Avondale mine disaster recalled
Published: September 7, 2009
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110 miners killed 140 years ago
PLYMOUTH TWP. - A light, cool draft wafts up the mine shaft at the abandoned, crumbling remains of the Avondale Colliery in Plymouth Twp., and as two dozen people gathered around Sunday evening, the draft seemed to carry the 140-year-old story of how a fire killed 110 men in the mines.
The fires were out by this time of day, Robert Wolensky said as the group gathered about 6:30 p.m. at the colliery's remains to honor the anniversary of the most lethal single anthracite disaster. The fire and deaths spurred the creation and enforcement of several safety features and became a cautionary tale advocating for emergency preparedness and precautions, he said.
Mr. Wolensky, and Joseph M. Keating, who died in 2006, co-authored "Tragedy at Avondale: The Causes, Consequences, and Legacy of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Industry's Most Deadly Mining Disaster, September 6, 1869."
"It was the 9/11 of its day," he said. "There was no doubt about it. And so school kids and orphans were always doing drills, lest we have another Avondale."
The Avondale Mine Disaster Site Preservation Committee, headed by Bob Hughes, has been cleaning up the site, and plans to install benches, create trails and do landscaping to create a quiet area for people to visit and remember the tragedy.
"For us, it's more about teaching some of these kids about the local history, that it's not just a coal mine tour in Lackawanna County, it's what's in your backyard," Mr. Hughes said.
Sunday included a series of events in honor of the anniversary, starting at the Washburn Street Cemetery in Scranton where 61 of the victims were buried.
Mr. Wolensky did a signing and reading of the book during the afternoon.
Mary Grochowski laid a bouquet of flowers at the entrance to the mine shaft in honor of her great grandfather, Peter Conlin, who was killed in the disaster. Despite years of searching, Ms. Grochowski doesn't know what cemetery Mr. Conlin was buried in, and so she appreciates how much work is being put into the site's preservation.
"I like the idea of it. We were here the last time they had this," she said. "That's why we came down here, because we wanted to be here for this memorial."
Contact the writer: emoody@citizensvoice.com
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