Fies, Kentucky

Fies, Kentucky
Unincorporated community
Fies is located in Kentucky
Fies
Fies
Fies is located in the United States
Fies
Fies
Coordinates: 37°19′20″N 87°22′26″W / 37.32222°N 87.37389°W / 37.32222; -87.37389
CountryUnited States
StateKentucky
CountyHopkins
Elevation
459 ft (140 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CST)
GNIS feature ID492068[1]

Fies is an unincorporated community located in Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States. The town of Fies took its name from the mine founded there in 1950, where most residents worked.[2]

Fies Mine

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Fies was home to a coal mine operated by the Miners Coal Company, mining coal from the extension of the Illinois coal basin into Kentucky.[3] Work on opening the mine had already begun in 1949, with the mine scheduled to be served by the Illinois Central, and Louisville and Nashville railroads.[4] The mine was opened in a ceremony in 1950, and named after Milton Fies, a noted engineer and chemist, initially to mine coal from the Kentucky no. 11 coal seam.[5] In 1952 personnel from the mine won the Western Kentucky Mining Institute prize for mine rescue.[6]

The Fies Mine was started as a non-union mine, though the United Mine Workers union attempted to organise there. In 1950 a watchman was killed at the mine in a drive-by shooting during attempts by the UMW to organise at the mine.[7]

By 1972 coal from both the Kentucky no. 9 and Kentucky no. 11 seams were being mined at Fies. By the early 1980s one of the two mines at Fies was scheduled to close.[8] The Fies Mine was abandoned in November 1980.[9]

References

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fies, Kentucky
  2. ^ Business Week. McGraw-Hill. 1951. p. 44. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  3. ^ Maxwell, Bruce William (1954). Public and Industrial Water Supplies of the Western Coal Region, Kentucky. US Department of the Interior. p. 9. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  4. ^ "Fies Mine Near Production: New Industry For County". The Messenger. December 28, 1949. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "Dedicated Fies Mine at Ceremony Here". The Messenger. May 9, 1950. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  6. ^ "Crescent First Aid Team Places 1st In Annual Mine Contest". The Greenville Leader. No. 8, Vol. 39. September 18, 1952. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  7. ^ "Luger Pistol Shot Kills Kentucky Mine Guard". New York Daily News. June 25, 1950. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  8. ^ Energy Research Abstracts. Technical Information Center, U.S. Department of Energy. 1981. p. 239. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  9. ^ Abandoned Coal Mine Methane Opportunities Database (PDF). US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC USA. July 2017. p. 17. Retrieved December 1, 2020.


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