Lost Creek Fuel Company Shaft, 1896; Lost Creek, Iowa; Mahaska County
Source URL
Title
Lost Creek Fuel Company Shaft, 1896; Lost Creek, Iowa; Mahaska County
Description
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 men working inside of the coal mine at Lost Creek had gone to one of the rooms underground to eat their lunch. At about the same time, the midday dynamite rig went off as usual, but instead, the flames from this explosion ignited the carbon dust in the air, forcing the explosion into the room where the men were eating lunch. Twenty of the men died outright from the blast. Eighteen were injured, many of whom died later from injuries sustained during the blast. It has gone down in history as the Lost Creek Holocaust. Needless to say, after this accident, the coal mine did not stay in operation much longer, and hence went the coal mining community of Lost Creek.
Creator
H. Kirk Watkins
Source
Historical Archives
Publisher
The Times Company
Date
2008-07-29
Rights
www.nelsonpioneer.org
Format
still image/jpeg
Type
image
Identifier
Mahaska County Historical Society
http://cdm16125.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p270701coll6,141