Coal Becomes West Virginia State Rock

By: Associated Press | NBC4i.com
Published: June 04, 2009

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GILBERT, W.Va.
Bituminous coal is now West Virginia's official state rock.

Gov. Joe Manchin has signed a House of Delegates resolution making the designation based primarily on coal's contribution to the state's economy and history. West Virginia is the nation's No. 2 coal producer behind Wyoming and a key source of energy to the South and East.

The resolution notes explorer John Peter Salley found coal near Racine in 1742 - he named the Coal River as a result. George Washington observed a Mason County coal fire in 1770, and Conrad Cotts opened the state's first commercial coal mine near Wheeling in 1810.

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