Devlin
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Toluca Coal Mine Shaft Number 1

Devlin, also, Toluca Coal Mine Shaft Number 1. . You are standing looking at shaft #1 of Devlin Coal Company. This view is from the slag pile looking down. Today, it is hard to visualize just how massive and important the Devlin/Toluca Mining Operation was. , After Bennington Township was granted a switch and regular stop by Santa Fe Railroad the railroad hired Charles Devlin to prospect the area for coal needed for the steam-powered trains. It was then that mineral rights for 11,000 contiguous acres in Bennington, Bell Plain, Evans, and Roberts Townships were purchased by the Devlin Coal Company, founded by Charles Devlin. The development of new coal fields in Toluca began in 1892. The first goal was to sink shaft #1 beginning on February 9, 1893, and they were down to the lowest vein of coal, about 512 feet deep, by September of the same year. Mr. Devlin made a seemingly rash promise he would be able to produce 1,000 tons of coal a day in one year. He kept that promise and by 1895 the Toluca mine was one of the best equipped mines in the state of Illinois. , A second shaft was sunk one thousand feet to the south of the first shaft and the pair were connected underground. All the coal was brought up shaft #1 where a crew worked in the sixty-foot-tall tipple. , [Captions] , . Top left: You are looking at the mining option from the west. Santa Fe Railroad's single rail is the foreground. The slag pile from shaft #1 is visible in the background on the right. Note in the photo of the Toluca mine during its operation there are no trees and no vegetation. After the mine closed in 1924 the vegetation slowly began naturally regenerating. From the time the mine closed in 1924 to March 1997 when the Toluca Coal Mine Preservation and Development Inc. was formed, the mine remained basically untouched. Slag piles of shale and nearly open shafts were left waiting for the fate of adventurous teens. During reclamation the shafts were safely filled and marked with state certified markers. , . Bottom left: Miners coming from work, Toluca, IL , . Top right: This photo was taken from shaft #2 looking north toward shaft #1 of the Toluca Coal Company. The slag pile at this time was just starting to form as you see an old Toluca water tower in the background. A dam on Crow Creek gave the mine the water it needed for the steam engines used in various parts of the mine operation. A trestle crosses the creek which was also dammed for a water reservoir. The mine complex was intersected first by the Devlin-owned Toluca and Eastern Railroad running from Rutland to Toluca. The new railroad became the Toluca, Marquette and Northern Railroad in 1902 when the line extended northward after crossing the Santa Fe tracks to the west of the mine. , . Bottom right: Above main mine shaft #1 a tipple was erected. The huge tower was erected 60 feet above the mouth of the shaft which was surrounded by a covered platform. This platform was 30 feet above ground level. It was here that the coal was brought up and sorted by size. Each miner had a number which was stamped on small brass checks (pegs). As a miner filled a coal car, he attached the peg, the full car was weighed and recorded. The coal was sent to be sorted and washed. The miner was paid 75 cents per ton for the coal. The slag was tripped into another car which was attached to a cable and taken to the slag pile (making the Jumbo).