the region. It also became the first exhibition coal mine in the United States in 1938.","narrative":"Pocahontas Mine No. 1, also called the Baby Mine, is a former coal mine in the town of Pocahontas, Virginia, less than a mile from the West Virginia line. Three resources remain: the mine opening with its brick archway, a ca. 1900 fan house, and a ca. 1906 stone power house with a later bathhouse and the ruins of a steam generating plant. Opened in 1882 as the first commercial mine in the Pocahontas-Flat-Top coal field, it tapped an unusually thick seam of high-grade semi-bituminous coal. Its success led the Norfolk and Western Railroad to build a branch line to the town in 1883 and encouraged dozens of other mines within twelve years. Hundreds of beehive coke ovens once stood nearby, though only three ruined ovens remain. In 1938 the mine became the first exhibition coal mine in the United States, and more than one million people have toured it. The mine closed in 1955.","period_of_significance":"1882-1943","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Inactive since the mine closed in 1955; the fan house serves as the entrance to the Exhibition Mine, the bathhouse serves as visitor rest rooms, and the power house is used as a warehouse.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.347005-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/63/6791/41679163/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/94001651_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001651/eca324e1c1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001651/eca324e1c1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pocahontas_Exhibition_Coal_Mine_-_Portal.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pocahontas_Exhibition_Coal_Mine_-_Portal.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72001418","name":"Pocahontas Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/pocahontas-historic-district-72001418/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679163","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas_Exhibition_Coal_Mine","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7206267"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/tazewell-county/pocahontas-mine-no-1-94001651/"}