For nearly a century, West Virginia University has preserved historical items representing the state’s mineral resource industries.
In the mid-1980s, Royce J. Watts, a WVU alumni, faculty member, and administrator, formally organized a museum in the College of Mineral and Energy Resources (COMER). With the support of his wife Caroline, Royce led the development of the museum and ensured its longevity with a substantial bequest.
As part of an endowment agreement in 2005, the West Virginia Coal Mining Institute (WVCMI) was granted the right to rename the museum. For the new name, WVCMI chose “The Royce J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum.”
Now housed in the Statler College, the museum continues Royce and Caroline’s commitment to sharing and interpreting the history of West Virginia’s mineral resource industries.
Collecting began within WVU’s School of Mines, located on the downtown campus in the Mineral Industries Building (now White Hall). Many of the mining artifacts in the Watts Museum’s collection were used in the early twentieth century to train mining engineering students in a simulated coal mine located in the building’s basement.
Royce and Caroline Watts with visitors at the Watts Museum.