Mine Disasters

Coal mining disasters

Whitman Mine Explosion, November 3, 1931

Whitman Mine Explosion SEARCHERS FIND THIRD VICTIM OF LOGAN MINE BLAST. EXPLOSION TRAPPED FIVE MEN IN ISLAND CREEK COMPANY WHITMAN MINE. HOPE IS ABANDONED FOR TWO MISSING WORKERS. MEN CAUGHT IN ABANDONED SECTION OF WORKINGS; 241 MINERS AT WORK IN MINE AT TIME OF BLAST; DEBRIS HAMPERS PROGRESS OF RESCUERS. Logan, W. Va., Nov. 3. […]

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Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Logan County, West Virginia was being soaked with a steady drizzle of rain as a crowd gathered to wait for news at the entrance of the Macbeth Mine. At about 1:30 in the evening on September 2, 1936 the Macbeth Mine of the Hutchinson Coal Company blew killing ten men. It was considered a major

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A Gaping Black Mouth – MacBeth 1937

Only six months after the first Macbeth explosion on March 11, 1937, the Macbeth Mine blew again killing eighteen men. As a March rain fell, scenes from September past were being replayed. Some of the men who helped carry out bodies in the first explosion were now mangled corpses in the same entries they had

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Dark as a Dungeon – Holden, March 8, 1960

Dark as a Dungeon – Holden, March 8, 1960 Read More »

Does Mamie Thurman Still Walk Those Hills?

MAMIE THURMAN MURDER IN LOGAN COUNTY The taking of another’s life is a monstrous act indeed. The violence of a murder has creepy vines that bind. It kills a part of everyone involved. After more than eighty years when the night winds wail, people still claim Mamie Thurman walks the hills on 22 Mountain near

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24 Miners Rescued – May 1958

24 Miners Rescued – May 1958 Read More »

Death Comes a Knocking – Willow Grove, Ohio 1940

Death Comes a Knocking – Willow Grove, Ohio 1940 Read More »

Little Egypt Lost – Havaco Mine – JANUARY 15, 1946

LITTLE EGYPT LOST WRECKAGE OF HAVACO MINE – JANUARY 15, 1946 McDowell County, West Virginia is the most southern county of the state, and they hold the record for the largest number of explosions in the state. The mining town of Jed, located two miles north of Welch, lost eighty-three men when the mine blew

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Tragedy at Burning Springs – Kermit 1951

At the time of the accident 45 men were inside the mine, however the explosion was confined to only one section. Thirteen men were working in the section that blew, and eleven men were killed Shortly after the explosion, a motorman delivering a trip of empty cars near the site noticed smoke and dust in the haulageway. He immediately notified the outside mine office of his findings, and Superintendent T. L. Lambert, went underground to investigate.

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A Time to Weep – Bartley 1940

A Time to Weep – Bartley 1940 Read More »