Sample Chapter
Shakamak Indiana State Park
Chapter title – Indiana’s Coal
300 million years ago Portions of the region we know as Indiana was covered at one time by huge swamps. Indiana was much warmer at this time, an environment that was ideal for plants to grow. Vast quantities of dead vegetation accumulated over the centuries to form a layer of brown, spongy peat at the bottom. Geologic and climatic changes over the centuries allowed soil and rock to form over this layer of peat. As time passed the heat and pressure of this buildup converted the peat, hardening it into the substance we know as coal. Each ten-foot layer of peat will generate about one foot of coal from this pressure and heat buildup. The coal in Indiana is of a type called bituminous coal which is very low in moisture and is an ideal fuel for using in electricity generating plants and to make coke for the steel industry. The earliest records of commercial mining in Indiana date from the mid-Nineteenth Century. Most of the coal in Indiana is found in the southwestern part of the state.
The Indiana Coal Fields
Indiana’s coal fields are part of the Eastern Interior Coal Basin, which includes southwestern Indiana, part of northwestern Kentucky and nearly all of Illinois. The Indiana portion includes about 6,500 square miles. The Indiana portion of this field originally possessed about 37,293 million tons of usable reserves of coal. The layers in these beds range from 14 inches thick to 42 inches thick. Two specialized forms of bituminous coal are, or were, present in the state, block coal and Cannel coal. Block coal has divisions from 24 inches to 48 inches apart marked by vertical joints and horizontal splits. Most of this coal has already been mined out of the state. Cannel coal is composed of finely divided plant material and has a high gas value. It burns clean, with a yellow flame and lights quickly.
History Coal Mining in Indiana
Explorers traveling along the Wabash River were the first people to note the existence of coal in the region that would become Indiana. Robert Fulton mined a small amount of coal along the Ohio River in 1812. Twenty years later, in 1832, ads began to appear in newspapers offering quantities of coal for sale. The American Cannel Coal Company of Cannelton, Perry County, Indiana became the first company to receive a charter to mine coal in 1837. Flatboat operators began shipping small quantities of coal on the White, Wabash and Ohio Rivers. These early mining operations involved the miner using a pick and shovel to remove the coal, after which he loaded it on a horse drawn wagon to transport it to market. Later, miners began using horse powered scrapers to remove the coal. During these early years miners produced about 9700 tons of coal. The primary use for this coal would have been to provide power to steamboats, home heating and blacksmith’s forges. Most of this coal came from Perry and Warrick Counties. The rise of railroads in the 1850’s created a new market for coal and an easier means of transporting it as well. During the years after the expansion of the rail lines mining operations, and employment, expanded rapidly in the state. Production would eventually grow to encompass 18 counties in the southwestern part of the state.
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Mossy Feet Books - Author Paul R. Wonning 