The Knickerbocker Colliery was located northwest of Mahanoy City Borough on the west side of Waste House Run.
The colliery was opened by a water level tunnel driven 130 ft. northwest to the primrose vein by Fowler and Huhn in 1861 and in 1866 they mined 1000 ft. westward. The first shipment of 230 tons was made in 1864 and 27,602 tons in 1865. The cost of developing the colliery was $75,000. They continued mining the tunnel level to 1865 when the Knickerbocker Coal Company was organized and a second water level tunnel was driven 550 ft. north to the skidmore vein intersecting the top split mammoth at 200 ft. and the mammoth and skidmore vein at 550 ft.
In 1869, the Knickerbocker Coal Co. sunk the slope 490 ft. on the south dip holmes vein driving gangways east and west. In 1870, the shipments from the colliery were made over the Little Schuylkill Railroad. Previously coal was shipped via the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad.
The Knickerbocker Coal Co. continued operating to 1873 when the Phila delphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. (P&R C&I Co.) came in possession and extended the gangways.
In 1878, they tunneled from the holmes slope level 530 ft. to the mammoth vein.
In 1882, they extended the water level tunnel 280 ft. to the buck mountain vein, a total length of 930 ft., which increased the production of the colliery. The company expended $225,000 to make these improvements.
In 1884, they sunk the top split mammoth slope and in 1891 extended it to 362 ft. below the old drift level, a total of 864 ft. from the surface.
In 1893, a tender slope was sunk on the top split vein to the level of the no.4 slope.
In 1895, the P&R C&I Co. reopened the old abandoned Barrey Colliery and extended the barrey tunnel north to the buck mountain vein. During the same year they sunk a new slope on the holmes vein, 1500 ft. west of the old slope.
In 1896, they tapped and removed the water from the old abandoned yatesville workings and extended the Knickerbocker mining eastward through the old workings of the ajoining collieries.
They continued to operate the colliery to 1909 when the breaker was destroyed by fire. At this point in time the colliery became part of the Ellangowen Colliery.
The total shipments from Knickerbocker Colliery was 7,948,487 tons as of 1922 when the tonnage was included in Ellangowan Colliery shipments.