An 1885 photograph of an unidentified wood coal breaker. Note the crude trackage on the car haul.
From a series of articles that appeared in the Pottsville Republican and Herald in 1997:
The Mount Hope (McGinnis’) Colliery was located west of the Pine Forest Slope near Saint Clair.
The original opening was made in 1852 by Enoch W. McGinnis, who sank a slope 495 feet in the Mammoth Vein and later extended it 815 feet to the lower levels, driving gangways from the different levels on the slope in gentle, pitching measures.
McGinnis continued operating the colliery until 1858, when he was a succeeded by the land owners, Carey & Hart, who continued mining to 1860.
In 1860, Kirk & Baum leased the colliery and operated it on an extensive scale, in connection with its Saint Clair and rainbow collieries, under the name of the Saint Clair Coal Company.
Mining was continued at the several collieries under unfavorable mining conditions, on account of the close proximity to Snyder’s Pine Forest mine workings. This finally resulted in long litigation. In 1864, the Saint Clair Coal Company closed the mining business, which practically abandoned the colliery.
In 1864, Gross & Clark started taking out the pillars along the crop of the vein, continuing to 1867, when the colliery was finally abandoned.
In mining the area covered by the operations of the several collieries, a large amount of coal remaining in the pillars was left unmined.
To recover this coal, the Hooker Colliery was opened in 1884 by Thomas Wren & Company, which sank a slope to the old workings of the Mount Hope Slope. The colliery was operated by Wren & Company until 1887, when it was succeeded by Maury & Company, who continued mining the pillars to 1890.
In 1890, Gould & Pennman took over the colliery for a short time and operated it until 1891. In 1891, Keynor & Lauderman leased the colliery and began to develop it on a large scale, sinking several slopes and making other improvements to increase the production.
Mining was continued under the new conditions until 1908, when, due to financial failures, the lase was taken by I. D. Beahm & Company, which continued the same mode of mining, sinking slopes at places favorable to reaching the old workings. Finally, in 1918, the colliery was abandoned as exhausted.
Shipments from the McGinnis, Mount Hope and Hooker Slopes were 1,282,102 tons. Total shipment was 1,717,582 tons.
_______________________________________________
Article by Frank Blase, Historian, Reading Anthracite Company Historical Library, Pottsville Republican & Herald, September 27, 1997. Obtained from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.