Former Kathleen Coal Mine Company Store in Dowell, IL | |
Location | |
---|---|
State | Illinois |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 37°56′25″N89°13′42″W / 37.94028°N 89.22833°W Coordinates: 37°56′25″N89°13′42″W / 37.94028°N 89.22833°W |
Production | |
Products | Coal |
History | |
Opened | 1918[1] |
Closed | 1946 [1] |
Owner | |
Company | Union Colliery Company |
The Kathleen Mine was a coal mine that operated in the nearby coal town of Dowell, Illinois, United States, from 1918 to 1946. At peak production, its output was 5,000 tons/day of coal. It was operated by the Union Colliery Company in St. Louis. [2] Many miners who worked in the Kathleen were immigrants from eastern Europe, [3] including Rusyns [4]
The Kathleen was sunk in 1917 and the mine opened in 1918. It was named for Kathleen McAuliffe who was the daughter of Eugene McAuliffe, the president of the colliery company. [5] [6]
Duquoin -- What is said to be the largest mine tipple in the world is being constructed over the main shaft of the new mine of the Union Colliery Co.. of St. Louis, at the new town of Dowel], five miles south of here. Coal is already being mined and sent to St. Louis for the use of the Union Electric Light and Power Co., of which the Union Colliery Co. is a subsidiary company
— Staff writer(s), "Coal Age", Coal Age (September 26, 1918)
In February, 1920 the Union Colliery Company employed over 300 men with an average monthly payroll of over $35,000. [7]
The mine workers were members of the United Mine Workers union led by John Lewis. [8] Its miners went on strike from 1933 to 1937. They struck for the right to join the Progressive Mining Union. [9]
The Kathleen Mine closed on November 21, 1946. Over its life, over 150 men were killed working there. [1] [10]
The entrance to the mine has been closed. On the site as of December, 2021 is Cobin's Salvage Yard. There are few remaining signs of the mine that once built the village of Dowell. [16] A small concrete structure, the mine tipple, is the only structure that remains from the mine. [17] [18]
The mine has been suspected of causing sinkholes in the nearby village of Dowell. [19]
A new mine operated by Union Colliery was opened north of Dowell in January 1946. It was named the New Kathleen. This mine closed in 1947., [3] [1] Land scars are still visible from this mine. [20]
![]() |
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois with a population of 52,974 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Murphysboro, and its most populous city is Carbondale, home to the main campus of Southern Illinois University. The county was incorporated on January 10, 1816, and named for Andrew Jackson. The community of Brownsville served as the fledgling county's first seat.
Franklin County is a county in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 37,804. The largest city is West Frankfort and the county seat is Benton. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as "Little Egypt".
Christopher is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,382 at the time of the 2010 census.
Royalton is a village in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,151 at the 2010 census.
Dowell is a village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was estimated to be 385 at the 2020 census, down from 408 at the 2010 census.
Du Quoin is a city in Perry County, Illinois. It is best known for hosting the annual DuQuoin State Fair and the Street Machine Nationals. The population is estimated at 5,761 in the 2020 census.
Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Midwest. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two most voluminous rivers in the United States: the Mississippi below its connecting Missouri River to the west and the Ohio River to the east and south with the Wabash as tributary.
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.
The Herrin massacre took place on June 21–22, 1922 in Herrin, Illinois, in a coal mining area during a nationwide strike by the United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). Although the owner of the mine originally agreed with the union to observe the strike, when the price of coal went up, he hired non-union workers to produce and ship out coal, as he had high debt in start-up costs.
A pit pony, otherwise known as a mining horse, was a horse, pony or mule commonly used underground in mines from the mid-18th until the mid-20th century. The term "pony" was sometimes broadly applied to any equine working underground.
Morden Colliery Historic Provincial Park is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) historic provincial park near the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The location off BC Highway 19 is about 102 kilometres (63 mi) by road northwest of Victoria, and 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Nanaimo.
The Progressive Miners of America was a coal miners' union organized in 1932 in downstate Illinois. It was formed in response to a 1932 contract proposal negotiated by United Mine Workers President John L. Lewis, which reduced wages from a previous rate of $6.10 per day to $5.00 per day.
Du Quoin station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Du Quoin, Illinois, United States, on the Illini and Saluki routes. The City of New Orleans route also passes by this station, but does not stop here. It was built in 1989 by the city of Du Quoin, with assistance from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Kenneth James Gray was an American businessman and politician. He was a veteran of World War II, and represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives from 1955 to 1974, and again from 1985 to 1989.
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.
Harco is an unincorporated community in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The Harrisburg Colliery Coal Company Mine was sunk in November 1916, in the center of section 27, township 8, range 5, Saline County, Illinois, and the town of Harco soon grew up around it. The name of the town is derived from the first three letters of Harrisburg and the first two letters of Colliery, spelling “Harco.”
The Union Colliery Company was a bituminous coal mining company based in St. Louis Missouri. The company had branch offices in Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, as well as Detroit, Michigan.
George W. Dowell was an attorney and political candidate. He was born August 18, 1879, in Williamson County, Illinois.
Agnes Burns Wieck was an American labor activist and journalist, described as "a Coal Field 'Hell Raiser'".
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)