The underground coal mines that are currently of concern to subsidence professionals in Colorado were generally mined between 1860 and 1960. This 100-year period saw the coal mining industry advance from the use of picks, hand augers, black powder, and mules to the use of continuous miners and electric motors to mine and haul coal. As technology changed the method by which coal was mined and transported, the design of the typical Colorado room-and-pillar mine also changed. Depending on coal conditions, room size and shape often changed to better accommodate shovel or scraper loaders and shaker or belt loaders. These advances were not, however, adopted simultaneously by all coal mines. Although large corporate mines, like those of CF&I and the Union Pacific, began using such equipment before 1920, some of the smaller Colorado mines were still using hand augers and mules into the 1940’s. Therefore, careful study of dates of mining, production records, mine maps, and interviews with former miners can aid in predicting current mine conditions.
Notable Citizens: James R. Lord
Coal miner and labor activist James Revell Lord (1878-1962) was born in Leeds, England, in 1878. He came to the U. S. in 1888 and he and his wife, Mary, moved to Lafayette, Colorado about 1929. Prior to that, Lord was brought in from Illinois to work with United Mine Workers of America district representatives during Colorado’s 1910-1914 Long Strike.
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Hein Garage – 1919 to 1938
