Charleston – Four of the true pioneers of the state’s coal industry were inducted into the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame during ceremonies during a ceremony May 6 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Charleston.
Those being inducted were: former Pocahontas Land Company President Robert “Bob” Raines; the late Johnson C. McKinley, a pioneer of the northern coalfields region of West Virginia; Purnal “Judge” McWhorter of McWhorter & Associates, LLC, formerly of Phillips Machine Services, and the late J. Robert Fletcher, of J.H. Fletcher& Co.
“This is the highest honor our industry can bestow,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “This award is given to people who devote a lifetime of service to our industry and our state. I am so proud to be able to say I know these gentlemen and count them as friends. They are gentlemen in every sense of the word. They embody the very best of our industry. Their lives of hard work, commitment to excellence and commitment to the state and its people truly light the way for the rest of us to follow.”
The Coal Hall of Fame was established in 1993 and is jointly sponsored by the West Virginia Coal Association, the West Virginia Coal Mining Institute and the West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association. The first class was inducted in 1998.
The Mineral Resources Building of the WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in Morgantown is home to the Coal Hall of Fame.