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Dawson, New Mexico... Coal mine disaster...
Dawson, New Mexico... Coal mine disaster...
Item # 563174
February 09, 1923
THE WORLD, New York, February 9, 1923
* Dawson, New Mexico
* Coal mine disaster (1st report)
* Is a ghost town today
This 24 page newspaper has a two column headline on page 13: "125 ENTOMBED BY BLAST IN MINE WHERE MANY WERE KILLED IN 1913".
Other news of the day including reporting on the recent King Tut Tomb finding. Usual browning with little margin wear, otherwise good. Should be handled with care.
Wikipedia notes: On February 8, 1923, Stag Canyon Mine No. 1 suffered an explosion. A mine car derailed, igniting coal dust in the mine. 123 men were killed in this explosion, many of them children of the men who died in 1913.
Dawson did not become a ghost town until 1950, when the Phelps Dodge Corporation shut down the mines. At closure, Mine 6 was the largest producer, and several other mines had been previously closed out because of declining demand. The closures were also due in large part to the completion of the twenty five year coal contract with the Southern Pacific Railroad. The entire town was sold or razed, with some of the miners' houses moved to other locations. The tall smoke stacks of the coking ovens were eventually demolished in the early 2000s because they represented a liability to the current owner of the property.
The Southern Pacific branch to Tucumcari was lifted at about the same time, but was later rebuilt by the Santa Fe Railroad, continuing up the canyon to the York Canyon mines. These mines were initially operated by Kaiser Steel, with their output being transported to their steel mill at Fontana, California. The York Canyon mine was operated by several different companies, finally closing in the early 2000s.
Category: The 20th Century
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