Travel Guide Van Lear

The small community of Van Lear was founded in 1912 to John C.C. Mayo, a mining industrialist who lived part of his life in Paintsville. The mining land that he acquired was sold a few years later to Northern Coal and Coke, then Consolidation Coal Company (Consol). This last company found financial support from the industrialist and then millionaire, Van Lear Black, to build a portion of the track. Five mines were opened from 1910 to 1946. During peak production, the population of Van Lear exceeded the 4 000 people. Most of the minors were migrants of Irish, Italian or Slavic origin, and residents of the region. In 1945, Consol amalgamated with the Pittsburgh Coal Company, before the lands of the latter were divided into private properties. Today Van Lear houses 2 000 people who, for those who work, are mostly employed in the surrounding towns. Almost 15% of the families living in Van Lear live below the poverty line. At the entrance to the village of Van Lear, once passed the Van Lear Historical Museum/Coal Miner's Museum, the Webb's General Store welcomes visitors for the guided tours of the family house, which is two miles further, at the Dit Hollow. Loretta Webb, the brother of Loretta Lynn, owns it. This grocery store was the one that provided all necessary supplies for minors. The payment was made in specific coins delivered by the management of the mine during the salary. The number 5 of the grocery store corresponds to the number of coal mines that were in operation. On the road leading to Loretta Lynn's Homeplace, you go successively to Loretta's school (a wooden hut) and then Herman Webb's house. About identical classes existed here in the time of mining activity.