Oct 16, 2014

Reuters photographer Robert Galbraith documented people and towns along West Virginia’s Route 52, or ‘King Coal Highway’ as it’s known. Coal miners have worked in this part of the United States for over a century enjoying the best of the boom times and riding out the bad, the constant refrain being that coal would always be there, the mines would be back. But now with coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures, creating virtual ghost towns along the route.

: A coal miner wears a T-shirt prior to the start of his afternoon shift at a coal mine near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Miners fool around in their locker room prior to the start of an afternoon shift at a coal mine near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal miners enter a coal mine for the start of an afternoon shift near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Nick Browning enters a coal mine prior to the start of the afternoon shift at a coal mine near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: The entrance to an abandoned coal mine is shown near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal mining boots are shown above miners’ lockers before the start of an afternoon shift at a coal mine near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal miners Rodney Blankenship (L), Roger Vanatter (C) and an unidentified colleague prepare for the start of their afternoon shift in the locker room of a coal mine near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. Blankenship, 53, a coal miner for 30 years, said “You go in there, hope to have good productivity on your shift, and get out safely.” (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal miner Mike Hawks, 53, stands in an underground tunnel at a coal processing facility near Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal is stacked at the base of coal loaders along the Ohio River in Ceredo, West Virginia May 18, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A view of the Tug river running through downtown Iaeger, West Virginia May 20, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A vacant building is shown covered in vegetation along U.S. Route 52 near Gilbert, West Virginia May 21, 2014. The highway, known locally as ‘The King Coal Highway’ runs through West Virginia’s traditional coal mining belt. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Retired coal miner Kenneth Douglas Sparks (R), watches his son coach his grandson’s Little League baseball game in Gilbert, West Virginia May 19, 2014. Sparks, who said his father worked in the same coal mine for 47 years, worked in the mines himself for 20 years. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Unemployed coal miners Todd Hatfield (L) and Dave Houck talk at Hatfield’s bar and restaurant in Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A sign with half the letters falling off is seen near a church and coal truck in Justice, West Virginia May 19, 2014. The sign says ‘please pray for our miners and their families.’ (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: The John Amos coal-fired power plant is seen behind a home in Poca, West Virginia May 18, 2014. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A man rides a bicycle past vacant store fronts in Gilbert, West Virginia May 22, 2014. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A car is parked outside of the “Hard Times Tavern” in Fort Gay, West Virginia May 19, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A cat walks past a pickup truck covered in vegetation on a street in Gilbert, West Virginia May 20, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal miner Stewart Johnson, 59 (R), is comforted by his son of the same name, while telling the story of losing his young daughter to a rare disease, outside the family home in Wharncliffe, West Virginia May 23, 2014. Johnson, whose family has deep ties to mining, said he was advised by his doctor to stop working due to a various injuries and illness. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Wayne Cline, 70, stands outside his home near Iaeger, West Virginia May 21, 2014. Cline, a former coal miner, said he gets by on a $742 per month social security cheque. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Coal trains sit idle in front of a home in Iaeger, West Virginia May 20, 2014. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A statue of Marilyn Monroe is shown outside the now closed Happy Days Diner in Gilbert, West Virginia May 20, 2014. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A motorcycle rides past a roadside hotdog stand with a sign that reads “Hillbilly Hotdogs” in Lesage, West Virginia May 24, 2014. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: A replica of the Statue of Liberty is shown in downtown Matewan, West Virginia May 19, 2014. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. Picture taken May 19, 2014. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Unemployed coal miner Earl Harless stands in his father’s backyard near Gilbert, West Virginia May 20, 2014. Harless said he survived a deep mine collapse, in which two coal miners died. “We started writing our lunch box notes because we didn’t think we would get out,” he said. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

: Sheila Ramsey holds the hand of her grandson, four-year-old Matthew Blankenship, in the home that they share with her father, and Matthew’s father, near Gilbert, West Virginia May 20, 2014. Blankenship’s father, Aaron, said he has been unable to find coal mining work for four years, and will probably have to leave the area. With coal production slowing due to stricter environmental controls, the availability of natural gas and a shift to surface mining, the state’s coal country has been hit hard with job losses and business closures. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

Decline along West Virginia’s King Coal Highway

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