The Mammoth Mine disaster or Frick Mine explosion occurred on January 27, 1891 just after 9:00 AM in the Mammoth No. 1 mine in

Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Mount Pleasant Township is a township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 10,101. Mount Pleasant Township should not be confused with the Borough of Mount Pleasant, which is a ...

. Newspapers reported that

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

was ignited by a miner's oil lamp, resulting in the deaths of 109 men and boys. Most of the miners were not killed by the force of the explosion, but rather were suffocated by the effects of

afterdamp Afterdamp is the toxic mixture of gases left in a mine following an explosion caused by methane-rich firedamp, which itself can initiate a much larger explosion of coal dust. The term is etymologically and practically related to other terms for un ...

The Mammoth mines

The Mammoth mining complex consisted of the Mammoth No. 1 Mine (a

shaft mine Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

) and the Mammoth No. 2 Mine (a slope mine). From approximately 1879 to 1889 the Mammoth No. 1 mine was owned by Colonel J.W. Moore Coke Company in

Greensburg, PA Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau. The city is ...

. In 1889, the mine was purchased by The H. C. Frick Coke Company. The Frick Coke Company sold the mine in 1927.

Events and aftermath

Accounts vary, but it is believed that either 107 or 109 coal miners, mostly Polish, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, were killed on the morning of the explosion. Seventy-nine of the victims are buried in a mass grave at St. John the Baptist Cemetery. In the early 2000s, two

Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...

markers and a pair of personalized headstones were added to the site.

Impact on workplace safety

The Mammoth mine incident prompted Pennsylvania state legislation to strengthen mine safety inspections. Thomas Lynch, President of H. C. Frick Coke Company, introduced the phrase “Safety is the first consideration” at the top of every company circular. Soon after, the expression “Safety First” began to appear on signs posted around the mines. Also soon after the disaster, the company published a set of 25 mine safety rules. As the number of accidents increased, the number of rules increased. The rules were adopted by other mining companies throughout the region, and the Coal Miner's Pocketbook listed most of the rules in its 1916 edition.

The site today

The entrance to the mine, now blocked but still visible, was renovated in 2002. The entrance and a memorial to the miners killed in the accident are located behind the Mount Pleasant (PA) Township Municipal Authority building, which was formerly the lamp-house, where miners' safety lamps were stored and distributed.

Gallery

Mammoth coal mine memorial and mine entrance Mount Pleasant PA.jpg, The site today. Left: memorial to miners killed. Right: entrance to mine, now blocked. Mammoth coal mine entrance closeup Mount Pleasant PA.jpg, Mine entrance closeup. Mine cart at right. Mammoth mine disaster memorial, Mount Pleasant PA.jpg, Memorial marker.

References

External links

* ExplorePAHistory.com
Mammoth mine explosion historical marker
* Vivian, Cassandra. ''The Hidden History of the Laurel Highlands.'' The History Press. Charleston SC. 2014. p. 36, 38. {{Coal mine disasters in the US 1891 mining disasters Coal mining disasters in Pennsylvania 1891 in Pennsylvania Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Underground mines in the United States 1891 disasters in the United States May 1891 events Disasters in Pennsylvania