Holden, WV

Holden sits along Copperas Mine Fork in western Logan County, four miles southwest of Logan. Its name comes from Albert Fairchild (Bert) Holden, one of the founders of Island Creek Coal Company. Island Creek opened its first mines here, built a rail line to Logan, and shipped its first load of coal from Holden in December 1904. The road and rail corridor turned a hollow into a company town, with stores, schools, a theater, a hospital, a pool, and homes organized around the mines.

Holden's hardest memory is the fire at Island Creek Coal Company's No. 22 Mine on March 8, 1960. Twenty miners were trapped, and eighteen died after fire, rockfall, and smoke blocked the workings. In 2022, West Virginia Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 asked the Division of Highways to name the bridge carrying County Route 18 over Copperas Mine Fork the Holden 22 Coal Miners Memorial Bridge. The request places the mine disaster on the same creek crossing that sets the valley's map. Photographs collected by Logan County's history archive show the old locomotive, Island Creek stores, Holden Theater, the school, the library, and Copperas Creek. They also show how many ordinary services once fitted into the mining settlement. Holden today is identified by roads, creek branches, and the remnants of that company-town layout, with the memorial effort tying the present road map to the miners who worked there.