A photograph of the original Locust Spring Breaker, one of a cluster of mining operations near Locust Gap.
From a series of articles that appeared in the Pottsville Republican and Herald in 1997:
In the early days of mining, there was a cluster of collieries in the Locust Gap operated by individuals under the same name prefixed by “Locust.”
These collieries were the Locust Gap Colliery at the northern end of the gap, the Locust Summit Colliery, directly opposite the Locust Gap Colliery; The Locust Spring Colliery midway in the gap; Locust Gap (New) Colliery midway in the gap; Wolf Colliery midway in the gap and Locust Spring Colliery at the southern end of the gap.
The Locust Gap Colliery
The Locust Gap Colliery, on the east side of the Locust Creek, was opened by a drift driven east on the North Dip Mammoth Veins by Hass & Fegley in 1855. The first coal shipment of 13,287 was made in 1856.
Hass and Fegley mined the drift for only a short time, then sold the colliery to Seacholtz, Fegley and Company in 1856. That company operated it until 1864, when it failed.
In 1864, the Mammoth Vein Consolidated Coal Company mined the drift until about 1866, when the workings had been extended 3,500 feet to the land line. The company then retired from the mining business and was succeeded by Graber & Kembel, who mined the remaining coal until 1871, when the breaker was destroyed by fire and the colliery was abandoned.
The Old Gap or Wolfs Colliery
The Old Gap or Wolfs Colliery was located on the west side of Locust Creek. It was opened by a water-level tunnel driven north 280 feet to the South Dip Mammoth Vein by Kase Reed and Company in 1855. The first coal shipment of 14,255 tons was made in 1856.
Kase Reed & Company drove the gangway eastward for a short time, when they were succeeded by Zimmerman and Purcell who purchased the colliery in 1856. They continued mining until 1858, when they failed.
In 1859, W. F. Deward came into possession of the colliery and A. S. Wolf & Company leased and operated it until 1864.
In 1864, the Mammoth Vein Consolidated Coal Company purchased the colliery and operated it until 1868, when the company went out of business.
In 1868, Graber, Kembel & Company leased the colliery and in 1869 sunk the slope 280 feet on the same vein to a local basin. Miners drove several gangways in different directions, mining the basin coal to exhaustion in 1873. The colliery was abandoned in 1875.
The colliery was connected with the Monitor Colliery and the drainage was raised to the surface at the Wolf Slope.
The total shipment from Wolf Colliery was 320,639 tons.
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Article by Frank Blase, Historian, Reading Anthracite Company Historical Library, Pottsville Republican & Herald, April 12, 1997. Obtained from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.