Carlinville West Quadrangle

Mining in the Carlinville West Quadrangle

Mining began around 1870 in Carlinville when Henry Bartels opened the Southern Shaft Mine (mine index 2916). This mine, like the others in the area, worked the Herrin coal seam. Henry Bartels ran this mine until 1883, when the operation was taken over by his son, William Bartels. An air shaft and a new hoist shaft were added by William after he took control of the mine, after being pressured by the State Mine Inspectors to comply with legal requirements of the time. The mine closed in 1891. . Another early mine was Weer’s shaft, operated by T. S. Loomis and opened around 1875 (mine index 0069), mining until 1917. The shaft for this mine was later used as an air shaft for Standard No. 1 Mine (mine index 187). The Old Calamity Mine (mine index 2912) was also believed to have operated early, but no production for this mine was reported, so it is likely that it was abandoned prior to 1878.