American Electric Power Welcomes You To Miners' Memorial Park.

American Electric Power Welcomes You To Miners' Memorial Park.. . , This exhibit was designed to honor the men and women who have dedicated their lives to the local surface coal mining industry and to recognize the remarkable and breathtaking achievements in mine reclamation that have taken place here., For more than 50 years, the men and women of southeastern Ohio's Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry and Washington counties have played a key role in the area's economy by devoting their knowledge and skills to one of the region's major industries., Surface mining first began here in the late 1940s. Since that time, more than 132 million tons of coal have been removed from these hills and burned at nearby power plants to generate yet another precious commodity - electricity., During the area's mining heyday in the late 1960s to late 1980s, the behemoth Big Muskie the workhorse of the company's mining operation. Big Muskie, a Bucyrus-Erie 4250-W dragline and the only one of its kind, was the world's largest walking dragline. It was operated by an AEP subsidiary, Central Ohio Coal Company, based in nearby Cumberland, Ohio., All that remains of this remarkable machine is its giant 220-cubic-yard, 240-ton bucket – the centerpiece of this exhibit. During its operating life between 1969 and 1991, Big Muskie moved more than 483 million cubic yards of soil and rock to expose the coal seams below., There is no more fitting tribute to these men and women than a memorial located on previously surface mined and reclaimed land and anchored by such an historic piece of surface mining equipment., The following "Wall of Honor” lists the men and women who have been a part of Central Ohio Coal Company's mining operation. The panels displayed in the large pavilion tell the rest of the story. We hope you enjoy your tour.