Sprague, WV

Sprague sits on West Virginia Route 16 about a mile north of downtown Beckley, an unincorporated Raleigh County community whose name still carries a coal-camp history. It was named in 1902 and keeps a post office at ZIP code 25926. The surrounding county grew with railroads, timber, and coal, and Sprague remains tied to that older industrial map. Route 16 makes the relationship with Beckley plain, while the hills and former mine country give the community its own outline.

The Phillips-Sprague mine began commercial development in 1905, shipped its first coal in 1906, and operated until 1953. Its preserved workings at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine in New River Park keep the mine's name in the region's public history. West Virginia's coal-camp tradition placed houses, schools, churches, and company services close to the workings, and Sprague is best read as part of that Raleigh County pattern. The result is a place closely linked to Beckley but still legible as its own community on Route 16.