Glen Burn Colliery in 1974, Eric Bella collection.
Mining in the Lower Gap of Shamokin began in 1836. Like other sites in the region, many different breakers were built on the site, the first being in 1857, the operation being known as the Old Gap Colliery. In 1862, a new operator changed the name to the Cameron Colliery. In 1888, the colliery was destroyed by fire, one of the many times the breaker was rebuilt and upgraded over the years. In 1891, a dirt plane was extended to the top of the mountain, where waste rock and culm was then dumped. In 1937, the last iteration of the breaker was constructed at a cost of $252,000. The operation had many different owners, such as the Mineral Railroad and Mining Company, Susquehanna Coal Company, Susquehanna Collieries Company, and Stevens Coal Company.
In 1940, the name was changed to the Glen Burn Colliery after another ownership change. At this time the breaker was averaging one million tons of coal processed each year, coming from the mines on site as well as the Maysville Slopes. Mining continued until 1970, and the breaker was razed in 1986. The mine was reopened as an independent mine in the 1990s.
Historic photos of the Glen Burn Colliery, Eric Bella collection.
10-ton Greensburg storage battery locomotive in the early 1990s independent mine at the Glen Burn. This locomotive is still in operation at the No 9 mine tour in Lansford. Nicholas Zmijewski photo.
Photos from the 1990s inside the Glen Burn mine.
Our photos from the 2000s.
Sources:
Shamokin News-Dispatch, Oct 5, 1936, Page 24
Shamokin News-Dispatch, Jun 26, 1964, Page 53