Kin & Coal presents

Preston County Through Time

An interactive history timeline

A Preston County community

Bretz

Bretz developed along Deckers Creek through railroad, coal, and coke history. Its timeline includes the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad’s arrival, the Elkins Coal & Coke Company’s beehive ovens, Oak Park, and the later end of rail service along the corridor.

This overview draws on the connected timeline entries and the checked National Archives postal index. Follow the links below for sources and research qualifications.
Timeline entries
6
Years represented
1903–1990
Historical topics
3

Community timeline

Bretz through time

6 connected entries
  1. 1903
    RailroadsCaptured · not verified

    September 1903

    The Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad reaches Bretz

    Brown dates the arrival of the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad at Bretz to September 1903, carrying the line farther along the Deckers Creek Valley.

    Open event and sources
  2. 1906
    Coal / Coke / MiningVerified to source

    1906

    Construction begins on the Bretz beehive coke ovens

    After acquiring the town of Bretz and its adjacent coal mine from the West Virginia Coal Company in 1906, the Elkins Coal & Coke Company began constructing a bank of 400 beehive coke ovens.

    Open event and sources
  3. 1907
    Coal / Coke / MiningVerified to source

    1907

    Bretz coke ovens enter full production

    The Elkins Coal & Coke Company's Bretz plant entered full production in 1907. The Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad connected the operation with its principal customer, the Maryland Steel Company plant and shipyard at Sparrows…

    Open event and sources
  4. 1930
    Culture, Media & CommunicationsVerified to source

    1930

    Oak Park closes

    Oak Park closed its gates in 1930. e-WV attributes the park’s decline to the growing popularity of automobile travel, the weakening rail and coal industries, and the onset of the Great Depression. Peggy Ross’s 1994 Goldenseal…

    Open event and sources
  5. 1981
    Coal / Coke / MiningCaptured · not verified

    1981 — exact date to verify

    Last beehive coke ovens at Bretz cease operation

    The end of production marked the close of a long industrial era at Bretz, where coal mining and beehive coke production had shaped the community for generations.

    Open event and sources
  6. 1990
    RailroadsVerified to source

    1990–1991

    Rail service ends along the future Deckers Creek Trail

    The last train reportedly ran over the western Morgantown–Reedsville portion of the former M&K in 1990. With no traffic remaining in 1991, CSX abandoned the section; its rails were removed in the early 1990s, leaving the…

    Open event and sources

James Brown Collection

Historic photographs

Views of the community preserved in the James Brown Collection. These photographs are undated; identifications follow the collection’s descriptions.

Bretz M&K station

Two-story wooden station beside railroad tracks, with industrial structures in the distance.
Building identified in the collection as the Bretz M&K station, with the mine and coke-oven area in the background. This undated view does not depict the railroad’s arrival in September 1903. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of the James Brown Collection.
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Bretz postal history

Postal locations & maps

Nine images from 1904 to 1942 include an establishment application, maps, questionnaires, and a proposed site change. They identify the railroad, Deckers Creek, Masontown, Reedsville, and the community’s postal service.

Explore all 9 postal records
About these records

Record dates are not necessarily office opening or closing dates. Applications and proposed moves retain their original qualifications.

National Archives · M1126, roll 651 · NARA pages 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375. View the original collection.