The New River coalfield, one of the smokeless coal producing regions of southern West Virginia, takes its name from the New River, which generally bisects the field from north to south. Coal that produced little smoke when burned was highly desirable in the early 1900s, especially in cities where some restrictions limited the amount of smoke produced by railroads, factories, and domestic use. New River coal was considered a metallurgical-grade coal and was primarily used to make coke for iron production. The development of the coalfield coincided with the extension of rail lines of the C&O and the Virginian Railway. The first coal from this field was shipped in 1873 on the C&O from a mine operated by Joseph Lawton Beury at Quinnimont.