In the 1880's, men with high ambitions and money came to invest in the rich coal deposits of Southwest Virginia. The Stonega Coke and Coal Company (SC&C) was formed and nine coal camps were built near the town of Appalachia, Virginia. These coal camps are representative of the more than 500 coal towns built from the late 1800's to the early 1900's in the Nation's coalfields.

Economic conditions, both locally and nationally, attracted many people to jobs in the mines with a steady paycheck. Coal production peaked at over three million tons in 1918. During the boom periods, the workforce was composed of native Appalachians, African-Americans, and recent immigrants to America -- Irish, Polish, Italians, and Hungarians.

The building of company towns, or coal camps began in the 1880's and peaked in the early 1920's. Coal operations and their associated towns consisted of company-built houses, churches, schools, theatres, dance halls, and even graveyards.

The Stonega Coke and Coal Company, later called Westmoreland Coal Company, built its first coal camp, Pioneer. It's name was changed to Stonega in 1896. The name Stonega comes from the combination of Stone and Gap, by dropping the "p." Other coal camps were named for English villages andcoal officials. The coal camps were developed as follows: