Charlie’s Monday Markers ~ Episode 13: Harwick Mine Explosion 1904

Coal mining in Pennsylvania took a terrible toll of death and injury for workers and environmental degradation for communities. For 26 years between 1890 and 1920, mining deaths exceeded one thousand per year in the Commonwealth. The worst coal mining disaster in Allegheny County occurred in 1904 at the Harwick Mine running under the towns of Cheswick and Springdale. On January 25, 1904, a methane gas explosion killed 186 miners and several rescuers as well. The heroic effort for the rescuers inspired Andrew Carnegie to set up the Carnegie Hero Fund. The United Mine Workers erected a large stone memorial over the mass grave of 165 bodies, most burned beyond identification.