This is a photograph taken of an original mining share certificate, dating back to December 4, 1868. The owner of the share certificate is Daniel Nelson. Nelson and his wife Margaret were lucrative farmers on the north side of Oskaloosa in the mid…
This is a picture of George H. Ramsey, Superintendent of the Carbonado coal mining operation back in 1896. Ramsey also was a developer in the field of coal mining during the time. Coal mining was a lucrative business to be involved with if an ample…
This is a picture taken at the Givin coal mines in East Des Moines Township, Iowa, in the late 1800's. Many communities, like Givin, have little or no presence in Mahaska County today. Once the coal industry diminished, the people in communities…
Few men have enjoyed more success in both the railroad and coal mining inudstries than H.W. McNeill. Born June 18, 1847, in Peoria, Illinois, Hobart W. McNeill studied at the University of Virginia until the school was closed by the Confederacy. …
Few men have enjoyed more success in both the railroad and coal mining industries than H.W. McNeill. Born June 18, 1847, in Peoria, Illinois, Hobart W. McNeill studied at the University of Virginia until the school was closed by the Confederacy. …
This photograph gives an inside look of a coal mine in 1896, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Coal mines were unsafe and unhealthy places to work. Many men developed a disease known as the black lung, which ultimately led to a coal miner's death.
This 1896 image shows what the coal mining operation looked like in Colon, Iowa. Colon, located south of Oskaloosa in Mahaska County, was another town that went from a thriving community to nonexistence in a matter of a few years. Today, the only…
This 1896 image shows the coal mining operation going on at Lost Creek, Iowa, located near Eddyville in Mahaska County. Lost Creek is the site of one of the deadliest coal mining explosions in history. On Friday, January 24, 1902, around noon, 67…
This is a photograph of the Muchakinock Coal Mine in 1896. Muchakinock was located a few miles south of Oskaloosa, located in Mahaska County, Iowa. Today, like many other communities in Mahaska County, there is nothing left in the once thriving…
