History of Coal Mining in Ohio

No. 14 OHIOGeoFacts DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES • DIVISION OF GEOLOG I CAL SURVEY

HISTORY OF COAL MINING IN OHIO

Coal has long been an important fossil fuel for the nation and Ohio. The exist ence of coal in Ohio was fi rst noted as early as 1200 1748 by frontiersmen and travelers who told of a coal mine on fi re at the mouth of Lamanshikola Creek (present-day Sandy Creek) 1000 near Bolivar, Tuscarawas County. A Map of the Middle British Colonies in America published in 1755 noted the word “coals” along the Hockhocking River (present-day Hocking River) in the 800 ap prox i mate location of Athens County. Also, the Moravians knew about the occurrence of coal in the Tuscarawas Valley before they 600 made their set tle ment at Schoenbrunn in 1772. Although the date when coal in Ohio was fi rst mined will prob- 400

a bly never be known, the fi rst reported production of coal was value (million dollars) in 1800, three years prior to Ohio’s entrance as the 17th state of the Union. This report ed production amounted to 100 tons of 200 coal mined from Jefferson County. Since 1800, 3.7 billion tons of coal have been mined in Ohio. This tonnage consists of 2.3 0 billion tons produced from underground mines and 1.4 billion tons from surface mines. 1930 19401950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Belmont County is the all-time leader in coal production in Value of Ohio coal, 1930-2000 Ohio. More than 824.9 million tons have been produced from this county since 1816. In 2003, Belmont County led the state in coal and coal-consuming states in the nation. This transformation production, as it has in most years, mining over 10.9 million tons. was triggered by the manufacture of equipment for railroads, The second and third highest coal-producing counties historically machinery for increased farm mechanization, and supplies for are Harrison and Jefferson, followed by Perry, Athens, Tuscara- the Civil War. By the mid-1800’s, coal was recognized as an was, Guernsey, Meigs, Muskingum, and Noble Counties. abundant, accessible, and inexpensive fuel, especially for the From its modest beginning in 1800, Ohio’s coal production generation of steam power. grew steadily but very slowly, never exceeding 1 million tons In the late 1800’s, steam power was adapted to generate mined annually until the mid-1800’s. During the fi rst half of electric i ty. The fi rst coal-fi red electric-generating plant in the the 19th century, Ohio’s early coal miners, primarily of English, United States, the Thomas A. Edison Pearl Street Station in New Scottish, and Welsh descent, cut and loaded coal entirely by hand York City, went on line in September 1883. The fi rst coal-fi red and moved the coal to local markets by means of wagons, carts, power plant in Ohio, the Tiffi n (Seneca County) Edison Electri- fl atboats, and canal boats. cal Illuminating Plant, went on line in December 1883. Since the 1880’s, the amount of coal consumed by power plants has increased such that currently 80 percent of the coal produced 60 nationally is burned to generate electricity. The electric utility industry consumes 90 percent of the coal mined in Ohio. 50 From Civil War times to the Great Depression of the 1930’s, Ohio’s coal production steadily and rapidly increased because of improved methods of transportation and mining. Between 1850 40 and 1880, Ohio’s railroad system grew at a tremendous rate, fa cili tat ing the movement of coal to market as well as becoming 30 a major consumer of coal for steam-generated locomotion. By the late 1800’s, mechanized mining equipment had been successfully million tons intro duced into many of Ohio’s underground coal mines. 20 From 1800 to about 1948, most of Ohio’s coal was mined un- der ground. During most of the 19th century, coal was mined by 10

0 1850 1900 1950 2000 Ohio coal production, 1850-2000

Completion of Ohio’s canal system during the 1830’s and 1840’s allowed the development of distant markets for coal mined from the interior of the state. Gradually coal replaced wood as a fuel for home heating and cooking, boilers in salt production, blast furnaces, steam mills, sawmills, some oil and gas drilling rigs, and steamboats on the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. The fi rst coal-fi red steam boat, the Bazaleel Wells, was built in 1820 at Steubenville, Ohio. In addition, coal was distilled to produce coal oil for home lighting or gas for street lighting. During the mid-1800’s, Ohio experienced a transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy. This transfor- mation pro vid ed a great boost to the development of Ohio’s Mules, horses, oxen, goats, and dogs were used to haul coal in Ohio coal mines coal industry, making Ohio one of the largest coal-producing in the 19th and early 20th centuries (from Crowell, 1995, p. 68). safety issues,butisprimarily theresultofFederalClean regulation ofsurface-mineactivity, reclamation,andhealth drop inproductionis,toalesser extent,duetotheincreasing 59 per costs, in ance taxin reclamation regulations,coal-minepermittingprocedures, sever- result ofincreasedcostsrelatedtohealthandsafetyregulations, price ofabout$25perton.Thisdramaticincreasein isa of coalhasskyrocketednearly470percenttoitspresentaverage throughout mostofthe20thcentury;since1970,price per ton fact, coalproductionsoareduntil1970. to survivethechallengeincompetitivefuelmarket, and, in of elec panies becamemajorconsumersofcoalforthesteamgeneration by pe fuels marketwasrepeatedlychallengedandsomewhat eroded to 2,279in2003. were 50,267coalminersemployedinOhiomines,compared mines operatinginOhio,comparedto72003;1908,there miners. Forexample,in1898therewere1,155underground result, therearenowfewerundergroundminesandcoal and withfewerpeoplethancoalfromundergroundmines.Asa coal canbeminedmoreeasily,quickly,inexpensively, 20- and40-tontrucks. improved methodsoftransportation,suchasconveyorsand the “Moun ily tolarger,moreef 1970. ThisincreaseinOhio’scoalproductionwasdueprimar- tion continuedtogrow,reachingarecordof55milliontonsin hillside, usingpicksandshovels(fromCrowell,1995,p.18). Early surfaceminingconsistedofextractingcoalthatwasexposedalonga was tooimpracticalordif the hillside,perhaps10feetormore,untilremovalofcover scrapers. Thecoalandcovermaterialwasexcavatedbackinto hillsides, usingpicksandshovelsinsomecaseshorse-drawn mining inOhioconsistedofcoalthatwasexposedalong ravine nearTallmadge,SummitCounty,in1810.Earlysurface mechanized withtheintroductionofcoal-loadingmachinery. 1930’s, manyofOhio’sundergroundcoalmineshadbecomefully face tothetipplewherecoalwasloadedforshipment.By and evendogs.Animalswereusedtohaulcoalfromtheworking hand withtheaidofanimalssuchasmules,ponies,goats,oxen, by un Since 1970,Ohio’sannualcoal productionhasdeclinednearly The costofcoalonaper-tonbasisremainedlowandstable Throughout the20thcentury,coal’sdominantholdon the Because ofadvancesinsurface-miningtechnology,near-surface Following theGreatDepressionof1930’s,coalproduc- The tro der tric cent toitspresent(2003)level of22.3milliontons.This The Divisionof GeologicalSurveyGeoFacts Seriesisavailableonthe World WideWeb:http://www.OhioGeology.com fi rst accountofsurfaceminingcoalinOhiowasfroma leum intheformofdieselfuel.However,asutilitycom- fl a ground methods. i ty (seeGeoFactsNo.16),Ohio’scoalindustrywasable creas tion, andtransportationcosts. tain eer” shovelandthe“BigMuskie”dragline, es onundergroundandsurface-minedcoal,labor fi cient surface-miningequipment,suchas fi cult. Atthispoint, thecoalwasmined • ThisGeoFacts compiledbyDouglasL.Crowell •RevisedMay2005 • as itwasinOhiominesmorethan100yearsago(fromCrowell,1995,p.66). automated throughcomputers,asigni mine. Althoughtoday’sundergroundcoalminesarehighlymechanizedand A moderncoalminerkneelingtoworkintheSterlingMiningCompany ______1997,Coal:OhioDivisionofGeologicalSurveyEducational Crowell, D.L.,1995,Historyofthecoal-miningindustryinOhio: Ohio Wolfe, M.E.,2001,2000Reporton Ohiomineralindustries:Di ______1997,Coalandelectricity: OhioDivisionofGeologicalSurvey ______1997,Coalminingandreclamation: OhioDivisionofGeological nuclear powerplantsareveryexpensivetoop gas areexpectedtobecomedepletedoverthenext30-70years; gas areex to in dence foraprom about thefutureofcoalmininginOhio.Theseop has notbeenlowersince1940,therearesomewhoop the numberofOhiocoalminerswillcontinuetodecline. have causedsometospeculatethatOhio’scoalpro air-pollution-control legislationpassedin1990.Allthesefactors moved theiroperationsfromOhiotootherstates,andstringent or downsizedintosmalleroperations,somemajorcompanieshave underground mineshaveclosed,coalcompaniesreorganized has steadilydeclinedtoabouthalfofits1970level,severallarge of sulfur(3.5percentorgreater),Ohio’scoalproduction for adyingindustry:Ohio’scoalgenerallycontainshighamounts the industryasawholeisonwane.Theycitetheirevidence those whosaythattheheydayofcoalmininginOhiohaspassedand dioxide emissionsfromburnedcoal. 1990 (CAAA90),whichplacedstringentcontrolsonthesulfur Air Actof1970anditsamendmentsin1977(CAAA77) obtain; nonuclearpowerplantsareplannedforcon expensive tobuild,andtheir30-yearlicensesareverydif com and clean-coaltechnology,includingscrub consumers andtheymayturntoOhiocoalasaleast-costfuel; to competeagainstoneanotherinanopenmarketforelectric Ohio; de the burningofOhiocoal.Furthermore,has25coal- that Ohiocoalwillbechosenasthefuelfortheseboilers. boilers willbereplacedbyusingclean-coaltech be inneedofretirement.Thereisgrowingspeculationthat these Ohio’s coal- plants thathave91operatingboilers.By2010,morethan halfof Although Ohio’scoal-productionlevelof21milliontonsin2002 What isthefutureofOhio’scoal-miningindustry?Thereare of Geo Lea Division ofGeologicalSurveyBulletin72,203p. GeoFacts 16. Survey GeoFacts15. bus crease 2.3percentperyearthrough2010;pricesfornatural fl et 8(revisededition). tors (seeGeoFactsNo.16),isavail log reg pect i cal Survey. u fi red boilerswillbemorethan50yearsoldandmay la ed todoubleby2010;reservesofdomesticnatural tion oftheelectricutilityindustryallowsutil is ing future:thedemandforelec FURTHER READING fi cant amount of work is done by hand just cantamountofworkisdonebyhandjust able thatwouldenable bers and ti tric er mists citeasevi- ate, ex i ty is expected ty isexpected fl uidized-bed duc struc fi nol red power tion and treme ti o fi cult to tion in gy and mis vi i sion ties tic ly

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