The Alaska Colliery was an anthracite mining facility located in Alaska, Pennsylvania, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northeast of Mount Carmel. Situated in the Western Middle Anthracite Field, the operation was a primary production site for the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company (P.&R. C.&I.). The company was organized in 1871 by Franklin B. Gowen to vertically integrate the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad's coal interests, eventually controlling over 40 percent of the region's anthracite reserves. During its construction in 1874, a fire destroyed the engine, boiler, and shaft houses; the colliery subsequently suffered two further breaker fires, in 1886 and 1926. Deep mining operations ended on April 30, 1944, after which the facility transitioned to surface strip mining. The village of Alaska, a small community that had grown up around the colliery, was demolished by the Reading Anthracite Company beginning in 1958 to permit expansion of strip mining operations.
Development and technical details (1873–1930) The colliery was established in 1873 to extract coal from the Mammoth Vein. The shaft was bored to a depth of 270 feet using diamond drills, and upon completion the facility was projected to employ more workers than all other collieries in the Mount Carmel area combined. Operations utilized vertical shafts and inclined slopes to access deep reserves. The No. 3 slope was driven into the bottom split of the Mammoth Vein to reach the basin of the seam.
In June 1897, the Baldwin Locomotive Works supplied a compound compressed-air locomotive to the Alaska shaft for underground haulage. In November 1902, sharpshooter Annie Oakley and members of her traveling company visited the colliery's underground workings, her first experience of anthracite mining; the visit is documented in the companion article on the village of Alaska. In 1913 the P.&R. C.&I. announced plans to electrify the Alaska Colliery, with proposals to light the breaker and underground passages with electricity and to power all breaker machinery and motors electrically, with the aim of making it the largest electrically operated mine in the anthracite coal fields. By 1915, the P.&R. C.&I. had implemented mechanical loading and electric haulage to increase production efficiency.
At its operational peak in 1920, the colliery employed 777 workers and produced approximately 300,000 tons of coal.
Construction fire of 1874 During the construction of the colliery, a fire on March 15, 1874 destroyed the engine house, boiler house, and shaft house of the Alaska Shaft while they were still in the course of erection.
Breaker fire of 1886 On June 5, 1886, the Alaska Breaker was completely destroyed by fire along with the adjoining saw-mill. The cause of the blaze was not conclusively determined; investigators theorized that either a hot roller shaft had ignited the wooden framework, or that an employee's lamp had been left in proximity to timber saturated with oil. The breaker had been valued at $100,000 and, when operating at full capacity, processed approximately 25,000 tons of coal per month, with 500 workers employed and a monthly payroll of $20,000. A number of workers present in the shaft directly beneath the breaker reached the surface only minutes before the burning structure collapsed into the mine workings below; all other employees were notified in time to evacuate without reported fatalities.
Breaker fire of 1926 On April 19, 1926, the wooden breaker was destroyed by a fire originating in the conveyor line, resulting in $500,000 in damages. The blaze put some 650 underground employees out of work. Company officials announced through the P.&R. C.&I. offices in Mount Carmel that a return to work was expected within the week, and that coal production at Alaska would be maintained through temporary facilities at other Reading properties in the district. Cleanup crews numbering over 200 were mobilized at the site the following day. The building carried no insurance. A locomotive spark was considered an unlikely cause, as weather conditions at the time of the fire were determined to have carried any sparks away from the structure.
Mining accidents The Alaska Colliery was the site of several fatal accidents during its operational history. On February 14, 1916, T. Garagaka, 48, of Mount Carmel, was killed while prying down top coal on the slope. When the coal fell, he was knocked backwards, his head striking the bottom and breaking his neck. Several ribs were also broken. He survived approximately twenty minutes after the accident before succumbing to his injuries. Funeral services were held at Our Mother of Consolation Church, with interment at Merriam Hill Cemetery.
On June 18, 1935, a gas explosion on the old number seven slope at nine o'clock in the morning killed one miner and injured four others. John Olshefski, 52, of Mount Carmel, was fatally injured in the blast. Four other workers sustained burns: John Ruscuskie of Mount Carmel received the most severe injuries and was treated at Ashland State Hospital; Michael Seback, 21, of Mount Carmel, and Albert and Thomas Fetsko of Shamokin sustained minor burns, with Thomas Fetsko also admitted to Geisinger Memorial Hospital in Danville. An investigation into the cause of the explosion was conducted by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Olshefski was survived by his widow and thirteen children, including Alex Olshefski, captain and guard of the Mount Carmel High School football team. Funeral services were held at Our Mother of Consolation Church, with interment at Merriam Hill Cemetery.
On November 15, 1943, Walter Lavish, 24, of Mount Carmel, was fatally injured while employed as a bottomman on No. 18 plane. Lavish was engaged in bumping up mine cars — a process of moving cars along a haulage plane — when he fell between a loaded and an empty car at the bottom of the plane. Found unconscious by fellow workers, he was taken to Ashland State Hospital, where he died several hours later from hemorrhages of the brain resulting from a badly fractured skull. He was survived by his parents and seven siblings. Funeral services were held at Our Mother of Consolation Church.
Operational transition and closure (1930–1960s) High operating costs, primarily the mechanical pumping required to drain deep workings, reduced the site's profitability during the 1930s until deep mining ended on April 30, 1944, with the company citing the "prohibitive cost of dewatering" the deep slopes. (Microfilm available at Pennsylvania State Archives, LCCN sn85054924)
In 1956, the Reading Anthracite Company converted the site to surface strip operations. This transition resulted in the demolition of original colliery structures and the removal of the village of Alaska. The village, also known as Mount Carmel Junction, was a small community of approximately 40 residents located about two miles southwest of Mount Carmel, whose houses dated back over a century. In June 1958, with the Reading Anthracite Company having already moved equipment onto the site to begin razing, most of the remaining families relocated elsewhere ahead of the expanding strip mining operation. By the mid-1960s, the residential area had been entirely cleared to facilitate large-scale strip mining operations.
See also Alaska, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Scott Colliery Kulpmont, Pennsylvania Locust Gap, Pennsylvania
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