Historical notes: These shafts, owned by the Clover
Hill Mining Company were dug in 1844. Boilers
placed at the bottom of one shaft were used as a
power source and for updraft ventilation. A
methane gas explosion in 1859 killed l7 miners and
was probably set off by the boilers. Another
explosion, due to these same boilers, killed 69 miners
in 1873, and yet another explosion left the mine on
fire later that same year. After this accident the
pumps were stopped and the workings allowed to
flood. The Brighthope Railway Company (Figure
25) was formed in 1877 and purchased the foreclosed
Clover Hill Railroad and mines. The Brighthope
shafts were drained and reopened by 1880. In 1888,
Brighthope coal sold for $3.50 per ton wholesale and
$4.50 per ton retail. In 1889 the Brighthope Railway
was sold to the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad.
which discontinued mining.