The Pittsburg-Weir Coalfield, also known as Weir-Pittsburg Coalfield and Cherokee Coalfield, is a
coalfield located in
Cherokee and
Crawford counties in the southeast corner of
Kansas.
The first underground
shaft mine was built in the region in 1874 near
Scammon. Prior to that, there was scattered small-scale
drift mining and
surface mining
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...
of coal, but the construction of the first shaft mine ushered in an era which eventually led to as many as 290 significant mines and numerous other small ("dinky") mines in the two counties. The most active period of mining in the region was 1890-1910, and most of the coal camps were dismantled by the 1930s or 1940s. Mechanized strip mining overtook underground mining in output in 1931, and that combined with competition from eastern coal led to a demise in importance of underground mining in the region.
Santa Fe Mining Company
A major
mining disaster
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground mining (hard rock), underground coal mining, although accidents al ...
took place November 9, 1888 in shaft 2 of the Santa Fe Mining Company mine near
Frontenac, Kansas when 150 miners lost their lives in an explosion.
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company
One of the oldest continuously running coal companies in the United States was the
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company The Pittsburg-Weir Coalfield, also known as Weir-Pittsburg Coalfield and Cherokee Coalfield, is a coalfield located in Cherokee and Crawford counties in the southeast corner of Kansas.
The first underground shaft mine was built in the region in 187 ...
, founded in
Pittsburg, Kansas
Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...
in 1885. It lasted under that name even after its move to
Denver, Colorado when the Kansas mines closed, until September 2007, when
Chevron which owned the company, merged it with its
Molycorp Inc. coal mining division to form Chevron Mining, thus ending the Pittsburg corporate name.
The name Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company was purchased from Chevron in 2008 and refounded in Midway Kansas. Today P&M owns mines in Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky and Ohio.
References
External links
Pittsburg and Midway Coal Company, Records
{{coord missing, Kansas
Coal mining regions in the United States
History of Kansas
Mining in Kansas
Geography of Cherokee County, Kansas
Geography of Crawford County, Kansas