Farmington Mine disaster

Farmington is a town in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 389 at the 2020 census. The small town is situated on Buffalo Creek and the Allegheny Mountains about 6 miles west of Fairmont, Marion County's county seat. It is best known for being the site of the 1968 Farmington Mine disaster.

Marion County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,205. Its county seat is Fairmont. The county was named in honor of General Francis Marion (ca. 1732–1795), known to history as "The Swamp Fox". Marion County comprises the Fairmont, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Morgantown–Fairmont, WV Combined Statistical Area.

Katy is an unincorporated community in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Its post office is closed.

Idamay is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Idamay is located along West Virginia Route 218, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Farmington. Idamay has a post office with ZIP code 26576. As of the 2010 census, its population was 611.

Rachel is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. It is located along Buffalo Creek, 2 miles (3.2 km) east-southeast of Mannington. Rachel has a post office with ZIP code 26587. As of the 2010 census, its population was 248. Rachel is located on U.S. 250 between Farmington and Mannington.

Fairview is a town in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 374 at the 2020 census.The town took its name from the old Fairview Inn near the original town site.

North Marion High School is a public high school in West Virginia, United States. It is one of three high schools in Marion County, alongside Fairmont Senior High School and East Fairmont High School.North Marion High School was completed and opened in September 1979. The school is classified as "AA", and it has an enrollment of 851 students as of 2020.

Carolina is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Carolina is 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northwest of Worthington. Carolina has a post office with ZIP code 26563. As of the 2010 census, its population was 411.The community was named after Caroline Watson, a daughter of mining executive James Watson.

Pine Grove is an unincorporated community in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Pine Groves lies to the west of Barrackville along Buffalo Creek.

Panther Lick is a hollow located near Grant Town, West Virginia, United States. Approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) in length, the hollow runs from the Paw Paw Creek Valley in Grant Town to the Little Paw Paw Creek valley near McCurdysville. The valley is drained by Panther Lick Run, emptying into Paw Paw Creek.

Grays Flat (often "Grays Flats", or "Grey Flats") is an unincorporated community in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along the Paw Paw Creek, adjacent on the northeast of Grant Town.

Grant Town is a town in Marion County, West Virginia, in the eastern United States. The population was 690 at the 2020 census.The town was formed in 1901 with the opening of the Federal Coal and Coke Company bituminous coal mine, and was named for Robert Grant, vice president of the coal company. The "Federal No. 1" mine remained open for the next 84 years until its closure in 1985. At one point it was the largest underground coal mine in the world in terms of gross production, mining the Pittsburgh coal seam. The town was incorporated as a municipality in 1946. Grant Town is the site of an 80 Megawatt electrical generation facility, located adjacent to the coal refuse areas above the town. The plant, which was built in the early 1990s is controlled by Edison International and generates electricity using a fluidized bed combustion boiler process burning waste coal. The town is home to a local legend of a Bigfoot-type creature, sighted periodically by local residents since the early 1970s. The creature, known locally as the "Grant Town Goon", is reported to live in the woods and coal waste areas to the southern and southwestern parts of the town. Grant Town is also the location of a number of the stories of the West Virginia ghost story anthology The Telltale Lilac Bush, by Fairmont State University professor Ruth Ann Musick. The town, the mine and surrounding farms are prominently featured in a number of the stories. Musick includes a description of the town, circa 1965, in an introduction to a section on mine ghost stories: "The Grant Town Mine, the scene of four of the stories here, is one of the largest in the United States, and possibly in the world. The town itself, with a population of a little over a thousand, is about seven miles northwest of Fairmont. Surrounded by hills, it is a kind of a sunken garden--a well at the bottom of the stairway of hills and highways--so that it seems to be in a world of its own. In a way, perhaps, it is. At least fourteen different European nationalities live in the town and work in the mine."