John Peter Salling

John Peter Salling (sometimes Saling, Sailing, or Salley) was born in Germany in the early 18th century and traveled to America as a young man, settling in Augusta County, Virginia. He was an explorer who led expeditions of discovery from Canada to Florida and is credited with being the first white man to set foot in western Kentucky.

In 1742, Salling discovered coal in western Virginia along the banks of the Coal River, near what is today Racine in Boone County, West Virginia.[1] His companions were John Howard, Josiah Howard, John Poteet and Charles St. Clair.[2] They were offered 10,000-acre land grants to explore the wilderness beyond Virginia.[3][4]He is credited widely for having discovered the first reserves of coal ever found, which was later used in the first ever coal-generated power plant, developed by Thomas Edison, in 1882.


  1. ↑ Courtesy of Dr. William H. Dean, Ph.D. From "Coal, Steamboats, Timber and Trains: The Early Industrial History of St. Albans, West Virginia & The Coal River, 1850-1925" UpperFallsWV.blog.com
  2. ↑ The West Virginia Encyclopedia. John Peter Salling. http://wvencyclopedia.org/articles/167
  3. ↑ Batman, Richard (1981). "The Odyssey of John Peter Salley". Virginia Cavalcade (Summer issue).
  4. ↑ Malcomb Forbes, Harold. "John Peter Salling". e-WV. The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
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