Iowa Heritage Digital Collections
State Library of Iowa

Lost Creek Fuel Company Shaft, 1896; Lost Creek, Iowa; Mahaska County

Lost Creek Fuel Company Shaft, 1896; Lost Creek, Iowa; Mahaska County

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

Collection