Lackawanna Coal Mine, Scranton, Pennsylvania

     Mike and I like caves so we thought we would also like visiting a coal mine.  The Lackawanna Coal Mine is a retired anthracite mine located in McDade Park in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  I think everyone knows that mining was/is a dirty and dangerous occupation. Going into a mine with a guide who has worked in the mining industry helps turn the "knowing" into really understanding.  The mine is open from April 1st through November 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with the exceptions being Thanksgiving Day and Easter when the facility is closed. Admission prices are $10.00 for adults, $9.50 for senior citizens, $9.00 for members of the military, and $7.50 for children ages 3-12.  The Lackawanna Mine opened in 1860 and closed in 1966.

Each visitor gets a hairnet and a hard hat.  It's a good look for me, don't you think?  The mine temperature is in the 50's all year.  If you didn't bring a jacket, they will loan one to you.  This yellow car is called a mantrip.  It takes a few minutes to descend into the mine.  We spent most of our time in the mine in what is known as Slope 190. 

Our guide Lou showed us some old mining tools.  Not all men who worked in mines held the title "miner."  A miner was an experienced worker who acted as a sub-contractor.  He had a crew of two miner's helpers.  He was assisted by other mine workers who performed various duties.   

My grandmother heated her house with coal.  It came in small pieces that my grandfather shoveled into a big, blazing metal furnace.  The coal comes out of the mine in much bigger chunks.  A miner knew just how to drill his holes and just how much explosive to use to get "just right" lumps of coal.  Any other rock of this size would be very heavy.  Coal is surprisingly light weight.

We saw several mannequin miners during our tour.  The Lackawanna Mine was known for having veins of coal thick enough for a man to stand up straight when he worked.  The thinner veins, where miners had to bend or crawl, were called monkey veins or belly veins.  Work in a thin vein might go to a miner from an unpopular ethnic group or to a miner who was lazy.  Sometimes miners were assigned to thin veins as punishment.

This little guy worked as a nipper.  Nippers might be as young as eight years old.  This was one of the two entry level jobs at the mine.  A nipper's job was to open and close doors in order to keep fresh air flowing through the mine.  The other entry level job was sorting rocks out of the coal at a machine called a breaker.  These workers were called breaker boys.  This was probably the one job in mining where girls could get a job if they could pass as a boy. 

After working as a nipper or breaker boy for a few years, a young teenager might be promoted to mule driver.  The next step was to become a miner's helper.  Many never advanced beyond being a miner's helper.  If a man did become a miner, he might eventually become a mine inspector.  

After the coal was mined, the spent areas of the mine were collapsed.  Our guide explained that in modern coal mining big machines chew the coal out of the seams in front of miners while, at the same time, the previously mined areas behind the miners are being collapsed.  Now that's just plain scary.  

After our tour, we received a certificate which certifies that we are qualified to work in Slope 190.  I want to be a mule driver.