On April 28, 1914, an explosion at the Eccles No. 5 mine in Raleigh County killed 174 miners. A miner accidentally caused methane to build up by cutting through a barrier between two parts of the mine. An open flame ignited the gas, leading to a huge blast. The explosion also killed nine miners in the connected Eccles No. 6 mine. It took four days to recover the bodies, and the disaster remains one of West Virginia's worst.

On March 8, 1926, another explosion at Eccles killed 19 miners. A failure to test for methane and a lack of safety measures caused the blast. Rescuers saved 35 miners from the connected mine, and after a difficult effort, they reached 10 men who had survived by barricading themselves.