Coal Glen mine disaster

Last updated

Rescue workers cart out two bodies from the Coal Glen mine, May 27, 1925 Recovery of victims from Coal Glen mine disaster 2.png
Rescue workers cart out two bodies from the Coal Glen mine, May 27, 1925

The Coal Glen mine disaster was a series of explosions that occurred on May 27, 1925, at a coal mine in Coal Glen, Chatham County, North Carolina, United States. At least 53 miners died in the explosions, making it the deadliest industrial disaster in North Carolina's history. The incident also partly contributed to North Carolina's adoption of a workers' compensation law several years later.

Contents

The Coal Glen mine was opened by the Carolina Coal Company in North Carolina's Deep River Coal Field in about 1921. Though equipped with a ventilation system, signs of firedamp buildup were observed the day before the disaster. On the morning of May 27, 1925, three explosions occurred in the mine. The first explosion killed all underground workers and their team of mules, while the subsequent blasts injured the mine superintendent and temporarily blocked the shaft with debris. Recovery efforts were led by State Adjutant-General John Van Bokkelen Metts and a group of engineers, with additional support offered by the United States Bureau of Mines and civic groups from the nearby city of Sanford. Local authorities confirmed at least 53 men were killed, but the actual death toll may be higher.

State and federal investigators later concluded that the first explosion was caused by an improperly set blasting charge which blew out a dust cloud that subsequently ignited. The disaster left 38 women widowed and 79 children fatherless. The mine was permanently closed in 1953 and later flooded. A state historical marker commemorating the event was dedicated in 2017.

Background

1923 map of the Deep River Coal Field NCGS Bulletin 33 Deep River Coal Field.pdf
1923 map of the Deep River Coal Field

The Deep River Coal Field is the largest coal deposit in North Carolina. Geologists believe that local residents made use of the coal as early as the 1770s. Commercial exploitation of the coal field began in the 1850s, with mines dug near the settlement of Egypt (renamed Cumnock in 1895) which were connected to the Cape Fear River port of Fayetteville by rail. In about 1921 the Carolina Coal Company dug a mine on the former location of the village of Farmville [1] near the village of Coal Glen and about eight miles northwest of the city of Sanford. [2]

The Coal Glen mine was developed as a slope mine with an entrance which descended below the ground at an incline. [3] Interior passages were held up by four-foot-tall hardwood timbers. Most miners crawled through the mine, with few places where they could stand upright. [4] Carts were hauled up and down the main slope by a powered hoist. Down in the mine, mules which were kept in an underground stable were used to move carts. Coal would be placed onto the carts which were brought to the surface to a tipple, where the coal would be sorted and separated from slate and loaded onto railway cars. [5] By 1923, the mine was producing 200 tons per day. [6]

The Coal Glen mine attracted rats. Workers observed them for signs of danger, similar to canaries used in other digs; if rats vacated the mine, miners viewed this as a sign of a natural gas buildup. [7] The site was equipped with a ventilation system meant to diffuse any gas buildup. [8] On the morning of May 26, 1925, one miner noticed that rats were fleeing the mine shaft. Fearing danger, he and several workers quit. [9] That day one worker was weakened by coal dust and firedamp, possibly indicating ventilation problems with the mine. The superintendent was verbally informed of this. [10]

Explosions

At about 9:30 a.m. on May 27, 1925, an explosion erupted in the mine at Coal Glen. [6] The blast, likely caused by coal dust or natural gas, [1] killed all workers underground at the time [9] and was felt in the nearby town. [1] Mine superintendent Howard Butler saw smoke coming through a ventilation fan at the surface, and took mechanic Joe Richardson down the main slope to investigate. They found six men lying unconscious behind a door to one of the passages and carried them outside. Butler then instructed surface workers to close the mine's blast door and ventured further into the mine with Richardson. At about 9:55, when they were 150 feet into the mine, a second explosion occurred, showering them with debris and injuring Butler. The two crawled back to the surface before a final explosion occurred at about 10:10. [11] The third explosion collapsed part of the shaft, blocking passage in and out of the mine. [12]

Response and effects

Rescue workers at the entrance of the mine working to recover bodies Recovery of victims from Coal Glen mine disaster.png
Rescue workers at the entrance of the mine working to recover bodies

Rescue efforts were undertaken shortly after the third explosion in the Coal Glen mine by workers from the nearby Cumnock operation. [13] The day of the disaster, the United States Bureau of Mines dispatched a special railway car from Thomas, West Virginia carrying special rescue equipment to North Carolina. [2] It arrived in Coal Glen the following day. [14] North Carolina Governor Angus Wilton McLean ordered troops from Fort Bragg to control the gathering crowd at the site and authorized rescue equipment to be flown into Sanford. Rescue efforts were led by State Adjutant-General John Van Bokkelen Metts and a group of engineers. [15] Civic organizations from Sanford helped establish a first aid station at the mine surface. [12] Recovery efforts ceased in the evening of May 30. [16]

The Chatham County recorder of deeds issued 53 death certificates in relation to the event, but the real death total is not known. About 70 miners were working the shift, and contemporary newspaper reports offered higher counts. [9] Local publications reported that several bodies were recovered in the months after the explosion and quietly buried. [17] Seven workers scheduled for the shift were not present at the time of the explosion. Researcher Forest Hazel wrote that since many of the men working in the mines were unmarried, it is possible that some were not identified as missing. [18] About half the men killed were white, the others black. [19] Several mules were also killed in the explosion, and their remains were left underground. [20]

Miners' family members, rescue workers, and journalists circle around the mine entrance shortly after the disaster Scenes at Coal Glen Disaster 1.png
Miners' family members, rescue workers, and journalists circle around the mine entrance shortly after the disaster

Federal and state investigators and the management of the Carolina Coal Company all sought to discover the cause of the explosions. [21] Bureau of Mines investigators determined that the explosions were caused by a blasting charge. Two charges had been set, and one failed to fully detonate. The single functional charge was not strong enough to collapse the coal rock; it instead blew out the contents of the drill hole in which it had been placed and scattered dust that was subsequently ignited. [22] The state investigation was conducted by the office of the Commissioner of Labor, which was responsible for all mine inspections in the state. The state affirmed the conclusions of the federal investigation while further stating that the blasting charges had been improperly placed in violation of the state's mining regulations. [23] Carolina Coal Company board member Bion Butler did not believe that gas was a factor in the blast. [24]

Due to the deaths from the disaster, the adult population of Coal Glen shrunk by about half, [25] while 38 women were widowed and 79 children were rendered fatherless. [26] McLean asked the public to raise $35,000 in relief funds and requested the American Red Cross to provide assistance to victims. Upset with this limited response, a delegation from the city of Sanford went to Raleigh to meet with him, and convinced him to appoint a committee to coordinate a statewide fundraising campaign and offer advice to the Red Cross. [27] John R. McQueen, the president of the Carolina Coal Company, placed the corporation into receivership and arranged for payouts to the impacted families. No lawsuits were filed against the company in connection to the disaster. [26]

Legacy

The Coal Glen mine explosion was the deadliest industrial disaster in North Carolina history. [28] In part due to the disaster, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a workers' compensation law in 1929 with the encouragement of the Department of Labor. [1] [29] The Carolina Coal Company went bankrupt in 1930, but the mine was reopened in 1943 [30] and remained in operation until 1953. [31] The shaft was later flooded by the Deep River, and the mine entrance sits on land owned by the General Timber Corporation. [32] A state historical marker commemorating the event was dedicated in 2017 at US 15/US 501 and Walter Bright Road. [31] [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springhill mining disasters</span> Any of three mining disasters in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada (1891, 1956, 1958)

Springhill mining disaster may refer to any of three deadly Canadian mining disasters that occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coalfield, near the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. In the 1891 accident, 125 died; in 1956, 39 were killed; and in 1958, there were 75 miners killed.

A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraterville Mine disaster</span> United States historic place

The Fraterville Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion that occurred on May 19, 1902 near the community of Fraterville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Official records state that 216 miners died as a result of the explosion, from either its initial blast or from the after-effects, making it the worst mining disaster in the United States' history. However, locals claim that the true number of deaths is greater than this because many miners were unregistered and multiple bodies were not identified. The cause of the explosion was likely ignition of methane gas which had built up after leaking from an adjacent unventilated mine.

New Waterford is an urban community in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millfield Mine disaster</span>

The Millfield Mine disaster occurred November 5, 1930, at the Sunday Creek Coal Company Poston Mine Number 6 in Dover Township, Athens County, Ohio. It was the state's worst mine disaster, killing 82 men. Sigmund Kozma was the last remaining survivor of the disaster, passing away on January 3, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monongah mining disaster</span> 1907 explosion in West Virginia

The Monongah mining disaster of Monongah, West Virginia occurred on December 6, 1907, and has been described as "the worst mining disaster in American history." 362 miners were killed. The explosion occurred in Fairmont Coal Company’s No. 6 and No. 8 mines, and was one of the contributing events leading to the creation of the United States Bureau of Mines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmington Mine disaster</span> 1968 coal mine explosion in Farmington and Mannington, West Virginia, USA

The Farmington Mine disaster was an explosion that happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. on November 20, 1968, at the Consol No. 9 coal mine north of Farmington and Mannington, West Virginia, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senghenydd colliery disaster</span> Mining explosion in 1913

The Senghenydd colliery disaster, also known as the Senghenydd explosion, occurred at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, near Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales, on 14 October 1913. The explosion, which killed 439 miners and a rescuer, is the worst mining accident in the United Kingdom. Universal Colliery, on the South Wales Coalfield, extracted steam coal, which was much in demand. Some of the region's coal seams contained high quantities of firedamp, a highly explosive gas consisting of methane and hydrogen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oaks explosion</span> 1866 British mining disaster

The Oaks explosion, which happened at a coal mine in West Riding of Yorkshire on 12 December 1866, remains the worst mining disaster in England. A series of explosions caused by firedamp ripped through the underground workings at the Oaks Colliery at Hoyle Mill near Stairfoot in Barnsley killing 361 miners and rescuers. It was the worst mining disaster in the United Kingdom until the 1913 Senghenydd explosion in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gresford disaster</span> 1934 coal mining disaster near Wrexham, Wales

The Gresford disaster occurred on 22 September 1934 at Gresford Colliery, near Wrexham, Denbighshire, when an explosion and underground fire killed 266 men. Gresford is one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters: a controversial inquiry into the disaster did not conclusively identify a cause, though evidence suggested that failures in safety procedures and poor mine management were contributory factors. Further public controversy was caused by the decision to seal the colliery's damaged sections permanently, meaning that only eleven of those who died were recovered.

Clifton Hall Colliery was one of two coal mines in Clifton on the Manchester Coalfield, historically in Lancashire which was incorporated into the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England in 1974. Clifton Hall was notorious for an explosion in 1885 which killed around 178 men and boys.

The Moweaqua Coal Mine disaster happened on December 24, 1932, in Moweaqua, Illinois. The disaster was caused by a methane gas explosion killing 54 miners. The explosion occurred shortly after the day shift started, sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 Christmas Eve morning.

The South Yorkshire Coalfield is so named from its position within Yorkshire. It covers most of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and a small part of North Yorkshire. The exposed coalfield outcrops in the Pennine foothills and dips under Permian rocks in the east. Its most famous coal seam is the Barnsley Bed. Coal has been mined from shallow seams and outcrops since medieval times and possibly earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmville, Chatham County, North Carolina</span> Populated place in North Carolina, United States

Farmville is a community in southeastern Chatham County, North Carolina, United States, which was once called Coal Glen. The area was the site of coal mining activities from the 18th century up the mid-1950s, and was the site of the 1925 Coal Glen mine disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Ukraine coal mine collapse</span> 2008 explosion and collapse of a coal mine in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Big Branch Mine disaster</span> 2010 coal mine explosion in Montcoal, West Virginia, USA

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 roughly 1,000 feet (300 m) underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal. Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The coal dust explosion occurred at 3:27 pm. The accident was the worst in the United States since 1970, when 38 miners were killed at Finley Coal Company's No. 15 and 16 mines in Hyden, Kentucky. A state funded independent investigation later found Massey Energy directly responsible for the blast.

The Raspadskaya mine explosion was a mine explosion in the Raspadskaya mine, located near Mezhdurechensk in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, which occurred on 8 May 2010. It was believed to have been caused by a buildup of methane. The initial explosion was followed by a second approximately four hours later which collapsed the mine's ventilation shaft and trapped several rescue workers. By 18 May 2010, 66 people were confirmed to have died with at least 99 others injured and as many as a further 24 unaccounted for.

The Harwick Mine disaster was a mining accident on January 25, 1904 in Cheswick, Pennsylvania, some sixteen mi (26 km) north of Pittsburgh in the western part of the state. The blast killed an estimated 179 miners and 2 aid workers. The disaster ranks among the ten worst coal mining disasters in American history. One community especially impacted was the Hungarian community in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Fifty-eight of the members of the First Hungarian Reformed Church of Homestead—a full third of the congregation—died in the explosion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vorkuta mine disaster</span> 2016 mine explosions in Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia

In February 2016, a series of explosions caused the deaths of 36 people, including 31 miners and five rescue workers, at the Severnaya coal mine 10 kilometres north of the city of Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia. The explosions were believed to be caused by ignition of leaking methane gas. It is the second deadliest mining disaster of the 2010s behind the Soma mine disaster, and fourth deadliest of the 21st century thus far.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Listvyazhnaya mine disaster</span> 2021 mining disaster in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia

The Listvyazhnaya mine disaster was a mining accident that occurred on 25 November 2021 in a coal mine in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. Smoke from a fire in a ventilation shaft caused the suffocation of over 40 miners. A failed attempt to rescue the trapped miners resulted in the deaths of at least five rescuers when the mine exploded. It is the deadliest mine accident in Russia since the 2010 Raspadskaya mine explosion in the same region.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Fletcher, Stephen (May 2005). "This Month In North Carolina History : May 27, 1925 - Carolina Coal Company Mine Explosion, Coal Glen, North Carolina". UNC University Libraries. University of North Carolina. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Chapman 2017, p. 127.
  3. ↑ Hazel 2017, p. 64.
  4. ↑ Hazel 2017, p. 67.
  5. ↑ Hazel 2017, pp. 65–66.
  6. 1 2 Hairr 2017, p. 52.
  7. ↑ Hazel 2017, pp. 64–65.
  8. ↑ Hairr 2017, p. 54.
  9. 1 2 3 Hazel 2017, p. 63.
  10. ↑ Chapman 2017, p. 133.
  11. ↑ Hairr 2017, pp. 52–53.
  12. 1 2 Chapman 2017, p. 129.
  13. ↑ "No Hope Entertained For Rescue Alive Of Any Men In The Mine". Greensboro Daily News. May 28, 1925. pp. 1, 16.
  14. ↑ "Efforts of Rescue Workers To Reach Entombed Miners Go Ahead Without A Break". Greensboro Daily News. May 29, 1925. pp. 1, 13.
  15. ↑ Chapman 2017, p. 128.
  16. ↑ "53 Bodies Recovered From Carolina Mine; Believed All Are Out". Greensboro Daily Record. May 31, 1925. pp. 1A–2A.
  17. ↑ Hazel 2017, p. 63–64.
  18. ↑ Hazel 2017, pp. 68–69.
  19. ↑ Chapman 2017, p. 130.
  20. ↑ Hazel 2017, p. 66.
  21. ↑ Hairr 2017, p. 53.
  22. ↑ Chapman 2017, pp. 132–133.
  23. ↑ Chapman 2017, pp. 133–134.
  24. ↑ Hairr 2017, pp. 53–54.
  25. ↑ Chapman 2017, p. 129–130.
  26. 1 2 Hairr 2017, p. 55.
  27. ↑ "Committee Is Appointed". The Chatham Record . No. 52. June 4, 1925. p. 4.
  28. ↑ Chapman 2017, p. 212.
  29. ↑ Chapman 2017, p. 137.
  30. ↑ "Little left at site of explosion". Wilmington Morning Star . Associated Press. September 2, 1992. p. 4B.
  31. 1 2 "Highway Marker Dedicated in Lee County". The Pilot. June 17, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  32. ↑ Hazel 2017, pp. 64, 67.
  33. ↑ "Coal Glen Mine Disaster". North Carolina Historical Highway Marker Program. North Carolina Office of Archives & History. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

Works cited

35°33′28″N79°12′32″W / 35.5578°N 79.2089°W / 35.5578; -79.2089

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.