Remembering Black Brothers Bus Line

A Black Brothers bus was a familiar sight on Clay County roads from the 1930s up into the 1960s. Covering approximately 400 route miles in the southeastern part of the state, Black Brothers Bus Lines played a vital role in the transportation industry in Kentucky.

It was in 1926 that O. H. Black, the eldest of three Black brothers, started his first bus route between London and Corbin, the Black Bus Company, using Studebaker sedan-type buses having doors on the sides. He continued to improve and expand his service and in 1935 joined with W. D. “Don” Black to form a second company, Black Brothers Lines, operating out of Richmond, Kentucky. When Ramon E. Black, the youngest of the brothers, was discharged from the Army in 1945, he joined the firm.  

In the late 1940s, Black Brothers Lines was operating over a million miles a year with a fleet of 30 buses – largely Becks – and employing a force of 50 men and women. O. H. Black was a pioneer in the bus industry in Kentucky and served as president of the Kentucky Passenger Bus Association. W. D. Black, general manager of the company, was director of the Kentucky Traffic Safety Association and active in safety work throughout the state. Ramon E. Black was the company’s traffic manager.  

Black Brothers Lines served a vital need for the citizens of southeastern Kentucky. Many sections through which it operated had no other form of regular transportation and the people of the area depended on the Black Brothers Lines. Passengers could board a bus close to their home and travel to a surrounding town or community to work, conduct business, see a doctor, or visit relatives. Families traveled to the Cincinnati Zoo, students attended high school or college, and couples left for honeymoon destinations – all aboard a Black Brothers bus. 

The route between Oneida and Manchester included stops at Wild Cat, Hensley Store, Webb Store and Hall’s Road. Stops on the Manchester to Hyden route included Garrard, Goose Rock, Elk Creek, Big Creek, Hauls Fork, Rock House and Dill Branch. At the height of the depression a bus ride from Manchester to Richmond cost less than 50 cents.

A Black Brothers Bus Station was located in downtown Manchester on the east side of Main Street between Steele Drugs and Dyche Jones Super Market. Hungry travelers waiting on a connection to Richmond, Harlan, Hazard, or London, could get a hot meal inside the station where Mattie Alveras operated a restaurant that served the best in Southern food. Passengers could purchase their bus fares at a stand in a corner of the station from ticket agent, Pearl Wolfe Hayes. Several local men were bus drivers for the line including Russell Adams, Daniel Davidson, Oliver Ferguson, Olin Herd, Elmer Hibbard, and James Root. 

Throughout the years of expansion and growth the Black Brothers never lost their personal contact with passengers. Always alert to do everything in their power to improve and modernize their service, theirs was always a neighborly, friendly operation. No one was better known in the area they served than the three Black Brothers.

Don Black claimed the company was unique in that it was the only bus company in the world to operate through both Egypt and London. The fact that both towns were in Kentucky makes the statement none the less true.  

Some information taken from “Black Brothers Lines,” Southeastern Greyhound Backfire, October 1947; Courtesy of Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections and Archives.