Mine Index 0121 Utility Coal Company, Bissell Mine

Mine Index Number: 0121

Company Name:	Utility Coal Company
Mine Name:	Bissell Mine
Start Date:	1892	End Date:	September 1923
Type of Mine:	Underground
Total acres shown:	412
Acres after map date:	5	General Area of mining acres shown:

Shaft, Slope, Drift or Tipple Location(s)

Type	County	Township-Range	Section	Part Section

Main shaft

Sangamon

16N 4W

8

SW NW SW

Air shaft

Sangamon

16N 4W

8

SW NW SW

Geology

		Thickness (ft)
Seam	Depth (ft)	Min	Max	Ave	Mining Method

Springfield

234

5.0

6.0

5.5

MRP

Geological Problems Reported

The roof was 1.5 to 4 ft of black shale topped by 0 to 4 ft of limestone cap rock. The shale contained concretions. However, it was noted that the roof conditions were good and little timbering was required. Numerous horsebacks were seen, extending down into the coal from the roof. The coal contained a 1.5 to 2 inch pyrite band found locally at the top of the coal. The floor was over 6 ft of fire clay. The operators had some problem with squeezes so that double-track width entries could rarely be maintained. The floor heaved after standing in abandoned workings.

Production

Company

Mine Name

Date

Production (tons)

Clear Lake Coal Company (add)	Clear Lake (add)	1892-1902	593,504

Spaulding Coal Company (add)	Spaulding No. 2 (add)	1902-1905	421,330

Standard Washed Coal Company (add)	Clear Lake (add)	1905-1918 Idle 1911-1918	452,153

Bissell Coal Company (add)	Clear Lake (add)	1918-1923	759,285

Utility Coal Company (add)	Bissel (add)	1923-1923	22,930 Production after map date

Total Production: 2,249,202

Production Notes

Coal Report production (if available)

Sources of Data

Source Map

Map Date

Original Scale

Digitized Scale

Map Type

Company, state archive

3-1-1923

1:2400

1:2400

Not final

Annotated Bibliography (Data source - brief description of information)

Coal Reports - Production, ownership, years of operation.

Directory of Illinois Coal Mines (Sangamon County) - Mine names, mine index, ownership, years of operation.

Mine notes (Sangamon County) - Mine type, shaft location, seam, depth, thickness.

Company map, state archive, PB_1089 - Shaft locations, mine outline, mining method.