Anthracite Living History Group Fosters the Development of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site Preservation Committee with Regional Coalition Support
Executive Board:
Bobby Hughes – Chair
Eric Bella – Co-Chair
Georgetta Potoski – Treasurer
Christine Pagoda – Recording Secretary
Michael Hewitt – Webmaster
Members of the Anthracite Living History Group, under the leadership of its founding member, Joe Keating, a local historian along with non-profit historical and preservation societies, regional partners, and the coordination efforts of Bobby Hughes, former Avondale Hill resident, and Regional Coordinator for the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, have drummed up a considerable following of committed volunteers and people from the West Coast of California to the hills of West Virginia and throughout the Anthracite Coal Fields of Pennsylvania over the years initially for one reason. The preservation of the site of the Avondale Mine Disaster, located along the former Delaware Lackawanna & Western Rail Road grade. The group has expanded its reach to include several other historical mine sites throughout the Anthracite Region of Eastern Pennsylvania.
Our First Project – Avondale Mine Disaster
The Avondale Colliery is spread out along an abandoned rail-trail, now known as the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, which parallels US Route 11 below Avondale Hill, in Plymouth Township, Luzerne County, PA. On September 6th, 1869, 110 Miners and boys died that dreadful day from a fire that had occurred in the Avondale Mine, many of whom were Welsh immigrants to the United States.
Prior to 2004, the foundation walls of the Avondale Breaker, the mine shaft, the mine tunnel, and all of the “patch town” buildings that made up the colliery in Plymouth Township were hidden from the public’s view due to the lush growth of vegetation (briars, poison ivy, Virginia Creeper) and debris from illegal dumping that had gone on for years in the community because of its secluded location below the US Route 11. Its proximity to few homes in the area has to do with its location in the floodplain of the Susquehanna River in the southern part of the Wyoming Valley. Members of the Anthracite Living History Group decided to seek permission from the owner of the property, the Earth Conservancy, to open up the site a little to allow the public to view the hidden treasure that we all knew was in Mother Nature’s grip. What was uncovered was unbelievable. The roots that were pulled to expose the area around the actual location of the Avondale Mine Disaster began once again to show our region’s roots in our history. Many weeks of sweat equity by Anthracite Living History volunteers, and community youth volunteers had gone into clearing the site with caution for safety reasons and tons of debris were removed from the location during one of many community cleanups that were coordinated by the Plymouth Township Planning Commission, the Plymouth Township Board of Supervisors, Luzerne Conservation District, and the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation over the last two years.
Members of the Anthracite Living History Group decided to pull together an inaugural Memorial Service Program to commemorate the 135th Anniversary of the Avondale Mine Disaster to begin to tell the tale of Avondale. On September 11, 2004, the event was held at the grounds and drew in nearly 80 people interested in the program that included Welsh Hymns, an invocation from the St. David’s Society, a tour of the Avondale Mine Site, placement of flowers at the entrance to the backfilled mine, real live Breaker Boys, Welsh Singers, and Bobby Hughes as the Principal Speaker. Avondale Memorabilia for sale, and literally a dozen other groups in the crowd that were excited about the possibilities for the future preservation of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site. It was a beautiful, hot, and humid day in September, where the sun shined down many rays of hope on us the entire afternoon. They seemed to fall on the people all around the site, somehow as if to foreshadow the events to follow. These people became the base supporters for the continued efforts that are still taking place today. Bill Hastie was also an original member of our loose knit group of Anthracite Region Historians at the time.
Formation of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site Preservation Committee
Nearly one year later in August of 2005, planning for the second annual Memorial Service to Commemorate the 136th Anniversary of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site thanks to the leadership of the Anthracite Living History Group and dozens of organizations and volunteers who decided through consensus that it was time to form the Avondale Mine Disaster Site Preservation Committee. This committee has been meeting for the last several months to plan for the September 10th & 11th Events that will focus on the Avondale Mine Disaster. Hard work, coordination, new ideas, collaboration, volunteer support, phone calls, and commitments to pulling off an even bigger event than in 2004, had led to the decision to hold two events, one at the Avondale Site where the tragedy occurred, and the other at the Washburn Cemetery in the Hyde Park Section of Scranton, due to the overwhelming interest from interested parties in Scranton, and partially because 61 of the 110 miners who died were interred at that particular Cemetery, the other being the Shoup Cemetery. People and organizations have been crawling out of the “wooden timbers” to lend a hand, attend meetings, create crosses to be placed at the graves of many of the miners, take on the development of the program, publicity, sponsorship, fundraising, and spreading the word.
The culmination of this extraordinary coalition of regional groups with preservation in mind for “Anthracite Living History” can be enjoyed by all who participate in supporting the future preservation of the Avondale Mine Disaster Site and its historical interpretation and vital importance to our Country, not just the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys. Joe Keating has since passed away and we dedicated a marker at the Avondale Mine Disaster location with the help of Bill Best, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, however, you can contact Bobby Hughes for details.