The birth of America's first deep mine
The dark and dangerous life underground
The breaker boys and child labor
The immigrant melting pot and labor unions
YOUR GOAL
Master of The coal miners of Carbondale
vadaleela Carbondale Anthracite Miners
Down in the Carbondale shaft so deep / (Yeah, we mine the black stone!) / We work the dark while the city's asleep / (Never digging alone!)
vadaleela Miners used the room and pillar method to support the immense weight of the earth above.
vadaleela Miners faced constant danger from firedamp, a highly explosive mixture of methane and air.
vadaleela Experience the lives of underground coal mining mules in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Play this educational game to guide them through the dark mines.
Underground stables: Many mining mules in Carbondale lived their entire lives in underground stables carved directly into the coal seams, never seeing natural daylight.
A hard, compact variety of coal that has a high luster and burns with little flame and smoke. Carbondale workers began mining this valuable resource in the nation's first deep-vein underground mine in June 1831.
What did coal miners call the highly explosive methane gas that accumulated in underground tunnels?
Which animals were commonly kept in underground stables to haul heavy coal cars through Carbondale's mines?
What mining method used in Carbondale left large columns of coal untouched to support the roof?
What was the primary source of light on a miner's cap in the late 1800s, before carbide and electric lamps were invented?
What chronic, debilitating lung disease did miners contract from inhaling coal dust over decades?