Coal Mining Equipment at Work

In Western Kentucky, the one thing that most people have in common is a history of coal mining in their families. Michael Davis grew up hearing mining stories from his dad, two grandfathers, a great-grandfather, and an aunt – with their combined 200 years of mining experience. Although Michael has driven some of the equipment in this book, fate never led him quite down the same path as a miner, yet his interest in mining machines never waned and led him to gather the information and materials to document one of the most dynamic regions of coal mining in North America. The area is home to legends like The Everly Brothers, Mose Rager, Merle Travis, and John Prine’s popular folk song “Paradise,” but if you’re like most people in Western Kentucky and the surrounding counties, the fame goes to families like the Davis’s and others with a rich heritage of mining in their blood.