The Mine Shaft

The Mine Shaft. . , The main shaft of the Milford Mine was sunk in 1918. A large structure called a headframe stood over the shaft opening. It had a lumber frame covered with corrugated sheet metal. The headframe, also called a shaft house, covered the inner workings and supported large sheave wheels. Cables ran from the Engine House, over the sheave wheels, to operate the cage, which transported miners down and up the shaft, as well as the skip, which carried ore and waste rock. Ore cars, which ran on a rail line to the stockpile grounds, were also loaded at the headframe., On February 5, 1924, seven men frantically climbed up a ladder and emerged from this mine shaft. As they climbed, the last of them on the ladder, Harry Hosford, had water up to his waist. The remaining 41 miners lost their lives in the mine below, as water, sand, and mud filled all the mining levels and the 200-foot shaft to within 15 feet of the surface in less than 20 minutes., The timber on the ground in front of the headframe was lowered down the shaft and used to shore up the areas being mined, known as rooms, or contracts, within the later tunnels called drifts. In 1924 the shaft extended 200 feet below the surface with drifts from the 135 foot level down., Behind the headframe in the photo you can see the Power House. Boilers in the Power House generated steam to send power to mine facilities and equipment., Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society