A photograph from around 1900, looking up from the floor level, showing the shaker screens in the old wood breaker at the Silverton Colliery.
From a series of articles that appeared in the Pottsville Republican and Herald in 1997:
The Silverton (Black Mine) Colliery was located along the west side of the west branch of the Schuylkill River, south of Llewellyn.
Its original opening was made by David Llewellyn in 1828 by a drift driven west on the Black Mine (Peach Mountain) Vein and was worked by Llewellyn to 1832.
In 1832, Samuel Brooke purchased the mine and operated it to 1837. Failing in Business, the colliery came in possession of Samuel Heiliner & Son who, in 1840, sank the slope to the first level and continued mining to 1843 when, having failed, the colliery was bought by John Spencer and Joseph Spencer, who worked it to 1846.
In 1846, the Heiliner brothers purchased the colliery and, in 1853, sank the Salem Vein Slope when they were sold out by the sheriff. In 1853, Frick and Spencer bought the colliery at a sheriff’s sale but operated it a short time on account of financial troubles. They disposed of the mine in 1855 to Benjamin Tyson, who sank the Salem Slope to a lower level, operating both the Black Mine and Salem Slope workings to 1864, when it was abandoned as worked out.
In 1891, the Albright Coal Company reopened the Black Mine slope, sinking the slope to lower levels, rebuilding the breaker and making other improvements.
The Albright Colliery Company operated the colliery to 1900, when the Silverton Coal Company came in possession, extending a large amount of capital in sinking slopes and driving tunnels, one of which was 1,150 feet from the bottom of the Black Mine Slope to the Salem Vein, and making other improvements. It was abandoned in 1906.
The colliery had a varied life from the beginning to the end, a feast and famine operation. The colliery was very gaseous, with outbursts of gas occurring frequently, closing the gangways and headings. It took time and expense to make repairs.
Total shipment from the colliery at its abandonment in 1906 was 776,479 tons.
Capital invested in 1852 – $50,000.
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Article by Frank Blase, Historian, Reading Anthracite Company Historical Library, Pottsville Republican & Herald, October 11, 1997. Obtained from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.