Streator South Quadrangle

From ILMINES WIKI

Mining in the Streator South Quadrangle

The earliest commercial mining in the Streator South Quadrangle took place along the banks of the Vermilion River with some early drift mines (mine index 5907) and Francis Murphy’s mine (mine index 2346) in 1851. By 1876, several mines were established in the south half of Streator, with the Chicago, Wilmington & Vermilion No. 2 Mine (mine index 2608). According to Paula Angle in Biography in Black, a History of Streator, Illinois, most of the town of Streator was undermined by 1900. Coal mine operators continued to mine the Herrin Coal near town and in some instances, extended the shaft deeper to mine the Colchester Coal. Mining continued in the Streator South Quadrangle until the Streator Clay Pipe Mine (mine index 2727) closed in 1961.

The Herrin Coal was generally between 4.5 and 5.5 feet thick. The Colchester Coal was thinner, between 2.5 and 3 feet, and this coal was mined with the longwall method. The Coal Reports indicated that some of the mines included in this report did mine the Colchester for up to two years, but no maps of workings in the Colchester Coal have survived. The areas of these mines fit the size of the polygons shown on the accompanying map. Therefore, the accuracy of the seam designation in the Coal Reports is uncertain, since the cost of extending a shaft more than 100 feet further down would have been significant at any time and mining that coal should have proceeded for more than a couple of years to justify that cost. One possibility is that slopes or shafts were lowered to the level of the Colchester Coal, but the associated underclay was the desired product and not the coal.

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Coal Mines In Illinois Streator South Quadrangle

Mines that Appear on the Streator South Quadrangle

Unlocated Mines

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