
The Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Wall wall is 31 feet long and includes the names of more than 1,000 miners.
WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Here are pictures from the dedication ceremony for the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial on Saturday and the groundbreaking ceremony in November.

Family members press forward to find, touch, and take pictures of the names of their loved ones on the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial after it was unveiled Saturday.

Pictured above are Carl Lively, right, who started working in a mine in Windrock Mountain north of Oliver Springs in 1939, when he was 16, and Manuel Tinker, who was born on top of the mountain and later worked in the mines.

Volunteers, miners, and family members of miners are pictured above at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Coal Miners Memorial on Windrock Mountain in November.

Picture displays are set up Saturday to honor former Windrock Mountain miners and give insight into their daily lives.

Part of a group of former Windrock Mountain coal miners are pictured above Saturday before the memorial wall is unveiled. From left are Rodney Marlow, an unidentified miner, Ernest McCarter, Gene Lackey, two other unidentified miners, and Lonnie Lloyd.

Another part of the coal miners group is pictured above. From left are Curt Owens, Clyde Halburnt, Robert Lively, Wayne Morgan, Paul White, Carl Lively, Eddie Morgan, and Charlie Jackson. Not pictured is C.H. Smith, who read the names of the miners present.

Former coal miners are honored with their first look at the new Windrock Coal Miners Memorial on Saturday.

Pictured above from left are Wayne Morgan, a former miner and pastor of the Union Valley Baptist Church; Oliver Springs Mayor Chris Hepler, and organizer Kathy Russell Byrge, whose father Dexter Russell worked on Windrock Mountain for 27 years. “If there are windows (in Heaven), I hope my daddy can see it,” Byrge said of the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial.

Dozens of people, including Roane County Attorney Tom McFarland, pictured above in blue shirt, stop by to look at displays honoring Windrock coal miners.

Pictured above at right are Sandra Hall Gallaher and, second from right, Jo Hall Hickman, both of Harriman. Their family, the Sam Hall family, was the last to leave Windrock Mountain in about 1960. Also pictured are Julia Daniel and Wesley Lee.

Registration at Saturday’s dedication ceremony, which several hundred people attended. At center is Joyce Hepler-Fox.

A candle-lighting ceremony paid tribute to those who were killed in the mines and those who have died since. At left is Robert Lively.

Former mine boss C.H. Smith, center, and his wife Evalena of Oliver Springs are pictured above with Joe Lockett of Oliver Springs.

Family members of coal miners are pictured above during a November groundbreaking at Windrock Mountain. From left are Janice Melton Neal, Kathy Russell Byrge, Trish Lively Cox, and Jackie Carson.

Coal miners are pictured above at the groundbreaking ceremony in November. Those pictured are, from left, Clyde Halburnt, Silas Bridges, Carl Lively, C.H. Smith, Wayne Morgan, Manuel Tinker, and Robert Lively.

Foreman Justin Cox and carpenter Luke Barnett of Rick Cox Construction of Harriman set rebar and prepare to pour the foundation in November.
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The following pictures are from displays honoring the miners and their families at Saturday’s dedication ceremony.
Cindy McCullough says
You might want to correct the caption that reads in memory of those who killed in the mines…
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Cindy. I added a “while” in the caption. Is that what you meant?
johnhuotari says
Okay. I found it and made the change. Thank you, Cindy.