The Consolidation Coal Company (CCC) was founded in 1875 in Iowa and purchased by the

Chicago and North Western Railroad The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

in 1880 in order to secure a local source of coal. The company operated in south central Iowa in Mahaska and

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorporated community and census-designate ...

counties until after World War I. Exhaustion of some resources, competition from overseas markets, and other changes led to the company's closing down its mines and leaving its major planned towns by the late 1920s. The CCC worked at Muchakinock in Mahaska County until the coal resources of that area were largely exhausted. In 1900, the company purchased in southern Mahaska County and northern

Monroe County, Iowa Monroe County is a county located in the south central part of the U.S. state of Iowa. In the early 20th century, it was a center of bituminous coal mining and in 1910 had a population of more than 25,000. As mining declined, people moved elsew ...

. After rapidly building the planned community of

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Gradwohl, David M., and Nancy M. Osborn (1984/1990), ''Exploring Buried Buxton: Archaeology of an Abandoned Iowa Coal Mining Town with a Large Black Population''
Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, p. 188, available online through Project MUSE CCC hired a high proportion of African-American workers, recruited from the South, and they occupied leadership positions in the local unions and company towns. Buxton was an active town until about 1925, when the CCC opened camps closer to its new mines. It had become the largest unincorporated city in the nation and the largest

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 reside ...

west of the Mississippi River.Exhibit: ''No Roads Lead to Buxton''
, n.d., African American Museum of Iowa, 2016 In 1927 the mine closed and by the late 1930s, Buxton had been totally abandoned. The coal markets had changed after World War I, and the workers dispersed to other locales and cities across the country. Consolidation's Mine No. 18 in Buxton was probably the largest

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the coal seam, ...

mine in Iowa.Greg A. Brick
''Iowa Underground''
Trails Books, 2004; Chapter 42, pp. 143-144. By 1913, the Buxton

UMWA 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 Unite ...

union local was reported to have "at least 80 percent colored men." In 1914, Buxton had 5,000 people and was the largest town in the United States to be "populated and governed entirely or almost entirely by Negroes." Beginning in 1880, Consolidation was one of the first northern industrial employers to make large-scale use of African-American labor. It recruited Southern black workers as strike breakers, most of whom came from mining regions of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky, and retained them. Those working at Muchakinock and Buxton were given equal pay to white workers and lived in integrated communities. Due to its regional and national significance, the townsite of Buxton was surveyed for archeological resources and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1983.

Muchakinock

The town name was also spelled Muchachinock and, more rarely, Muchikinock.''Report: Contested Election Case – J. C. Cook vs. M. E. Cutts,'
''United States Congressional Serial Set''
Section III, Washington, DC, Feb. 19, 1883. Coal mining along Muchakinock Creek dates to 1843, when local blacksmiths mined coal from exposures along the creek. By 1867, small

drift mines Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above ...

were developed all along Muchakinock Creek down to Eddyville, where the creek flows into the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

. In 1873, the

Iowa Central Railroad Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

built a branch along Muchakinock Creek. The Consolidation Coal Company was formed in 1875 by the merger of the Iowa Central Coal Company and the Black Diamond Mines of Coalfield in

, and the Eureka Mine in Beacon, Iowa. By 1878, Consolidation Coal Company had 400 employees, and in 1880, it was purchased by the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befo ...

to secure a regional source for its fuel. The coal camp at Muchakinock was about south of the county seat of Oskaloosa } and it quickly developed as one of the most prosperous and largest coal camps in Iowa. Consolidation Mine No. 1 was opened in 1873. The Muchachinock US post office operated from 1874 to 1904, with an official name change to Muchakinock in 1886. In 1880, the company had a dispute with its workers in Muchakinock. J. E. Buxton, Consolidation's superintendent, sent Major Thomas Shumate south to hire African Americans as

strike breakers A strikebreaker (sometimes called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite a strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who were not employed by the company before the trade union dispute but hired after or during the str ...

. Shumate hired "lots of crowds" of "colored men" from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. Whole families arrived with each "crowd". "Bringing these men to the mines, and the employment of colored miners was a new thing." The first "crowd" arrived in Muchakinock on March 5, 1880. By October 6, 1880 Shumate had brought in six "crowds". The "third crowd" filled one railroad

passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

. It left Staunton, Virginia on May 12 and traveled via Chicago and

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...

, arriving in Muchakinock on May 15. Rail fare from Virginia to Iowa was $12, which the company paid and took as an advance against each miner's monthly wages. The new African-American employees proved so satisfactory that the company retained them after the end of the strike. In years to come, the company attributed much of its wealth to their labor. The company paid black and white workers equally, and did not permit segregation in housing or schools in its camps and towns. In 1884, the Chicago and Northwestern completed a branch from Belle Plaine to Muchakinock. By then, Mines 1, 2, 3 and 5 were operating in Muchakinock. No. 6 was 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 ...

, newly opened just north of the camp. By 1887, the African-American workers in Muchakinock had organized a mutual protection society. Members paid fifty cents a month, or $1 per family. 80% of this paid for health insurance, while the remainder went into a sinking fund to cover members' burial expenses. The coal company acted as banker to this society. By 1893, Consolidation Mines No. 6 and 7, located about south of Oskaloosa, produced 1550 tons of coal per day, employing 489 men and boys. No. 6 had a shaft, while No. 7 had a shaft. Both mines worked the same coal seam, using the double-entry

room and pillar Room and pillar or pillar and stall is a variant of breast stoping. It is a mining system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane, creating horizontal arrays of rooms and pillars. To do this, "rooms" of ore are dug out w ...

system of mining. Mine No. 8 was three miles (5 km) northwest of Muchakinock. The

Bituminous Coal Miners' Strike of 1894 The bituminous coal miners' strike was an unsuccessful national eight-week strike by miners of bituminous coal in the United States, which began on April 21, 1894. The panic of 1893 hit the coal mining industry particularly hard. Wage cuts in t ...

lasted from late April through May of that year. All of Iowa's coal miners went on strike, with the exception of the miners at Muchakinock and Evans (8 miles north along Muchakinock Creek). Tensions were high enough that the company management armed Muchakinock's black miners with Springfield rifles. By May 28, tension was so high among workers that Companies G and K of the Second Regiment of the Iowa National Guard were sent to Muchakinock to preserve order. On May 30, large bodies of armed strikers, from 400 to 600 men, were congregating in Mahaska County, apparently intent on forcing the nearby mining camp of Evans to strike as the first stage of an attack on Muchakinock. In the end, no shots were fired. African Americans headed numerous institutions in Muchakinock. The "colored" Baptist church in town was led by Rev. T. L. Griffith. Samuel J. Brown, the first African American to receive a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

State University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

, was principal of the Muchakinock public school. B. F. Cooper was noted as one of only two "colored" pharmacists in the state. Muchakinock reached a peak population of about 2,500, but by 1900, the coal of the Muchakinock valley was largely exhausted. The Consolidation Coal Company opened a new mining camp in Buxton, Monroe County. The founding of Buxton in 1901 led to a "great exodus" of workers and their families, leaving Muchakinock nearly vacant by 1904. Today,

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...

and red piles of shale are all that remain of the mines along Muchakinock Creek.

Buxton

As early as 1888, a few small mines were in operation along Bluff Creek, but this changed at the dawn of the 20th century. In 1900 and 1901, after extending the Muchakinock branch of the Chicago and North Western tracks across the

, the Consolidation Coal Company opened a new

mining camp Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic vi ...

at Buxton, in Monroe County . The camp was named by B. C. Buxton after his father, John E. Buxton, who had managed the mines at Muchakinock. The company created a planned community that was developed along a regular grid pattern. It hired architect

Frank E. Wetherell Frank E. Wetherell (1869 – 1961) was an American architect in the U.S. state of Iowa who was active from 1892 to 1931. He founded the second oldest architectural firm in the state in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1905. (selink) He worked with Roland Harr ...

to design miners' houses, two churches, and a high school as part of its "urban planning and social humanitarianism." radwohl and Osborn (1984/1990), ''Exploring Buried Buxton'' p. 189, available online through Project MUSE The US Post Office at Buxton operated from 1901 to 1923. Many black workers moved here from Muchakinock. After a strike by white miners, the company recruited additional black workers from mining areas in the South. But the town's population was multi-ethnic, with white immigrants from Slovakia, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Wales and England. Consolidation Mine No. 10 was about south of Buxton, with a

shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around wh ...

and a

headframe A headframe (also known as a gallows frame, winding tower, hoist frame,Ernst, Dr.-Ing. Richard (1989). ''Wörterbuch der Industriellen Technik'' (5th ed.). Wiesbaden: Oscar Brandstetter, 1989. pit frame, shafthead frame, headgear, headstock o ...

, working a coal seam that varied from 4 to thick. The hoists could lift 4 cars to the surface in a minute, each carrying up to 1.5 tons of coal. Electric haulage was used in the mines, using a combination of third-rail, trolley wire, and

rack-and-pinion A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the ''pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert rotational motion into linear motion. Rotating the pinion causes the rack to be driven i ...

haulage. Mine No. 11, opened in 1902, was about a mile south of No. 10, with a shaft. By 1908, Consolidation had opened Mine No. 15. All of the Buxton mines worked a coal seam about 54 inches thick. In 1901, Consolidation's miners organized locals 1799 and 2106 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, with memberships of 493 and 691, respectively. Local 2106 immediately became the largest union local in Iowa, in any trade. At that time, Consolidation's mines were described as being "worked almost entirely by colored miners." In 1913, the Buxton

union local was reported to have "at least 80 percent colored men".Booker T. Washington, "The Negro and the Labor Unions,
''The Atlantic Monthly''
(June 1913); page 761. With 1508 members, Local 1799 at Buxton was the largest UMWA local in the country. African Americans continued operating the benevolent society they had established at Muchakinock, renaming it as the ''Buxton Mining Colony.''Richard R. Wright, Jr., "The Economic Conditions of Negroes in the North – IV Negro Governments in the North"
''Southern Workman,'' Vol. XXXVII, No. 9 (Sept. 1908); pages 494–498 Buxton was a classic company town; it was unincorporated, and the CCC was the sole landlord. In the words of one commentator, "Mr. Buxton ... has not attempted to build up a democracy. On the contrary he has built up an autocracy and he is the autocrat, albeit a benevolent one."

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

, educator and president of

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

in Alabama, described justice in Buxton as being "administered in a rather summary frontier fashion" that reminded him "of the methods formerly employed in some of the frontier towns farther west."Booker, T, Washington, Chapter VIII: "The Negro as Town-Builder,
''The Negro in Business''
Hertel, Jenkins & Co, 1907; pages 76–77. The Consolidation Coal Company took a paternal attitude toward the town. In 1908, the town covered approximately one square mile, with about 1000 houses, typically with 5 or 6 rooms each. Everything was owned by the coal company. It provided rental housing only to married couples, at a rate of $5.50 to $6.50 per month. Families having any kind of disorder were evicted on 5 days' notice. The average wage in the mines was $3.63 per day in 1908, when the mines employed 1239 men. Monthly wages varied from $70.80 for day laborers, but about 100 men made more than $140 per month. There was no discrimination between the races in pay. As in Muchakinock, African Americans held many leadership roles in the integrated town. The US postmaster, superintendent of schools, most of the teachers, two justices of the peace, two constables, and two deputy sheriffs were all African American. The Bank of Buxton, with deposits in 1907 of $106,796.38, had only one cashier, also African American. One of the civil engineers working for the mining company was African American. For a brief time between 1903 and 1905, ''The Buxton Eagle'' was the community's newspaper. African-American physicians included Edward A. Carter, MD, who was born in Muchakinock and was the first "colored" graduate of the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

College of Medicine. He came to Buxton as assistant physician to the Buxton Mining Colony. He also served as company surgeon to the mining company and to the

Chicago and Northwestern Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

. George H. Woodson and Samuel Joe Brown were African-American attorneys who lived in Buxton for a time; they were among the co-founders in 1905 of the

Niagara Movement The Niagara Movement (NM) was a black civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. ...

, a predecessor to the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...

(NAACP). Richard R. Wright Jr. wrote in 1908 that

The relations of the white minority to the black majority are most cordial. No case of assault by a black man on a white woman has ever been heard of in Buxton. Both races go to school together; both work in the same mines, clerk in the same stores, and live side by side."

In the same year,

wrote of Buxton as "a colony of some four or five thousand Colored people ... to a large extent, a self-governing colony, but it is a success." He recommended a study of Buxton to a textile manufacturer interested in raising capital for a cotton mill employing black labor. By 1908, as mines 11 and 13 were almost exhausted, the population of Buxton had declined to about 5000. It was still the largest town in the country with a majority-black population. In addition, it was the "largest unincorporated city in the nation and the largest coal town west of the Mississippi River." Unlike smaller company towns, where miners usually lived within walking distance of the mines, Buxton was the residential center for men who worked at mines spread out over a considerable distance. The company ran

commuter train Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...

s to ferry the men to the mines. The coal company gave the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

free use of a building, valued at $20,000. The YMCA had a reading room and library, gym, baths, kitchen, dining room, and a meeting hall available for use of labor unions and lodges. The Buxton YMCA drew "the color line" and did "not allow white men in the membership," although they were "allowed to attend the entertainments, a privilege freely used." The Buxton YMCA offered a variety of

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values.Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

programs, including

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

and

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

classes, as well as a variety of public lectures. The YMCA also controlled the Opera House, keeping out "objectionable and immoral shows." As is typical of mining company towns, there was a

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

, the Monroe Mercantile Company. This was a big operation, with 72 employees, some paid as much as $68 per month, and many of them African Americans. But there was competition for the company store. Buxton was unusual for its more than 40 independent businesses that operated in town, including a hotel, grocery, general store, meat market, lumber yard, barber shops, tailor and butcher, and clothing stores. Many were run by African Americans. In 1919, Consolidation Mine No. 18, 12 miles southwest of Buxton (Melcher, Iowa Quadrangle
1:62500 series, USGS, 1924.), was the most productive coal mine in Iowa. This mine employed 498 men year round, producing almost 300,000 tons in that year, which was more than 5% of the total production for the state. Mines 16 and 18 exploited a coal seam 4 to 7 feet thick.''Coal Field Directory and Mining Catalog''
Keystone, Pittsburgh, 1915, page 146. But after World War I, the demand for Buxton coal declined. Competitive coal was being marketed by overseas locations. The remains of Mine No. 18 were dynamited in 1944.Greg A. Brick
''Iowa Underground''
Trails Books, 2004; Chapter 42, page 144. By the time Mine No. 18 had opened, the center of CCC mining activity had moved 10 miles to the west of Buxton, and the company opened new mining camps closer to the mines. As a result, the population shifted and Buxton declined markedly in the 1920s; its last mine closed in 1927. By 1938, the ''Federal Writers Project Guide to Iowa'' reported that the site of Buxton was abandoned and that the locations of Buxton's former "stores, churches and schoolhouses are marked only by stakes." Every September, hundreds of former Buxton residents met for a reunion on the site of the former town. The abandoned Buxton town land has been cultivated as farmland. The town site was the subject of an archaeological survey in the 1980s, which investigated the economic and social aspects of material culture of African Americans in Iowa. As a result of the finds and the regional and national significance of Buxton, the archeological site was listed on the

. The company town is notable as a former "black utopia."

Consol and Bucknell

The

s of Consol and Bucknell were two miles apart along the

Chicago and Northwestern The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

tracks along Whites Creek, north of Mine No. 18. The Consol and Bucknell US post offices operated from 1917 to 1930. Ed. Bucknell was one of the Consolidation Coal Company's mining superintendents. In 1917, Consol was the end of the line for passenger service, with one train per day each way between

Belle Plaine, Iowa Belle Plaine is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,330 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Belle Plaine was founded in 1862 when it was certain the railroad wo ...

and Consol.''Warnock v. Chicago and North Western,'' case 8093-1917
''Fortieth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the Year Ending December 3, 1917''
State of Iowa, Des Moines, pages 127-128. The remains of Mine No. 18 were dynamited in 1944.

References

External links

*
Photo: "Muchakinock Yard, IA. CNW"
Iowa Digital Library, University of Iowa
"Muchakinock Coal Mine, 1896; Muchakinock, Iowa; Mahaska County"
Wilcox Library Digital Archive
Photo: "Buxton, Iowa. CNW" depot," 1905
Iowa Digital Library, University of Iowa
"1919 plat map of Buxton"
Iowa Digital Library, University of Iowa

Monroe Co, IA
"The Great Buxton"Iowa Public Television

n.d., African American Museum of Iowa, 2016
Eric A. Smith, "Buxton, Iowa (1895–1927)"
Black Past {{authority control Coal companies of the United States Mahaska County, Iowa Monroe County, Iowa Chicago and North Western Railway Labor disputes in the United States Miners' labor disputes in the United States African-American historic places Company towns in Iowa

Muchakinock

Buxton

Consol and Bucknell

References

Further reading

External links