The town was home to many Welsh miners. In 1885 the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company moved all the coal miners from Nortonville to another of the Company's mines at Black Diamond, Washington Territory. The Nortonville mine was so deep that it acted as a drain for the surrounding mines, and when the owners of the other mines refused to contribute to the cost of pumping out the water, the company simply shut down and moved its operations. Currently what is left behind at Nortonville is a deserted area. The brick foundation of the mine's hoisting works, remnants of the railroad bed, and an old cemetery are all that remain. The cemetery is known as the "Rose Hill Cemetery," which was named for Emma Rose, daughter of Alvinza Hayward, who was president and chief stockholder of the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company. In the 1940s Mrs. Rose donated the cemetery to the county.