Raleigh, now a southeastern suburb of Beckley, was the company town of the Raleigh Coal and Coke Company, one of the county's pioneer operations. The company opened mines here in 1900 and sold its product under the trademark Black Knight Coal. By 1930 the company employed 750 men in four mines, and Raleigh was described as a “model mining town that has grown around the operation.” Now all that remains are a number of dilapidated, one-story, hip-roofed bungalows, several two-story houses, and the former company store, all strung out along the hollow of Piney Creek. They form a poignant sight that gives little evidence of Raleigh's halcyon days.
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