Coshocton County Coal Mining

Coshocton County Coal Mining. . , Coshocton County lies in the great bituminous coal field. In 1820 early pioneers removed layers of soil and removed coal near the surface, chiefly for home use to light and heat their homes., 1833 - Hardscrabble Mine east of town was the earliest mine. John G. Stewart owned the land., 1835 - Morris Burt also opened a coal bank near tis location as well as Jack Robson, Elisha Turner, Thomas Thornsley and Fought Burt., 1861 - First mine producing a sizeable amount of coal was in Beech Hollow, east of town on the Joseph K. Johnson farm. 1872 - Mathias Shoemaker opened another mine east of town., Coke burning was known before the Civil War when John McCleary opened a mine at Rock Run south of town., Wade Coal was the producer of coal. Morgan Run Mining built a branch railroad to move the coal as a demand for coal increased., 1884 - Largest profitable mine in the county near Conesville was opened by David Davis, John Cassingham, and D.M. Moore. 1885 - Mr. Davis bought their interest. He knew the hills were full of coal and he now owned them., During the many early years of coal mining in the surrounding area of Coshocton County, men were severely injured or met with a tragic death, leaving an empty chair in the homes of their families., 1936 - 235 abandoned mines in the county were sealed using brick, concrete, tile, and timbers, and all other mines soon met the same demise., 1957 - Peabody Coal Company constructed "Big Chief" a large coal shovel near Conesville, Ohio, and also the "Peabody Broken Aro" dragline in the western part of the country., 1958 - Simco Inc. was formed by Columbus Southern Power Company in Columbus, Ohio. Simco Inc. owned the land and coal mineral rights to the land s they mined. Simco Inc. purchased and repaired all the equipment, paid for all the materials, etc. to produce the "Black Gold". Peabody Coal Company supplied the work force and the supervision to mine the coal from the Surface and Underground Mines. Simco Inc. owned Two-Thirds of the Company, Peabody Coal Company owned One-Thired of the Company., 1958 - Simco Peabody opened six underground mines east of Coshocton., 1969 - "Big Muskie" the largest walking dragline, 22 stories tall with a coal bucket 51 1/2 ft. wide, owned by Central Ohio Coal Company, a division of American Electric Power, was constructed., Test drillers, a team of horses, dozier operators, and engineers worked in the eastern and western parts of the county ahead of the "Big Chief", "Peabody Broken Aro", and "Big Muskie" Shovels., Due to a depression for demand of high-sulfer Ohio coal, the three shovels were retired in the early 1990s. "Big Muskie" was dismantled o scrap metal, except for the coal bucket it was reserved and moved to a memorial site near McConnelsville, Ohio. "Big Chief" was dismantled to scrap metal and the "Peabody Broken Aro" shovel was shipped by rail to replace one that had sunk in the muck at the Peabody Coal Company mine in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky., Peabody Coal Company's coal stripping and deep mining in Coshocton County became history.