The Kathleen Mine was a
coal mine that operated in the nearby
coal town
A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...
of
Dowell, Illinois
Dowell is a village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was estimated to be 385 at the 2020 census,
down from 408 at the 2010 census.
History
Dowell was founded as a coal town and named by Du Quoin attorney George Do ...
, United States, from 1918 to 1946. At peak production, its output was 5,000 tons/day of coal. It was operated by the
Union Colliery Company
The Union Colliery Company was a bituminous coal mining company based in St. Louis Missouri. The company had branch offices in Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha,
Wisconsin, as well as Detroit, Michigan.
The company was acquired in 1937 by East St. ...
in St. Louis. Many miners who worked in the Kathleen were immigrants from eastern Europe,
including
Rusyns
History
The Kathleen was sunk in 1917 and the mine opened in 1918. It was named for Kathleen McAuliffe who was the daughter of Eugene McAuliffe, the president of the colliery company.
In February, 1920 the Union Colliery Company employed over 300 men with an average monthly payroll of over $35,000.
The mine workers were members of the
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
union led by
John Lewis. Its miners went on strike from 1933 to 1937. They struck for the right to join the
Progressive Mining Union.
The Kathleen Mine closed on November 21, 1946. Over its life, over 150 men were killed working there.
Disasters
* In February 1921 seven men were trapped and killed in the mine when a fire forced rescuers to seal the mine to contain the fire,
* Nine men were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning on August 1, 1936. This was the worst accident in the mine's history. Many of the deaths occurred during rescue operations,
Afterward
The entrance to the mine has been closed. On the site as of December, 2021 is Cobin's Salvage Yard. There are few remaining signs of the mine that once built the village of Dowell. A small concrete structure, the mine tipple, is the only structure that remains from the mine.
The mine has been suspected of causing sinkholes in the nearby village of
Dowell.
New Kathleen Mine
A new mine operated by Union Colliery was opened north of Dowell in January 1946. It was named the New Kathleen. This mine closed in 1947.,
Land scars are still visible from this mine.
Gallery
References
{{Reflist
Coal in Illinois
Coal mines in the United States
Mines in Illinois
Jackson County, Illinois