16,000 Visited No. 8 Mine at Coaldale in '35

16,000 Visited No. 8 Mine at Coaldale in ‘35

(The Valley Gazette, April 1988)

The LC&N No. 8 Colliery in Coaldale was the company’s showplace and during the 1930’s thousands of people—many from among the very famous—came from all over the world to see how coal was mined.

Tours were conducted every day except Sunday and a modern guest house, protective clothing and trained guides were available free.

The lowest level in the No. 8 Mine, opened in 1845, was the eighth level, 1,209 feet below the surface and 131 feet below sea level. The cost of developing the eighth level was about $200,000, a per minute in the breaker, 15,000 gallons; water used per ton of coal prepared, 15 tons.

Only mountain spring water, stored in specially constructed dams, was used to purify “Old Company’s Lehigh Anthracite.”

The million-dollar steel breaker at Coaldale was completed in 1922. It replaced a wooden structure erected in 1909 that burned down in 1921.