Avondale Coal Breaker

On September 6, 1869 110 coal miners died in the tragic Avondale Mine Disaster in Luzerne County. To remember the miners who lost their lives, the Anthracite Living History Group is working with many partners to permanently preserve the mine site.

On September 10 and 11 the Group will sponsor the annual commemorative program.

The Avondale Mine Disaster occurred along the former Delaware Lackawanna & Western Rail Road grade, which is now known as the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, that parallels US Route 11, below Avondale Hill, in Plymouth Township, Luzerne County.

On that fateful September 6, fire destroyed the old wooden breaker and suffocated 110 miners, including breaker boys who worked sorting clumps of coal from stone. As a result of the tragedy, one of the first mine safety laws was passed in Pennsylvania in 1870 making it illegal to build coal breakers directly above or near a mine entrance.

In 1994 the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum commission dedicated a historical marker to commemorate the disaster.

The Anthracite Living History Group, under the leadership of its founding member Joe Keating, has worked for the last two years to gather support for preserving the Avondale site from local non-profit historical and preservation societies, regional partners, and the coordination efforts of Robert Hughes, Regional Coordinator for the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and from California to the hills of West Virginia and throughout the Anthracite Coal Fields of Pennsylvania.

Prior to 2004, the foundation walls of the Avondale Breaker, the location of the mine shaft, the mine tunnel, and all of the other patch town buildings which made up the Colliery in Plymouth Township were hidden from the public’s view by vegetation and illegal dumping. The entrance of the mine had been backfilled by the Federal Office of Surface Mining for public health and safety reasons

Members of the Anthracite Living History Group decided to seek permission from the owner of the property, the Earth Conservancy, to open the site to allow the public to view the hidden treasure that we all knew was in Mother Nature’s grip.

Many weeks of sweat equity by Anthracite Living History and community youth volunteers had gone into clearing the site of tons of debris. The cleanups were coordinated with the help of the Plymouth Township Planning Commission, the Plymouth Township Board of Supervisors, Luzerne Conservation District, and the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation over the last two years.

Members of the Anthracite Living History Group decided to pull together an inaugural Memorial Service Program to commemorate the 135th Anniversary of the Avondale Mine Disaster to begin to tell the tale of Avondale.

On September 11, 2004, the event was held at the grounds and drew in nearly 80 people interested in the Program. The event included Welsh Hymns, an Invocation from the St. David’s Society, a Tour of the Avondale Mine Site, Placement of Flowers at the entrance to the mine, real live Breaker Boys, Welsh Singers, myself, as the Principal Speaker, Avondale Memorabilia for Sale, and literally a dozen other groups in the crowd that were excited about the possibilities for the future preservation of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site.

It was a beautiful, hot and humid day in September, where the sun shined down on us the entire afternoon, showing us many rays of hope. They seemed to be fallen on the people all around the site, somehow as if to foreshadow the events to follow. These people became the base supporters for the continued efforts that are currently taken place today.

Nearly one year later, here we are in August of 2005, planning for the second annual Memorial Service to Commemorate the 136th Anniversary of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site thanks to the leadership of the Anthracite Living History Group and literally dozens of organizations and volunteers who decided through consensus that it was time to form the Avondale Mine Disaster Site Preservation Committee.

This committee has been meeting for the last several months planning for the upcoming September 10th & 11^th commemoration.

Hard work, coordination, new ideas, collaboration, volunteer support, phone calls, and commitments to pulling off an even bigger event than in 2004, had led to the decision to hold two events, one at the Avondale Site where the tragedy occurred, and the other at the Washburn Cemetery in the Hyde Park Section of Scranton, due to the overwhelming interest from interested parties in Scranton, and partially because 61 of the 110 miners who died were interred at that particular Cemetery, the other being the Shoup Cemetery.

People and organizations have been literally crawling out of the wooden timbers to lend a hand, attend meetings, make phone calls, create crosses to be placed at the graves of many of the miners, take on the development of the program, publicity, sponsorship, fundraising, and spreading the word. You will find out who those people are in the Program.

The culmination of this extraordinary coalition of regional groups with preservation in mind for “Anthracite Living History” can be enjoyed by all who attend and participate in supporting the future preservation of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site and its historical interpretation and vital importance to our Country, not just the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys. Program Brochures and Flyers will be printed up and ready hopefully by the third week in August to give everyone an opportunity to draw an even larger audience to the Memorial Service.

Contact Joe Keating (717-779-2526) or Robert Hughes (717-779-5649), who are serving as Co-Chairs of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site Preservation Committee for details. (Contributed by Robert Hughes)

Attachment: September 10-11 Remembrance Flyer - PDF The flyer includes additional links to information about the disaster.

9/2/2005