Farmington West Quadrangle

Mining in the Farmington West Quadrangle

The mine notes for Dorthel No. 2 Mine (mine index 111) indicated that the Herrin Coal in this area was reputed to have two blue bands and many horsebacks in the seam. These impurities contributed to the Springfield Coal being the more-heavily mined seam, especially for mines with a longer productive lifespan and a large aerial extent. However, the earliest mining in the vicinity was in the upper coal due to the relative ease of accessing the coal. These old mines were along Littlers Creek just west of Farmington in Fulton County, and operated before 1871. Both the Herrin and Springfield Coals were shallow enough to be surface mined, especially as machine capacity increased through the 1940s and 1950s. Most of the older mines were underground. The last underground mines of the Farmington area were closed in 1952: the Alden No. 5 Mine (mine index 110) and D. & D. No. 3 Mine (mine index 2246).