The North Ashland Colliery

(formerly The Union Colliery)

Located northeast of Ashland Borough on the Big Mine Run Creek. The colliery was opened by a drift driven east on the north dip mammoth vein by John Anderson, J. W. Ryan & Company, who were granted a lease from the Girard Estate in 1863. The first shipment of 15,388 tons was made in 1864. They operated the mine under the name of "Union Colliery" and mined the drift gangway to 1873 when it reached the limit of their lease at the girard mammoth colliery barrier pillar 8600 ft. from the mouth of the drift. During the same time they opened several drifts on the north dip buck mountain vein.

In 1874, they drove a tunnel 360 ft. north to the Buck Mountain a point on the mammoth drift gangway 1800 ft. from its mouth. During the same year a slope was sunk 330 ft. on the north dip mammoth vein near the center of the basin and gangways were driven east and west which were mined to 1876.

On Aug. 22, 1876 the colliery was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. (P&R C&I Co.) who at that time changed the name to "North Ashland" Colliery. The company made extensive improvements in the hoisting and preparation of the coal.

In 1881, they had driven the slope gangways to the limit of the lease, eastward to the barrier pillar of Girard Mammoth Colliery and westward to a 120 ft. pillar established along the eastern land line of the Girard Estate as a protection to the colliery from a large body of water standing in Centralia and Haze Dale Colliery workings.

In 1884, the P&R C&I Co. opened the buck mountain vein by a tunnel 351 ft. north from the slope level.

In 1885, a fire was discovered on Sunday June 21st. in the air hole extending from the second level to the surface. Water was poured into the colliery to extinguish the fire and it was removed in March of 1886. Damage to the mine was extensive and the upper part of the slope was retimbered and the grade of the track was changed to admit gunboats in place of wagons formerly used.

In 1887, a large block of coal was obtained from the mammoth vein, dressed down and mounted on a platform, inscribed as from the Girard Estate lands and contributed by the directors of city trusts of Philadelphia was sent to the american exhibition in London as part of an exhibit of the state of Pennsylvania. The block contained twenty-two and a half cubic feet and weighed twenty-two hundred and fifty-six pounds.

In 1889, the breaker was destroyed by fire on Jan. 31st and was rebuilt by Jul. 9th of the same year.

In January 1890 the company began sinking a new slope located near the entrance of the old water level drift. By October it had been timbered and double track from the surface to the first level. A distance of 760 ft. and by March 1891 was completed to the bottom level 1100 ft. from the surface.

In 1892, the old hoisting engine was replaced by a large and more powerful engine.

In 1893, a trial slope was sunk in the mammoth vein 100 ft. west of the old slope and 307 ft. to the basin. The slope was enlarged as a temporary hoisting slope for driving gangways and opened a new lift between the second and first levels on the line of the hoisting slope. This was made the main hoisting slope for the mammoth and buck mountain coal on the second level.

In 1898, the North Ashland Colliery was merged with the Continental Colliery and the P&R C&I Co. removed the breaker machinery, steam & column pipes and abandoned the colliery.

The total shipments from North Ashland Colliery were 2,941,051 tons.